Karissa Whitsell won one gold and three total medals in cycling in the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games, and four metals in 2004 in the Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece. She was named the 2004 Athlete of the Year by the U.S. Association of Blind Athletes.
We daily read the sports pages of our local newspaper. Even though Karissa grew up in adjacent Springfield and still lives here in our cycling-crazy city of Eugene, we had never heard of her until last week when we found out that Harriet's co-worker Lisa Turnbull had moved to the Olympic Village in Boulder, Colorado. Lisa will be training with Karissa after they won the Time Trial event of the USA Cycling Paralympics Road National Championships in Augusta, GA.
We are wondering how much coverage she would be receiving if she were in the Olympics and not the Paralympics. Better late than never, we're glad to know of Ms. Whitsell, and will be following her cycling career from now on.
