Kortney Clemons
 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | File:Flag of the United States (23px).png United States |
| Born | June 23, 1980 |
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) |
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Kortney Clemons (born June 23, 1980)[1] is an American Paralympic athlete and Iraq War Veteran.[2]
He is featured in the 2009 documentary Warrior Champions about American soldiers who lost limbs or suffered paralysis in Iraq, and their way to the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing.
Early life
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Clemons went to high school in Little Rock, Mississippi. He played football, basketball and baseball.
He played junior college football as a cornerback at East Mississippi Community College before he joined the army.[3]
Military service
[edit | edit source]Clemons is a Purple Heart recipient. He served in the United States Army from 2001 to 2006.[4]
He was working as a combat medic in the 1st Cavalry Division.
Clemons lost his leg in Baghdad, Iraq on February 21, 2005, when he and other soldiers were helping a group of soldiers whose car had hit gravel and tipped over. As they were helping, a roadside bomb exploded, and wounded some and killed others. In the first years since this happened, Clemons has worn a bracelet with the name of three soldiers who lost their lives; 1st Lt. Jason Timmerman, Staff Sgt. David Day and Sgt. Jesse Lhotka.[5]
Paralympic career
[edit | edit source]Clemons attended a clinic held by U.S. Paralympics at Brooke Army Medical Center in 2005, and then a Military Sports Camp, which was when he started track and field training. He first started competing in power lifting, but chose to commit to track and field in 2007.[6]
He is the first Iraq war Veteran to have qualified for the U.S. Paralympic team.[1][2][7]
He tried to qualify for the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing,[8] but did not make the cut.[9] This is featured in the 2009 documentary Warrior Champions.[10] He is now focusing on the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London.[11]
Currently, he is on the roster to compete for the U.S. in the 2016 Summer Paralympics.[12]
National championships
[edit | edit source]He won the 100m (T42) at the U.S. Paralympics Track & Field National Championships, Tempe, Ariz, in 2008.
Education
[edit | edit source]He attended Penn State University and participated in their Ability Athlete program.[13][14][15]
Bibliography
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Filmography
[edit | edit source]- Warrior Champions: From Baghdad to Beijing, a documentary film by directors Brent Renaud and Craig Renaud.[16][17]
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ a b Iraq war vet outruns tragedy, regains athletic drive, USA Today, November 20, 2006
- ^ a b Kortney Clemons Archived 2010-10-06 at the Wayback Machine, Hire Heroes USA
- ^ Wounded veteran Kortney Clemons takes on Oscar Pistorius at the Paralympic World Cup, The Telegraph, May 23, 2009
- ^ House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs - Statement of Sergeant Kortney Clemons, USA (Ret.) Archived 2010-04-10 at the Wayback Machine, veterans.house.gov
- ^ Kortney Clemons: A soldier's story of amputation, haitiamputees.msnbc.msn.com, March 19, 2010
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- ^ Iraq war vet outruns tragedy ; Bomb attack took his leg, but couldn't shake his confidence, USA Today, November 21, 2006
- ^ Iraq war amputee seeks success on track Archived 2012-10-09 at the Wayback Machine, nbcsports.msnbc.com, 2006
- ^ Wounded veterans fill Paralympic ranks, universalsports.com
- ^ Warrior Champions: Behind the scenes with Craig Renaud, U.S. Paralympics, November 10, 2009
- ^ Clemons' Road to London goes straight through Iraq, U.S. Paralympics, November 10, 2009
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- ^ Warrior Champions Archived 2011-10-06 at the Wayback Machine, Austin Film Festival
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External links
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- Kortney Clemons - Profile at the official website of the U.S. Paralympic Team
- Kortney Clemons: A Paralympian Story on YouTube
- Kortney Clemons interview NBC News on YouTube
- Warrior Champions, the official site of the documentary
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