Brad Snyder won gold the first time he entered a pool for a Paralympic competition nine years ago, and he repeated that feat Saturday morning the first time he stepped on a Paralympic triathlon course.
Both times, Snyder had never before won a major international competition in the respective sport.
One of the most recognizable U.S. athletes competing at the Tokyo Paralympics, the U.S. Navy veteran won gold in the men’s PTVI classification (for athletes with a visual impairment athlete) just three years after switching sports from swimming to paratriathlon.
His gold is the first medal for a U.