Joshua George (born March 18, 1984) is a

Paralympian The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaired ...

athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-dev ...

from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

competing in category T53 events ranging from sprints to the marathon. At the

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 ...

, George participated in seven events, winning bronze medals in the 100 and 400 metre races. He competed in the

2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It wa ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, China. There he won a gold medal in the men's 100 metres - T53 event, a silver medal in the men's 800 metres - T53 event, went out in the semi-finals of the men's 1500 metres - T53 event, finished fourth in the men's 200 metres - T53 event, went out in the first round of the men's 400 metres - T53 event, went out in the first round of the men's 4 x 400 metre relay - T53 event and finished sixteenth in the men's Marathon - T54 event In November 2014, George traveled to Brazil as a

SportsUnited Formerly known as SportsUnited, Sports Diplomacy is the U.S. Department of State's sports diplomacy division. Sports Diplomacy uses sport to help youth around the world develop important off-the-court skills, including leadership, mutual understan ...

Sports Envoy for the

U.S. 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 natio ...

. In this function, he worked with

Allyson Felix Allyson Michelle Felix (born November 18, 1985) is a retired American track and field athlete who competed in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 400 meters. She specialized in the 200 meters from 2003 to 2013, then gradually shifted to the 400 me ...

to conduct clinics, speeches and other events for 510 youth, many of whom had disabilities or came from marginalized communities. The program was designed to remove barriers and create activities that benefit audiences with and without disabilities, whilst speaking with a young, at-risk public about important life and sports values, such as respect, discipline and overcoming adversity.

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* * 1984 births Living people American male track and field athletes American disabled sportspeople Paralympic track and field athletes for the United States Paralympic gold medalists for the United States Paralympic silver medalists for the United States Paralympic bronze medalists for the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Illinois Fighting Illini Paralympic athletes Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) People from Herndon, Virginia Sportspeople from Fairfax County, Virginia 21st-century American people {{US-Paralympic-medalist-stub