GLENDALE, Ariz. — Allysa Seely is making the Valley proud at the 2024 Paris Paralympics: the three-time Paralympian is taking home the bronze in triathlon.
Seely was born and raised in Glendale, attended Mountain Ridge High School and went to ASU. It was in college that she was first drawn to the triathlon, wanting to challenge herself in new ways.
But soon after her first competition, Seely began showing signs of neurological problems. After over a year of struggles, doctors found out she had herniated her brain into her spinal column. She was diagnosed with Chiari II Malformation, basilar invagination and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which affects her brain, spine and connective tissues.
Seely worked hard to rehabilitate and competed at the national collegiate level, but the pain returned, and she was given no other choice but to have part of her leg amputated in 2013.
Before she became a part of the first triathlon event in Paralympics history in 2016, Seely told 12Sports Cameron Cox that she made herself a promise when she first underwent surgery.
"I promised myself, no matter what happened, I would start living again," Seely said.
And live she has.
The now 35-year-old is a three-time medalist in three straight Paralympic games, winning the gold in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, gold in Tokyo 2020 and bronze in Paris.
Seely has also been featured in ESPN's Body Issue magazine and won an ESPY award.
Congratulations, Allysa!
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