SANTIAGO, Chile — On Thanksgiving Day, Team USA showed prowess amongst the competition once again earning notable gold medals and advancing in elimination rounds in the 2023 Parapan American Games. 

Chuck Aoki and Team USA Rugby earned a gold medal in a revenge match against Canada. The U.S. led throughout the entire match, and Aoki cemented his status as one of the best of all time with the gold medal, totaling 28 tries on the evening, as Team USA won an emotional 57-51 match. 

The rookie-veteran duo of Dana Mathewson and Maylee Phelps earned a gold medal in their doubles finals match against Brazil’s Maria Fernanda Alves and Meirycoll Alves. They lost the first set 6-3, but steered steady and won the second set 6-2 to force a first to 10 third set. The two looked to cruise to an easy win when they went up 9-3, but Brazil fought back and got it to 9-8 before earning the match point.

“I think we kind of reevaluated, we reset (and) we decided to try to play our way into points.” Mathewson said. “And I think we did a good job of kind of taking a deep breath and just starting over in the second set.” 

Men’s and women’s goalball were both dominant in their respective semi finals matches. Men’s defeated Canada by seven thanks to a leading five goals from Russell Young. Women’s only allowed one goal from Argentina on the day in an 8-1 win.

Again, Team USA swimming had multiple medalists on the day. To highlight them all, Haven Shepherd earned her first medal of the Parapan American Games with a gold in the Women’s 200m Individual Medley. Para Athletics also medaled multiple athletes for the second straight day.

On the first day of Para track cycling in the Velódromo, Hannah Chadwick-Dias earned a gold medal, beating Maria Quiroga of Argentina by six seconds. 

Women’s Wheelchair Basketball was tested in the first quarter by Brazil in its semi finals matchup, but proved to be too tough of an opponent and won by thirty thanks to three double digit scorers and strong defense in the third quarter.

“Offensively we were picking and we were running,” Lindsey Zurbrugg, who scored six points, said. “Everyone was clicking together and we just knew where people were.

PHOTO OF THE DAY:

On Friday: Team USA Women’s Wheelchair Basketball will square off against Canada in the gold medal match at 7:00 CLT. Dana Mathew will face Colombia’s Angelica Bernal in the gold medal match in women’s singles after the Men’s Doubles finals. Team USA Men’s Wheelchair Basketball play Argentina in the semifinals 12:45. Both Men’s and Women’s Goalball will compete in back-to-back gold medal matches as well.

Team USA will also compete in Para athletics, badminton, swimming and taekwondo.

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