Wauwatosa Native Takes Silver In Tokyo 2020 Paratriathlon

WAUWATOSA, WI — A Wauwatosa native won a silver medal in a paratriathlon event Saturday at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games.

Hailey Danz won the 2nd place medal after leading the race from the first five-kilometer mark of the bike ride through to the third lap of the run, Team USA wrote about the win.

Hailey Danz, 30, graduated from Wauwatosa East High School. When she was 12, she was diagnosed with bone cancer. Two years later her leg was amputated. Afterward, Danz picked up downhill skiing and then triathlons.

Danz's triathlon career took off in the years following her cancer treatment. By 2015 she was named the USA Triathlon Paratriathlete of the Year, according to her Team USA biography. Danz won a silver medal in the PT2 paratriathlon at the 2016 Rio De Janeiro Paralympic games.

“We’re training partners at home in Colorado, so today felt like another day at the office. My goal was to tear up the bike course and create as much of a gap as I could on there, and that went really well,” Danz said in Team USA's report about the win Saturday.

Danz crossed the finish line 55 seconds behind the gold winner, but had led for much of the race, Team USA wrote. It's her second silver Paralympic medal.

Allysa Seely, also a member of Team USA, passed Danz in the third lap of the paratriathlon run to take gold.