Daniel Cnossen
American biathlete and cross-country skier
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Daniel Cnossen (born May 17, 1980) is an American motivational speaker, and is a former Navy SEAL and paralympic athlete.[1][2]
United States| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | May 17, 1980 Topeka, Kansas, United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Country | United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Paralympic cross-country skiing and Paralympic biathlon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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He competed as a biathlete and cross-country skier at the 2022 Winter Olympics.[3] He won gold in the Biathlon at the 2018 Winter Paralympics – Men's 7.5 kilometres in the sitting division.[4]
He is a native of Topeka, Kansas and a double amputee.[5] He lost both legs, above the knees, in the War in Afghanistan due to an improvised explosive device.[6] Cnossen also competed at the 2014 Winter Paralympics. Cnossen graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 2002.[7] He earned a Master of Public Administration in 2016 from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and also a Master of Theological Studies in 2018 from the Divinity School.[8]
2018 Winter Paralympics
Cnossen competed at the 2018 Winter Paralympics and created history in his second Paralympic appearance after claiming a gold medal in the men's 7.5km sitting biathlon event.[9][10] In doing so he became the first American male and the second American ever to claim a gold medal in a biathlon event in either the Olympics or Paralympics after Kendall Gretsch, who achieved the feat at earlier at the same Paralympic games.[11][12]
In addition to his gold medal achievement, Cnossen also clinched silver in the men's 15km cross-country skiing sitting, 12.5km biathlon sitting, 15km biathlon sitting and 10km cross-country classical sitting, and a bronze medal in the 1.1km cross-country sprint sitting.[13][14] That year, Cnossen was named Male Paralympic Athlete of the Games as part of the 2018 Team USA Awards.[15]
