Chris Waddell (born 1968) is an American Paralympic sit-skier and wheelchair track athlete. He was a promising non-disabled skier while attending Middlebury College in

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the ...

, before a skiing accident left him paralysed from the waist down. As a sit-skier, Waddell won medals in the

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engines ...

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson Ma ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

and

2002 Winter Paralympics The 2002 Winter Paralympics, the eighth Paralympic Winter Games, were held in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, from March 7 to 16, 2002. A total of 416 athletes from 36 nations participated. They were the first Winter Paralympics in the Amer ...

. As a wheelchair track racer, he represented the US at the

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone on b ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

and

2004 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 136 , athletes = 3,806 , events = 519 in 19 sports , opening = 17 September , closing = 28 September , opened_by = President Costis Stephanopoulos , cauldron = Georgios Toptsis , stadium = Olymp ...

. He won a silver medal in the 200m T53 event at the Sydney Paralympic Games. In 2004, he set a T53 world record time for this distance which still stands. In 2006, Waddell was inducted into the National Disabled Ski Hall of Fame by

Disabled 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 ...

. In 2010, he was inducted into the

Paralympic Hall of Fame The Visa Paralympic Hall of Fame is a hall of fame which was established by the International Paralympic Committee. On 30 August 2012 five paralympic athletes were inducted into the fourth ''Visa Paralympic Hall of Fame'' in a ceremony in Londo ...

. On 30 September 2009, Waddell became the first paraplegic to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. On 5 May 2010 he was named the 2010 Shining Star of Perseverance Honoree by the WillReturn Council of Assurant Employee Benefits to honor and recognize individuals and groups who overcome disabilities to succeed in the workplace and society.TheStreet

National Underwriter
Currently, Wadell has a foundation called "One Revolution" that is dedicated to seeing the world positively, by the use of "Nametags" that define oneself.

References

External links

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Chris Waddell
at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Hall of Fame Alpine skiers at the 1992 Winter Paralympics Alpine skiers at the 1994 Winter Paralympics Alpine skiers at the 1998 Winter Paralympics Alpine skiers at the 2002 Winter Paralympics American male wheelchair racers Paralympic gold medalists for the United States Paralympic silver medalists for the United States Paralympic bronze medalists for the United States World record holders in Paralympic athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Place of birth missing (living people) 1968 births Living people Medalists at the 1992 Winter Paralympics Medalists at the 1994 Winter Paralympics Medalists at the 1998 Winter Paralympics Medalists at the 2002 Winter Paralympics American male alpine skiers Middlebury College alumni People with paraplegia Medalists at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Paralympic medalists in alpine skiing Paralympic alpine skiers of the United States Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Paralympic track and field athletes of the United States {{US-Paralympic-medalist-stub