Buffalonians to root for at the 2024 Paralympics

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – The Paralympic Games opened Wednesday in Paris, following the conclusion of the Olympics earlier this month. The event will see 4,400 athletes with disabilities, permanent injuries or impairments compete for 549 medals across 22 sports over 11 days.

Two members of Team USA have ties to Buffalo. Here’s what to know about each athlete.

If you know of another connection to Western New York at the Paralympics, we’d love to hear about it. Email ReportIt@wivb.com with “Paralympic connections” in the subject. To learn more about Buffalonians at the Olympics, click here .

Rayven Sample, Para Track and Field

Hometown : Jamestown

Paralympic appearance: 2nd

Background : Sample, 22, is a sprinter competing in his second Paralympic Games after advancing to the final in the T47 400 meters in Tokyo. This year he qualified in the 100 meters and 400 meters in T47, a Paralympic classification for track athletes who compete with limb deficiency or amputation in their upper body. Sample said in an interview that he has a joint condition in both arms known as Arthrogryposis. He was a three-sport high school athlete for Falconer/Cassadaga Valley before running collegiately at Division I Bucknell.

Fun fact: Sample won a 2019 state title with Falconer/CV’s 4×400 relay team. He also won bronze at the 2023 Parapan American Games in the T47 400 meters (50.68 seconds) while placing eighth in the T47 100 meters (11.56 seconds).

Schedule & results : Sample posted a time of 11.56 seconds in the T47 100 meter heats on Friday, but that time was not fast enough to qualify for the final. T47 400 meter heats are on Sept. 6, with the final on Sept. 7.

Todd Vogt, Para Rowing

Hometown : Rochester, attended the University at Buffalo

Paralympic appearance: 1st, though he was an alternate in Tokyo

Background : Vogt is a 49-year-old Rochester native who graduated from UB in 1996 with a degree in biochemistry. He rowed competitively since college and has also coached at the Division I level. In 2018, he was diagnosed with Young-Onset Parkinson’s Disease. He knew about Para Rowing from his involvement in the sport and quickly got involved. He says Parkinson’s has caused a significant tremor in his left hand and foot and makes his left side less coordinated and rigid, in addition to causing fatigue. Vogt qualified for Paris in the PR3 Mixed Double Sculls boat with Saige Harper, a 22-year-old who rowed at Sacred Heart University. Vogt won silver in the event at the 2023 World Championships, albeit with a different partner.

Fun fact: If Vogt had attended a different college, he probably wouldn’t be competing for Team USA today. “I didn’t know anything about rowing prior to seeing a flyer outside my dorm room,” he told the U.S. Rowing website. He recalled being intrigued by the poster’s four-word slogan: Get fit, make friends . “I went to the informational meeting, was both terrified and excited, and was all-in after the first practice.”

Schedule & Results : Vogt and Harper placed fourth in their heat in PR3 Mixed Doubles on Friday morning. They move on to repechage on Saturday morning. If they finish in the top two in their heat Saturday, they will advance to Sunday’s medal round.

***

If you know of another connection to Western New York at the Paralympics, we’d love to hear about it. Email ReportIt@wivb.com with “Paralympic connections” in the subject. To learn more about Buffalonians at the Olympics, click here .

* * *

Nick Veronica is a Buffalo native who joined the News 4 team as the Digital Executive Producer in 2021. He previously worked at NBC Sports and The Buffalo News. You can follow Nick on Facebook , Twitter and Threads . See more of his work here .