Ann Cody (born May 14, 1963) is a three-time U.S. Paralympian who works at the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

in the

Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Affairs (DRL) is a bureau within the United States Department of State. The bureau is under the purview of the Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights. DRL's resp ...

on the advancement of international disability rights. After debuting at the

1984 Summer Paralympics The 1984 International Games for the Disabled, canonically the 1984 Summer Paralympics were the seventh Paralympic Games to be held. There were two separate competitions: one in Stoke Mandeville, England, United Kingdom for wheelchair athletes ...

wheelchair basketball Wheelchair basketball is basketball played by people with varying physical disabilities that disqualify them from playing a non-disabled sport. These include spina bifida, birth defects, cerebral palsy, paralysis due to accident, amputations (of ...

, Cody won four silver medals in athletics at the

1988 Summer Paralympics The 1988 Summer Paralympics () were the first Paralympics in 24 years to take place in the same city as the Olympic Games. They took place in Seoul, South Korea. This was the first time the term "Paralympic" was used officially. Bidding proc ...

. Cody also competed at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

wheelchair racing Wheelchair racing is the racing of wheelchairs in track and road races. Wheelchair racing is open to athletes with any qualifying type of disability, amputees, spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy and partially sighted (when combined with another ...

. At her third Paralympics, Cody helped set a world record in the relay at the

1992 Summer Paralympics )( es, Deporte Sin Límites) , nations = 82 (BCN)75 (MAD) , athletes = 3,020 (BCN)1,600 (MAD) , opened_by = Queen Sofía , opening = 3 September (BCN)15 September (MAD) , closing = 14 September (BCN)22 September (MAD) , even ...

while winning one gold and one bronze medal. Apart from competing at the Paralympic Games, Cody won the women's wheelchair division at the

Chicago Marathon The Chicago Marathon is a marathon (long-distance foot race) held every October in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the six World Marathon Majors. Thus, it is also a World Athletics Label Road Race. The Chicago Marathon is the fourth-largest r ...

in 1989, 1990; Los Angeles Marathon in 1990; Mobile 10K National Championship 1990, 1991; and two second-place finishes at the Boston Marathon in 1990, 1991. She was the first woman Paralympian elected to the

International Paralympic Committee The International Paralympic Committee (IPC; german: Internationales Paralympisches Komitee) is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Paralympic Games and fun ...

governing board in 2005 and won re-election in 2009 and 2013, and was awarded the

Paralympic Order The Paralympic symbols are the icons, flags, and symbols used by the International Paralympic Committee to promote the Paralympic Games. Motto The Paralympic motto is "Spirit in Motion". The motto was introduced in 2004 at the Paralympic Games in ...

in 2017.

Early life and education

Cody was born on May 14, 1963, in

Binghamton, New York Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...

. While attending Groton High School, she competed in varsity field hockey, volleyball, basketball, and softball. She became disabled her junior year in high school. At the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

Cody obtained

bachelor of fine arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students for pursuing a professional education in the visual, fine or performing arts. It is also called Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA) in some cases. Background The Bachelor ...

and

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

degrees while competing as a dual sport athlete in wheelchair basketball and wheelchair racing. At Illinois, Cody helped win five national championships in wheelchair basketball in 1983, 1986, 1989, 1991, and 1991.

Career

Cody started her Paralympic career representing the United States in

at the

. Cody competed in athletics in her second Paralympic Games and won four silver medals at the

in Seoul, Korea. At her final Paralympic Games, Cody won a gold and a bronze at the

in Barcelona, Spain while helping set a world record in the 4 × 100 m relay. In 2013, she ran for vice president of the

. While she was defeated by Andrew Parsons, Cody was elected to IPC's governing board that year for a third and final term. She was responsible for writing and securing passage of IPC's gender equity policy at the 2003 general assembly. As Chair of the IPC women in sport committee she developed an IPC report card on gender equity to reflect the rate of women in leadership positions across IPC, sports federations, and NPCs and set targets for increasing the number of women athletes competing in summer and winter Games. Women made up 40% of the athletes competing at the 2021 Tokyo Paralympic Games compared to just 25% in the 2000 Paralympics in Sydney, Australia. Outside of the Paralympics, Cody appeared at the

. She won the 1989

and 1990

Los Angeles Marathon The Los Angeles Marathon (formerly known as the City of Los Angeles Marathon) is an annual running event typically held each spring in Los Angeles, California, since 1986. The marathon was inspired by the success of the 1984 Summer Olympic Ga ...

in the women's wheelchair division. Cody also won the wheelchair division of the 1990 Chicago Marathon. Alternatively, Cody has held positions in the non-profit, business, and public sectors. She was a venue director for the 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Organizing Committee. Cody was vice president with Sagamore Associates now Faegre Drinker the government affairs consulting firm from 1999 to 2007. At

BlazeSports America BlazeSports America is a national nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization based in Decatur, Georgia, that provides sport and physical activity opportunities for youth and adults with physical disabilities. History BlazeSports America, Inc. was found ...

she designed and led a campaign to increase interscholastic sports offerings for students with disabilities. Currently, Cody works at the

in the

Awards and honours

Cody earned all-tournament honors from the National Wheelchair Basketball Association's women's division in 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, and 1991. She was named athlete of the year by both

USA Track & Field USA Track & Field (USATF) is the United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running and racewalking (known as the sport of athletics outside the US). The USATF was known between 1979 and ...

and

Wheelchair Sports, USA Move United is an American non-profit organization devoted to the promotion of parasports among youths and adults with physical disabilities. The organization operates community parasports programs via over 150 local chapters across the country. ...

in 1990. In 2004, Cody was inducted into the

Adaptive Sports USA Move United is an American non-profit organization devoted to the promotion of parasports among youths and adults with physical disabilities. The organization operates community parasports programs via over 150 local chapters across the country. M ...

Hall of Fame. In 2009, Cody was awarded the Amazing Leader award by the

U.S. Paralympics The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee and the National Paralympic Committee for the United States. It was founded in 1895 as the United States Olympic Committee, and is headquartered in Col ...

. In 2012, she received the George M. Steinbrenner III Sport Leadership Award from the U.S. Olympic Foundation. In 2017, Cody was awarded the

. She received a Doctorate of Humane Letters from the State University of New York at Cortland in 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cody, Ann 1963 births Wheelchair basketball players at the 1984 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair racers at the 1988 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1988 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for the United States Paralympic silver medalists for the United States Paralympic bronze medalists for the United States Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) United States Department of State officials American female wheelchair racers Living people Recipients of the Paralympic Order Chicago Marathon female winners Trump administration personnel People with paraplegia Paralympic track and field athletes for the United States 21st-century American women