Alicia Throm Brelsford Dana (born February 12, 1969) is an American Paralympian. She qualified for the United States Paralympics Cycling National Team in 2001 and competed at the 2002

UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships The UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships are the world championships for track cycling where athletes with a physical disability compete, organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). The Championships were earlier administered by ...

before taking a break to raise her daughter. She returned to the sport in 2011 and competed in various international competitions including the

UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships The UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships are the world championships for road cycling where athletes with a physical disability compete, organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). The Championships were earlier administered by the ...

and

Summer Paralympic Games The Summer Paralympics, also known as the Games of the Paralympiad, are an international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete. This includes athletes with mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness, and cerebr ...

Early life

Dana was born on February 12, 1969, in Brattleboro, Vermont to parents Edmund and Veronica Brelsford. While attending

The Putney School The Putney School is an independent high school in Putney, Vermont. The school was founded in 1935 by Carmelita Hinton on the principles of the Progressive Education movement and the teachings of its principal exponent, John Dewey. It is a co-e ...

, Dana was climbing a tree when the branch broke and she fell, breaking her back and paralyzing her from the waist down. At the time, she had just begun cycling at the national level and was ranked among the best cyclists and cross country skiers in the state. Dana had competed at two cycling nationals and various cross-country Junior Nationals. After graduating from The Putney School, Dana attended

Marlboro College Marlboro College was a private college in Marlboro, Vermont. Founded in 1946, it remained intentionally small, operating as a self-governing community with students following self-designed degree plans culminating in a thesis. In 1998, the colle ...

and the

Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase th ...

where she majored in Illustration. Dana tried adaptive skiing and wheelchair racing before purchasing a handcycling bike. In 2000, she cycled across the United States from Washington to Vermont in order to raise funds for disability-related causes, Dana and a group of other cyclers spent 10 weeks cycling, averaging 70 miles per day. However, due to

wildfires in Montana A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...

, they had to divert from their original route and shuttle 50 miles.

Career

Dana attended the United States Paralympics Cycling National Team tryouts in 2001 and qualified to compete on their roster at the 2002

. Following the competition, she decided to take a break from the sport to raise her daughter Willa in Putney. Her break became extended following a divorce, the theft of her handcycle, and her father's death within 10 years. Dana's friend encouraged her to participate in the Burlington City Marathon and after winning first place in her division, she chose to come back to hand-cycling competitively. When Dana returned to paralympic athletics, she participated in both sit-ski racing and hand-cycling, earning medals in both categories. In 2011, Dana competed in her first sit-ski racing competition United States Nationals in Rumford, Maine, winning a gold and a bronze medal. As a result, she was invited to participate in the

Paralympic World Cup The Paralympic World Cup was an annual international multi-sport event for elite athletes with a disability, that was hosted in Manchester, England, from 2005 until 2012. It was announced in 2013, that the Paralympic World Cup had been scraped fo ...

representing the United States. Dana also returned to hand-cycling in 2011 and re-qualified for the United States Paralympics Cycling National Team the following year. At her first

in 2012, Dana placed fifth in the road time trial. As a result, she was recruited again for the national team in 2013. In 2014, Dana became the fastest woman's H3 Para-cyclist in the world after winning gold at the

, beating

Karen Darke Karen Darke, , FRSGS (born 25 June 1971) is a British paralympic cyclist, paratriathlete, adventurer and author. She competed at the 2016 Rio Paralympics winning Gold in the Women's road time trial, following her success in the 2012 London Pa ...

and Renata Kaluza. The following year, she won two gold medals in the time trial and the road race at the Union Cycliste Internationale Para-cycling Road World Cup and two silver medals at the UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships. In her gold medal races, she was the only athlete representing the United States amongst 13 other competitors in her class. On January 3, 2016, Dana was among the 27 athletes named to Team USAs Paralympics Cycling National Team for the

2016 Summer Paralympics The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for disabled sports, athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, f ...

in Rio. In order to train for the event, Dana worked out six days a week year-round including at the gym or on a stationary trainer in her garage. She also communicated with her national team trainer Rick Babington in southern California and biked on paved roads to test her endurance. During the Games, Dana earned her first Paralympic silver medal as she placed second behind Darke in the H1-3 category with a time of 12.55 seconds. She also competed in the Women's Road Race H1-4 where she ranked fourth. Following the Paralympics, Dana earned two gold medals for the United States at the 2019 International Cycling Union (UCI) Para-cycling Road World Cup in the women's H3 time trial and road race. She also won her first national title since 2014 at the 2019 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships with a time of 34:41.53, over 30 seconds faster than the second-place finisher. Prior to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Dana was chosen to compete at the

2020 Summer Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the Inte ...

, which were later postponed to 2021.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dana, Alicia 1969 births Living people American female cyclists Paralympic cyclists for the United States Paralympic silver medalists for the United States Paralympic bronze medalists for the United States Paralympic medalists in cycling Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Cyclists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Cyclists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics The Putney School alumni Rhode Island School of Design alumni Marlboro College alumni People with paraplegia People from Putney, Vermont Cyclists from Vermont 21st-century American sportswomen 20th-century American sportswomen