Los Angeles 2028 marks the first Paralympics in the U.S. since the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games, the first Summer Paralympics in the U.S. since Atlanta 1996 and the first Paralympics ever to be held in LA.
With two years to go until the Opening Ceremony, here are 10 U.S. Paralympic hopefuls to watch on the road to LA ...
Chuck Aoki, Wheelchair Rugby
Aoki is the first four-time U.S. Paralympian in wheelchair rugby. He seeks his first gold in LA after bronze at London 2012, then silvers at Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020 (where he was an Opening Ceremony flagbearer) and Paris 2024.
“The hunger to be the best is still out there, so that’ll keep pushing me through to LA,” Aoki told CNN after Paris 2024. “Through the good days and the bad days, I’ll keep bringing it, and hopefully we’ll be able to bring it home at home.”
Jaydin Blackwell, Para Track and Field
Blackwell burst on the scene in 2023, sweeping the T38 100m and 400m titles at the World Championships in his first international meet at age 19.
He also pulled off the 100m-400m double at the Paris Games, plus at the worlds in 2024 and 2025.
Just last month, he broke his own T38 400m world record — lowering it from 48.00 seconds to 47.23. His T38 100m world record is 10.64 from Paris 2024.
Declan Farmer, Para Canoe
Farmer, arguably the greatest sled hockey player in history (four gold medals, national team records of 400-plus points and 200-plus goals), is trying to make his first Summer Paralympic team.
He was inspired to pick up Para canoe after seeing hockey teammate Jack Wallace do so in the previous Paralympic cycle. Wallace just missed making the Paris 2024 team and is eyeing LA 2028.
“I’ve been doing the same sport for 20 years, so it’s been a humbling experience to do something new and come last in the race,” Farmer joked after his competition debut in July, according to the International Canoe Federation.
Ezra Frech, Para Track and Field
Frech, a Los Angeles native, announced his goal for his hometown Games years ago: what he calls “the triple crown.”
That’s gold in the T63 100m, high jump and long jump. At the 2024 Paris Games, Frech won the 100m and high jump, plus placed fifth in the long jump.
In 2025, Frech competed collegiately for USC as a freshman, then turned professional, signing with Adidas.
“I want my legacy to be the greatest Paralympian of all time and to be known as someone who changed the way the Paralympics are viewed forever,” Frech said in 2023. “Someone who normalized disability on a global scale and was an example of what is possible as an amputee.”
Katie Kubiak, Para Swimming
Kubiak is the only athlete on this list who doesn’t have Paralympic experience. Kubiak, who has late-onset congenital myopathy, swam at the youth level until 2018, when she had spinal surgery.
She returned to swimming in 2023 and took part in her first Para swim meet in 2024, according to the USOPC. In that first meet, she broke five American records. She was just getting started.
At the 2025 U.S. Championships, she broke four world records in the S4 classification. Then in her World Championships debut in 2025, she won seven medals, including four individual golds, with world records in three events. She’s now prepping for the Para Pan Pacific Championships in two weeks.
Jessica Long, Para Swimming
Long is the most decorated active U.S. Paralympian with 31 medals, including 18 golds, dating to her Paralympic debut at the 2004 Athens Games at age 12.
She is on a break from competition this year, having welcomed twin boys this past Monday. Long has said that LA 2028, should she qualify, will be her final Games.
Oksana Masters, Para Cycling
Back in March, Masters won five medals, including four golds, in Para cross-country skiing and Para biathlon at the Milan Cortina Winter Games, upping her U.S. Winter Paralympic record to 19 career medals.
Masters has also won five Summer Paralympic medals, including sweeping the road race and time trial golds in her classification at the last two Games.
Her 24 total Paralympic medals are third in U.S. history behind Trischa Zorn (55) and Long (31).
Monique Matthews, Sitting Volleyball
Matthews, after taking gold at the last three Paralympics, led the U.S. women’s team to its first world title last month. She had match-highs 21 points, 14 kills and seven blocks in the final against Brazil.
Next, Matthews can be a part of the first U.S. women’s sitting team to compete at a home Paralympics. While the men have had Paralympic volleyball events since 1976, the first women’s tournament was in 2004.
Grace Norman, Para Triathlon, Para Cycling
In 2016, Norman won the first Paralympic women’s triathlon in the PT4 division as the sport made its debut at the Rio Games.
Now in the PTS5 classification, she is the reigning Paralympic gold medalist and reigning world champion. She won the last 23 international triathlons that she has finished dating to the start of 2022, according to the International Triathlon Union.
Norman, who also won T44 400m bronze on the track at the 2016 Games, is trying to qualify for LA 2028 in both Para triathlon and Para cycling. She’s off to a strong start, taking C4 silver in the 2025 Para Cycling Road World Championships time trial.
Jake Williams, Wheelchair Basketball
With longtime captain Steve Serio making Paris his farewell, Williams stepped up at the 2024 Games as the top scorer and MVP as the U.S. won a third consecutive title.
Williams leads the U.S. at next month’s World Championship in Ottawa, the last worlds before the LA Games.
The Milwaukee native doubles as head coach for the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater men’s program, whose alums made up half of the 2024 Paralympic team.
