‘Had one job’: See how this NC Paralympic athlete celebrated his silver medal at 2024 Olympics

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — It was just a few months ago that we interviewed Paralympic athlete Carson Clough, who was training for his first Olympic games. The Charlotte native is a cofounder of Giddy Goat Coffee Roasters in Plaza Midwood.

“When are you going to get a chance to swim right next to the Eiffel Tower? I had a great experience with it,” Clough told Queen City News.

He says winning a silver medal in the men’s PTS4 triathlon in Paris tasted oh-so-good. There was a celebratory shotgun.

“My little brother had one job,” he said, “and that was to get a case of Busch Light to Paris, and so when he showed up with the Busch Light at the end of the race.” Clough added, “that was the best tasting beer I’ve had in a long time!”

Even better were the friends and family who made the trip to celebrate with him.

“I was passing this and my leg around the bar,” he said referring to his silver medal and prosthetic leg.

When asked if his family and friends were posing with both, he responded, “more drinking out of this one and posing with the medal.”

Chugging beers out of a prosthetic leg has to be a new way to celebrate an Olympic medal.

Clough is one of many Olympic athletes who trains at the U.S. Performance Center on UNC Charlotte’s campus.

“Having the relationship here with the U.S. Performance Center has been completely epic,” said Casey Eichfeld, a four-time Olympian canoeist. “Just totally changing the whole dynamic of training for us.”

“The rehab and facilities that we have from an athlete/medical standpoint just have been so integral in our journey as a team,” said field hockey Olympian Amanda Golini.

The team also trained at UNC Charlotte before the Paris games .

“It’s very science-driven, which we love, and it’s very individualized too,” said another Olympic hopeful.

Back to Clough: Call him a competitor, a guy who makes lemonade out of lemons or a glutton for punishment. He’s already thinking of the next opportunity he can grasp.

“It’s more of ‘onto the next,’ figuring out: ‘Am I going to do sled hockey?’” he asked.

Clough is headed to the White House next week, is in another competition in about a month and hopes to compete in the Winter Olympics.

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