Penn State graduate Shawn Morelli earned an ESPYs nomination for Best Female Athlete with a Disability after taking home two gold medals at the 2016 Rio Paralympics in cycling.

The U.S. Army veteran cruised to victory on the opening day of the Paralympics in track cycling’s 3000m pursuit — claiming the first gold medal of the 2016 Paralympics for Team USA after breaking her own world record in the event during the qualifying round.

Morelli took home her second gold medal six days later in the road cycling time trial by a time of 29 minutes and 45 seconds — 29 seconds faster than the silver medalist in the event.

She also swept the four gold medals in the C4 category at the 2017 IPC Track Cycling World Championships and 2017 IPC Road Cycling World Championships.

The Meadville, PA native is up for the award against track and field’s Tatyana McFadden, nordic skiing and rowing’s Oksana Masters, swimming’s Becca Myers, and triathlon’s Grace Norman.

You can vote for Morelli here.

About the Author

Steve Connelly

Unfortunately, former editor Steve Connelly has graduated. Where is he now? He might be doing something related to that PR degree he got in 2019. Maybe he finally opened that sports bar named after one of his photos, the Blurry Zamboni. Or he might just be eating chicken tenders and couch surfing. Anything’s possible. If you really want to know, follow him on Twitter @slc2o.

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