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Track cyclist Shawn Morelli (MMI class of ’96) wins first U.S. Paralympic medal in Rio

Originally published by NBCsports.com   

"Shawn Morelli wins first U.S. gold medal of Rio Paralympics" Track cyclist Shawn Morelli claimed the first gold medal for the U.S. at the Rio Paralympics, winning the C4 3000m individual pursuit in her Paralympic debut at age 40 on Thursday. Morelli, a U.S. Army veteran, easily won by recording a time of 3:59.407 in the final against Australian defending Paralympic champion Susan Powell, who clocked 4:04.794. Morelli previously broke the world record in March with a time of 3:55.006 at the world championships. Morelli was seriously injured by an improvised explosive device as an engineer officer deployed in Afghanistan in 2007. She sustained neck and nerve damage, brain trauma and blindness in her left eye. She started cycling in 2009. http://olympics.nbcsports.com/2016/09/08/shawn-morelli-wins-paralympics-gold-medal-cycling-rio/ 
Morelli Makes Two Paralympic Gold Medalists from MMI With her Paralympics Rio 2016 Gold Medal, Morelli joins another professional cyclist from Marion Military Institute (MMI) to claim that place on the medal stand. Jennifer Schuble (MMI Service Academy Program class of 1996) earned her Gold Medal in the 2008 Beijing Paralympics in the 500m.