Paratriathlete Hailey Danz Relishes Paris Course, Seeking To Turn Silver Into Gold

Hailey Danz can’t wait to feed off of the energy and encouragement provided by friends and family along a familiar paratriathlon course at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

The 33-year-old paratriathlete – who has trained at and called Colorado Springs, Colorado, home since 2018 – loves everything about the Paralympic course snaking around the heart of the French capital. Starting and finishing at Pont Alexandre III, the course begins with a 750-meter swim in the Seine River. Next, it takes competitors along a scenic four 5-kilometer bike laps, culminating with a mostly cobblestoned four 1.25-kilometer lap run along Boulevard Saint German and Quai D’Orsay, before culminating at the famed bridge.

“I’ve just been honing in on the finer details and getting super specific for the actual course that we’re facing in Paris,” Danz told Team USA, before arriving in Paris. “My goal is just to execute the best race that I’m capable of and I hope that is enough to beat everyone else.

“I was fortunate enough the race last year at a test event, the same course that we’ll be racing. I just feel so lucky because I think out of every sport out there we have the most iconic venue there is. 

“They’re shutting down the Champs Ellysees so we can ride on it and everywhere you look there is an iconic statue or landmark in the background. It’s incredible,” she said.

It will be a feast for the eyes, but naturally, Danz and competitors haven’t visited Paris as tourists. Danz, who has won consecutive Paralympic silver medals at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games and Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games – finishing runner-up to the two-time gold medalist and U.S. teammate Allysa Seely – has unfinished business to take care of on Sunday, Sept. 1. 

The American duo have been the class of the PTS2 category for nearly a decade now. They are two of only four double paratriathlon medalists.

Danz is hoping that fervent support and enthusiasm from family and close friends who have made the journey to Paris will propel her to a third consecutive Parlaympics medal.

“I have a big crew that is coming out and I really, really thrive on crowd support and that is something that I missed in Tokyo,” Danz said. “One of the things that I’m really looking forward to is being on the run course and seeing friends and family cheer me on.” 

In addition to her consecutive Paralympic triathlon medals, Danz has also won three consecutive world titles between 2021-23. ‘Hailstorm USA’ as is her Instagram name took the paratriathlon by storm, capturing her first world title as a 22-year-old, way back in London in 2013.

The Northwestern University garduate took part in her first triathlon in July 2011 in Chicago.

"Crossing the finish line of that first triathlon fundamentally changed how I saw myself. Up to that point, I identified as a cancer survivor and an amputee,” Danz said. 

“In that first race, I became a triathlete - something that only a small percentage of people who are fully able-bodied can say. If I could do that, I could do anything.”

Danz qualifeid for her third Paralympic team, winning her fourth world title in 2023, in Pontevedra, Spain.

“It was overcoming a summer of adversity – a very trusted running blade broke, I got a new one and that one also broke during a training camp in France,” Danz said. “I also dealt with a virus.

“I just felt like everything was stacked against me. I think that race, in particular, will always stand out as a memorable one for me because it felt like everything was spinning out of control. There was so much on the line and I really felt like I wasn’t equipped to do the things that I needed to do.

“I made a very conscious decision to just kind of come back to the things that I value and really align my actions with those values.

“For me, my number one value with eveythign that I do is my relationships – in this case it’s my relatilnships with my teammates, coaches and my support staff. Those relationships are so important."

Danz noted the most important keys to her longetivity and success in the physically demanding sport.

“I really, really do credit my teammtes and the people around me," Danz said. "I made the decision to move out to Colorado Springs in 2018, so that I could train with the group there. Before that, I was doing all my training, on my own, in Chicago”.

Danz recently informed that she is well-prepared, ready and that the “stoke is high,” following a team training camp in Vichy, France, leading up to her third Paralympics.

“Paralympics staging camp done and dusted – it was an unforgettable 2.5 weeks in the French countryside running fast, swimming hard, and playing bikes with my best friends,” Danz wrorte on her Instagram. 

“What a perfect cap on this Paralympic training cycle. After missing my spark for most of this season, I found it in Vichy, and I’m leaving feeling razor sharp and raring to go.”