Chris Waddell
Chris Waddell is an American Paralympic sit-skier and wheelchair track athlete. He was a promising able-bodied skier while attending Middlebury College in Vermont, before a skiing accident left him paralysed from the waist down.
As a sit-skier, Waddell won medals in the 1992, 1994, 1998 and 2002 Winter Paralympics. As a wheelchair track racer, he represented the USA at the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Summer Paralympics. 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. In 2010, he was inducted into the Paralympic Hall of Fame.
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.
Currently, Wadell has a foundation called "One Revolution" that is dedicated to seeing the world positively, by the use of "Nametags" that define oneself.
