Wauwatosa native Hailey Danz battled heat and high humidity to capture a silver medal in the women’s paratriathlon at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo on Friday.
Danz, a graduate of Wauwatosa East High School, also won a silver medal in the same event at the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. She finished second to U.S. teammate Allysa Seely both times.
It’s a @TeamUSA 1-2 finish as @AllysaSeely & Hailey Danz take the top spots 🇺🇸#TokyoParalympics x #TeamUSA pic.twitter.com/HpnG9eM60Y
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 27, 2021
Seeley won in a time of 1 hour, 14 minutes and 3 seconds, followed by Danz at 1:14:58. Italy’s Veronica Yoko Plebani received the bronze medal. Melissa Stockwell of the United States finished fifth. They competed in the paratriathlon PT2 event, designated for athletes with mobility impairments.
28 August – #ParaTriathlon – Women's PTS2
🥇Allysa Seely🇺🇸
🥈Hailey Danz🇺🇸
🥉Veronica Yoko Plebani🇮🇹#UnitedByEmotion | #Paralympics | #Tokyo2020— #Tokyo2020 (@Tokyo2020) August 28, 2021
Seely, Danz and Stockwell were part of a historic U.S. sweep in the 2016 competition in Rio, when the paratriathlon made its Paralympics debut. Danz shaved nearly 10 minutes off her time in this year’s race.
The paratriathlon took place at Odaiba Marine Park, as temperatures climbed into the low-80s with humidity reaching 80%. Danz led the race from the first 5-kilometer mark in the biking portion of the event through the third lap of the run, when Seely passed her.
Hailey Danz (USA) has taken the lead after lap 1 of the bike then it's Veronica Plebani (ITA), Allysa Seely (USA) and Fran Brown (GBR) in the women's PTS2 race at #Tokyo2020@Paralympics
📺 https://t.co/tt8ibXZVM6#ParaTriathlon #BeYourExtraordinary pic.twitter.com/g2UYOWqWPL
— World Triathlon (@worldtriathlon) August 27, 2021
In addition to her two Paralympic silver medals, Danz has a 2013 World title, six total World Championships medals and a 2019 Tokyo ITU Paratriathlon World Cup victory.
Danz is one of two athletes from the Milwaukee area competing in the Paralympics in Tokyo. The other is Jake Williams, a Milwaukee resident who graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, who is a member of the U.S. wheelchair basketball team
