SANTIAGO, Chile — Across all competitions during the first official day of the 2023 Parapan American Games, Team USA pieced together a stellar all-around performance. 

Kicking off the Games’ first Cerebral Palsy Soccer match, the U.S. defeated host nation Chile 4-2 at the Estadio Bicentenario Municipal de La Florida. Forward Cameron Delillo led the way with two goals while Shea Hammond and Jacob Kaplan recorded one apiece. 

In the Preliminary Rounds of Goalball, Team USA’s men’s and women’s teams beat Canada. The men’s came away with a dominant 9-2 win while the women’s were 5-3 victors. 

During a game that was decided well before the end of the first quarter, U.S. women’s wheelchair basketball picked up a comfortable 96-10 win over Chile. All 12 members of Team USA managed to get on the scoresheet with Rose Hollerman registering a game-high 18 points. 

“It’s really important for us to start out strong,” Hollerman said postgame. “We played together on both sides of the court as well. We have a lot of energy and we’re excited. 

The Mixed Wheelchair Rugby team won both of its games during the Preliminary Round as well. First, it defeated Chile 62-27 before returning to take on, and beat, Argentina 55-31. Throughout both contests Zion Min Redington led Team USA with a combined 42 tries. 

Tahl Leibovitz clinched gold in the Men’s Table Tennis Singles Class 9 Finals for Team USA after cruising to sweeping victories over Argentina’s Eithan Skliarsky and Brazil’s Lucas Dos Santos. The U.S. also produced two more gold medal winners in Ian Sidenfeld and Jason Van Emburgh who won their Class 6 and Class 3 competitions, respectively. 

In the para-shooting meets, Team USA’s Yanxiao Gong obtained gold in the Mixed 25m Pistol SH1 while Kevin Nguyen and Landon Ruggera placed fourth and fifth in the Mixed 10m Air Rifle Prone SH1. 

Held at the Centro Acuatico, current world record holder Mallory Weggemann came in at third in the pool for the SM7 Women’s 200m Individual Medley. She headlined a plethora of top-three finishes for Team USA ranging from the men’s 50m freestyle to the women’s 100m backstroke. 

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On Sunday: The men’s wheelchair basketball, CP soccer and goalball teams are all in action. Team USA athletes will also feature in wheelchair tennis, boccia and road para cycling. 

Check out the Wheelchair Sports Federation Media page for constant coverage throughout the 2023 Parapan American Games.