Monica Bascio (born September 16, 1969) is an American Paralympic cross-country skier, biathlete, and handcyclist. Making her Paralympic debut at the Paralympic Winter Games Torino 2006, she has competed in a total of four

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disability, disabilities. There are Winter Paralympic Games, Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 ...

. At

London 2012 The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, Bascio secured two silver medals in handcycling. She was named the

United States Olympic Committee The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee (NOC) and the National Paralympic Committee (NPC) for the United States. It was founded in 1895 and is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado ...

’s Paralympic Sportswoman of the Year in 2013. Following her retirement after Paralympic Winter Games Sochi 2014, Bascio was diagnosed with colon cancer later that year. She went through surgery and chemotherapy treatment and has been cancer free since April 2015. In September 2016, she was elected to the

International Paralympic Committee The International Paralympic Committee (IPC; ) is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Paralympic Games and functions as the international federation for nin ...

Athletes' Council, where she works to be a voice and an advocate for Paralympic athletes all over the world. In 2018, Monica was appointed to the

IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based in L ...

Athlete's Entourage Commission, and was also invited to serve on the Adaptive Spirit board of directors.

Early life and education

Bascio was born in

Massapequa, New York Massapequa (, ) is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Oyster Bay (town), New York, Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on the South Shore (Long Island), South Shore of Long Island, in Ne ...

. In 1992, Bascio had an accident while skiing which caused her to become a

paraplegic Paraplegia, or paraparesis, is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek () "half-stricken". It is usually caused by spinal cord injury or a congenital condition that affects the neura ...

. She moved to California after her accident, earning a degree i
occupational therapy
from

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

in 1998.

Competition

At the IPC World Handcycle Championships in 2002, she won a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

for cycling in the

individual time trial An individual time trial (ITT) is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock (in French: ''contre la montre'' – literally "against the watch", in Italian: ''tappa a cronometro'' "stopwatch stage"). There are also trac ...

and a silver for the road race. After five years on the U.S.

handcycling A handcycle is a type of human-powered land vehicle powered by the arms rather than the legs, as on a bicycle. Most handcycles are tricycle in form, with two coasting rear wheels and one steerable powered front wheel. Despite usually having t ...

team, she took up

Nordic skiing Nordic skiing encompasses the various types of skiing in which the toe of the ski boot is fixed to the binding in a manner that allows the heel to rise off the ski, unlike alpine skiing, where the boot is attached to the ski from toe to heel. Re ...

in 2002 and began competing in the world cup circuit 2004. Bascio competed at the Paralympic Winter Games Torino 2006, where she finished fifth in the 10-kilometer cross-country race and fourth in the sprint biathlon race. Bascio placed second overall in the IPC Nordic Skiing World Cup in 2009 after winning the bronze in the 5k Paralympic Test Event at

Whistler Olympic Park The Whistler Olympic Park is the location of the Nordic and Biathlon events facilities for the 2010 Winter Olympics and is located in the Madeley Creek basin in the Callaghan Valley, west of Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. The facility hosted ...

. In 2011 Bascio won the overall title for the

UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup UCI most commonly refers to: * University of California, Irvine, a public university in Irvine, California, United States * Union Cycliste Internationale, the world governing body for the sport of cycling UCI may also refer to: * Uganda Cancer In ...

and won the world title for both the time trial and road race at the UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships. In 2012, Bascio won two

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

s in the individual time trial and road race at the Paralympic Games London 2012. Bascio won every UCI Para-cycling competition she entered in 2013, and again won the overall world cup titles and the world championship titles in both the road race and time trial.

Doping case

On May 26, 2012, during urine testing, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) found

tuaminoheptane Tuaminoheptane (, ; brand names Heptin, Heptadrine, Tuamine; also known as tuamine and 2-aminoheptane) is a sympathomimetic agent and vasoconstrictor which was formerly used as a nasal decongestant. It is still used in France as a nasal decong ...

, a banned substance that she was using prior to the UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup event which started a day before the test. She accepted a 3-month ban from the

United States Anti-Doping Agency The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA, ) is a non-profit, non-governmental 501(c)(3) organization and the national anti-doping organization (NADO) for the United States. To protect clean competition and the integrity of sport and prevent ...

for an unintentional anti-doping rule violation and was stripped from her awards and prizes due to the violation. She apologized, and was reinstated for competition on August 26, the day before she traveled to the 2012 London Paralympic Games.

Personal life

Bascio resides in

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010 United States Census, 2 ...

, with her husband Ian and son. She has worked as an

occupational therapist Occupational therapists (OTs) are health care professionals specializing in occupational therapy and occupational science. OTs and occupational therapy assistants (OTAs) use evidence-based practice, scientific bases and a Holism, holistic perspec ...

specialising in older people. Bascio was elected to the IPC Athlete's Council in 2016. In 2018 she was appointed to the IOC Athlete's Entourage Commission and invited to serve as part of th
Adaptive Spirit
Board of Directors.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bascio, Monica Living people 1969 births American female cyclists American sportspeople in doping cases American female cross-country skiers Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Doping cases in cycling Paralympic cyclists for the United States Paralympic silver medalists for the United States Medalists at the 2011 Parapan American Games Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Sportspeople from Massapequa, New York Sportspeople from Evergreen, Colorado American female biathletes Paralympic medalists in cycling 21st-century American sportswomen San Jose State University alumni Occupational therapists 20th-century American sportswomen Parapan American Games medalists in cycling Parapan American Games gold medalists for the United States