2021 Paralympians with Ties to CT
A handful of athletes with ties to Connecticut will represent the United States in the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics this month.
After the COVID-19 pandemic delayed both the Olympics and Paralympics a year, athletes not only got an extra year of training and conditioning, but were able to take the needed time off to heal bodies and undergo minor reparative surgeries.
Here is a list of the local Connecticut athletes competing in the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo:
BRIANNA SALINARO
Age: 23
Sport: taekwondo
Hometown: Massapequa, N.Y.
College: Sacred Heart University ‘2020
Background: Salinaro is the first female athlete to compete in para Taekwondo for the U.S. and the first athlete with cerebral palsy to compete in the sport on the world stage. The sport is making its Paralympic debut this summer in Tokyo and will become the first full-contact Para sport in the Summer Games.
MATTHEW TORRES
Age: 20
Sport: swimming — 100-meter freestyle S8, 400m freestyle S8, 100m backstroke S8
Hometown: Ansonia
High School: Fairfield Prep ‘19
College: Fairfield University ‘23
Background: The current Fairfield sophomore was born without the lower portion of his right leg and was missing all but one toe on his left foot due to amniotic band syndrome, which also caused curvature and some index fusion on his hands. He won the 200-individual medley at the 2019 World Para Swimming World Series and is making his Paralympic debut in Tokyo.
COLLEEN YOUNG
Age: 23
Sport: swim — 50-meter freestyle S13, 100m backstroke S13, 100m breaststroke SB13, 200m Ind. medley SM13
Hometown: St. Louis, Missouri
College: Fairfield University ‘20
Background: Young, who is legally blind and born with albinism, was the youngest athlete to compete in the Paralympics at age 14 in 2012, when she finished fifth in the 100-meter breaststroke. She won her first Olympic medal in 2016 in Rio, winning the bronze in the 100m breaststroke.
KAREN PETRIK
Age: 23
Sport: rowing, PR3 mixed four with coxswain
Hometown: Glastonbury
High School: Glastonbury High School ‘15
College: University of Rhode Island ‘19
Background: The U.S. has won six straight silver medals in the event at the world level, including at the 2016 Paralympics. Petrik, the team’s coxswain, helped the University of Rhode Island win the 2019 Atlantic 10 Conference Championships. The 2020 Summer Games will be her Paralympic debut. She was also a CRCA Athlete Scholar Award winner in 2018 and 2019.
AMY DIXON
Age: 45
Sport: triathlon
Hometown: Encinitas, California
High School: Brookfield High School
College: UConn ‘99
Background: Dixon has lost 98 percent of her vision since the age of 22, but has used her disability to help others and reach the highest stages of athletic competition. Outside of athletics, she is also a certified sommelier and able to identify thousands of wines just by smell and taste. She is making her Paralympic debut in Tokyo.
LAURA GOODKIND
Age: 35
Sport: rowing, PR2 mixed double sculls
Hometown: Los Angeles, Calif.
High School: The Forman School (Litchfield) ’04
College: Crafton Hills College ’09, Southern California University ’13, Whittier College ‘16
Background: Born in New York, Goodkind currently resides in Los Angeles. She placed 10th in the trunk and arms mixed double sculls in the 2016 Paralympics and most recently won the PR2 mixed doubles sculls at the 2020 Olympic Trials.