Kevin Orr
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| Nationality | United States | |||||||||||||||||
| Born | June 29, 1968 | |||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Kevin Orr (born June 29, 1968) is an American Paralympic athlete and coach. Orr won two bronze medals at the 1988 Summer Paralympics in the 800 and 5,000 meter races. Upon retiring from playing, Orr became a coach for Team USA (2001-2004), USA Wheelchair Track (2005-2008) Canada (2009-2016), and Japan (2017-2023).
Orr was born on June 29, 1968, in Algonquin, Illinois to parents Mike and Sue. He was born with a birth defect (arthrogryposis) which caused limited use of his legs.[1] By the age of two, with the assistance of physio therapists at McHenry County Easter Seal Therapy Center, Orr was able to walk with the assistance of crutches.[2]
While attending Jacobs High School, Orr joined the wrestling team with his twin brother and played non-competitive soccer and basketball. Due to his birth defect, Orr was unable to compete in Algonquin's soccer program but, instead, acted as a referee.[3] Orr competed in the 105 weight class as a sophomore but never won a meet. Due to his disability, he was forced to crawl to the mat and start in a kneeling position which resulted in an immediate point for his opponent.[4] During his sophomore year, Orr was inspired to pursue wheelchair sports after watching Sharon Hedrick win a gold medal in the 800-meter wheelchair race at the 1984 Summer Olympics.[1] The following year, Orr competed against older athletes in the Men's Division of the Michigan Avenue Mile Wheelchair Race and finished third with a time of 5 minutes, 29.89 seconds.[5]