{{Short description|American Paralympic athlete (born 1998)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2021}} {{Infobox sportsperson | name = Daniel Romanchuk | image = Daniel Romanchuk.jpg | caption = Near the half-way mark of Romanchuk's 2019 Boston Marathon victory | birth_name = | nickname = | native_name = | native_lang = | other_names = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1998|8|3|mf=y}} | birth_place = Mount Airy, Maryland, U.S. | residence = | height = 5 ft 8 in | weight = | turnedpro = | disability = Spina bifida | disability_class = | club = | coach = Adam Bleakney | years_active = 2012–present | paralympics = 2016 | education = | website = | pb = | medaltemplates = {{MedalSport|Paralympic athletics}} {{MedalCountry|{{USA}}}} {{MedalCompetition | Paralympic Games }} {{MedalGold | 2020 Tokyo | 400 m T54}} {{MedalGold | 2024 Paris | 5000 m T54}} {{MedalBronze | 2020 Tokyo | Marathon T54 }} {{MedalBronze| 2024 Paris | 400 m T54}} {{MedalCompetition|World Championships}} {{MedalGold|2019 Dubai|800m T54}} {{MedalCompetition|Parapan American Games}} {{MedalGold|2015 Toronto|5000m T54}} }}
'''Daniel Romanchuk''' (born August 3, 1998) is an American Paralympic athlete who competes primarily in wheelchair racing events. He won the Chicago Marathon on October 7, 2018. Less than a month later, he made history as the first American to win the men's wheelchair race at the New York City Marathon, becoming the youngest winner in the event's history.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=November 4, 2018 |title=Mount Airy's Daniel Romanchuk follows Chicago Marathon wheelchair victory with New York City title |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/outdoors/baltimore-marathon/bs-sp-new-york-city-marathon-daniel-romanchuk-20181104-story.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415143942/https://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/outdoors/baltimore-marathon/bs-sp-new-york-city-marathon-daniel-romanchuk-20181104-story.html |archive-date=April 15, 2019 |access-date=2019-04-15 |work=The Baltimore Sun |location=}}</ref> He subsequently won the New York City Marathon race again in 2019 and 2024.
Romanchuk followed up these wins with a win at the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2019. He became the first American man to win Boston's wheelchair division since 1993.<ref>{{cite news | last1 = Pepin | first1 = Matt | last2 = Bowers | first2 = Rachel G. | date = April 15, 2019 | title = Daniel Romanchuk, Manuela Schaer win Boston Marathon wheelchair divisions | url = https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2019/04/15/daniel-romanchuk-wins-boston-marathon-men-wheelchair-division/tN880N1fPEngWf269xqs2I/story.html | work = The Boston Globe | location = | access-date = April 15, 2019 }}</ref> With his victory at the London Marathon in April 2019, Romanchuk also won the World Para Athletics Marathon Championships title.
==Early life== Romanchuk was born in Mount Airy, Maryland with spina bifida, a birth defect in which there is incomplete closing of the backbone and membranes around the spinal cord. When he was 2, his parents enrolled him in an adaptive sports program linked to the Kennedy Krieger Institute in nearby Baltimore. He participated in his first track meet at age 6, but also took part in other sports, including archery, sled hockey, and softball. In track events, he set age-group records and took part in national competitions at an early age.<ref name="RW">{{cite web | url = https://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/a26429007/daniel-romanchuk-wheelchair-racer/ | title = All Roads Lead to Romanchuk | work = Runner's World | last1 = Kuzma | first1 = Cindy | date = February 21, 2019 | accessdate = April 17, 2019 }}</ref> He is of Ukrainian descent.<ref>[https://subscription.ukrweekly.com/2024/08/romanchuk-focused-on-more-than-winning-in-paris/ Romanchuk focused on more than wnning in Paris ukrweekly.com]</ref>
==Paralympics== In the winter of 2014, Romanchuk's mother Kim encouraged him to focus more on track in an effort to make the 2016 Paralympic team. He made the team at age 18, and competed in every track event in Rio, from the 100m to the 5000m.<ref name="RW" />
In 2021, he won the gold medal in the men's 400 metres T54 event at the 2020 Summer Paralympics held in Tokyo, Japan.<ref name="kashafali_reflects_on_journey_from_refugee_to_fastest_man_in_paralympic_history_2021">{{Cite news | last = Berkeley | first = Geoff | date = August 29, 2021 | title = Kashafali reflects on journey from refugee to fastest man in Paralympic history | work = InsideTheGames.biz | url = https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1112329/kashafali-paralympic-sprint-history | access-date = September 15, 2021 }}</ref> He also won the bronze medal in the men's marathon T54 event.
==Marathon racing== Romanchuk entered and finished the Baltimore Marathon, his first, at the age of 14.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.disabledsportsusa.org/athelete-profile/daniel-romanchuk/ | title = Daniel Romanchuk | work = Disabled Sports USA | last1 = | first1 = | date = | accessdate = April 17, 2019 | archive-date = April 16, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190416134424/https://www.disabledsportsusa.org/athelete-profile/daniel-romanchuk/ | url-status = dead }}</ref> In April 2018, he placed 3rd in the London Marathon.<ref name="teamUSA">{{cite news | last1 = McCarvel | first1 = Nick | date = November 4, 2018 | title = Daniel Romanchuk, Just 20, Becomes First U.S. Man to Capture New York City Marathon Wheelchair Crown | url = https://www.teamusa.org/News/2018/November/04/Daniel-Romanchuk-Just-20-Becomes-First-US-Man-to-Capture-New-York-City-Marathon-Wheelchair-Crown | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181104223641/https://www.teamusa.org/News/2018/November/04/Daniel-Romanchuk-Just-20-Becomes-First-US-Man-to-Capture-New-York-City-Marathon-Wheelchair-Crown | url-status = dead | archive-date = November 4, 2018 | work = Team USA | location = | access-date = April 16, 2019 }}</ref>
In October 2018, Romanchuk won the Chicago Marathon with a time of 1:31:34; he beat defending champion Marcel Hug by one second.<ref>{{cite news | last1 = Ryan | first1 = Shannon | last2 = Thompson | first2 = Phil | last3 = Greene | first3 = Morgan | date = October 7, 2018 | title = Britain's Mo Farah and Kenya's Brigid Kosgei win 2018 Chicago Marathon | url = https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chicagomarathon/ct-spt-chicago-marathon-2018-results-20181007-story.html | work = Chicago Tribune | location = Chicago | access-date = April 17, 2019 }}</ref> Less than a month later, he became the first American winner and youngest winner in the history of the New York Marathon's wheelchair event, again defeating Hug (who had won in 2016 and 2017), and again by just one second.<ref name="teamUSA" /><ref>{{cite news | author = <!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> | date = November 5, 2018 | title = Daniel Romanchuk, Just 20, Becomes First U.S. Man to Capture New York City Marathon Wheelchair Crown | url = https://abc7ny.com/sports/desisa-keitany-win-2018-tcs-new-york-city-marathon/4611450/ | work = WABC | location = | access-date = April 16, 2019 }}</ref>
In 2019, Romanchuk won the Boston Marathon in 1:21:36. He became the youngest ever winner of that race, as well as the first American to win Boston since 1993.<ref name="RW2">{{cite web | url = https://www.runnersworld.com/news/a27149611/boston-marathon-daniel-romanchuk-wheelchair-division/ | title = Daniel Romanchuk Is Youngest Man Ever to Win Wheelchair Division at Boston | work = Runner's World | last1 = Sgobba | first1 = Christa | date = April 15, 2019 | accessdate = April 17, 2019 }}</ref> In April 2019, he won the London Marathon with a time of 1:33:38.<ref name="Sun">{{cite web | url = https://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/bs-sp-romanchuk-london-marathon-20190428-story.html | title = Mount Airy's Daniel Romanchuk secures world title with men's wheelchair victory at London Marathon | work = The Baltimore Sun | author = <!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> | date = April 28, 2019 | accessdate = May 2, 2019 }}</ref> In 2019 he also won the Chicago Marathon and he qualified to represent the United States at the 2020 Summer Paralympics held in Tokyo, Japan. He won the bronze medal in the men's marathon T54 event.<ref name="de_rozario_takes_womens_marathon_title_in_thrilling_finish_on_final_day_of_paralympics_2021">{{Cite news | last = Houston | first = Michael | date = September 5, 2021 | title = De Rozario takes women's marathon title in thrilling finish on final day of Paralympics | work = InsideTheGames.biz | url = https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1112619/tokyo-2020-paralympics-marathon | access-date = September 11, 2021 }}</ref><ref name="glory_for_michishita_marathon_tokyo_2021">{{Cite news | date = September 5, 2021 | title = Glory for Michishita, golden sweep for Hug at Tokyo in marathon | work = Paralympic.org | url = https://www.paralympic.org/news/glory-michishita-golden-sweep-hug-tokyo-marathon | access-date = September 13, 2021 }}</ref>
In October 2022, Romanchuk placed second in the 2022 London Marathon, with a time of 1:24:40, two seconds behind Hug.<ref name=London_2022>{{cite web | url = https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2022/10/02/2022-london-marathon-results/ | title = 2022 London Marathon Results | publisher = NBC Sports | date = October 2, 2022 | access-date = October 7, 2022 }}</ref>
In November 2024, Romanchuk secured his third victory in the men’s wheelchair division of the New York City Marathon, finishing 5 seconds ahead of David Weir and completing the race in a time of 1:36:31.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Belson |first=Ken |date=November 3, 2024 |title=Romanchuk and Scaroni Win Wheelchair Races in Sweep for Americans |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/03/nyregion/daniel-romanchuk-susannah-scaroni-nyc-marathon-wheelchair.html |work=The New York Times}}</ref> He had previously won the race in 2018 and 2019.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Feinberg |first=Doug |date=November 3, 2024 |title=Romanchuk wins men’s wheelchair race at NYC Marathon, Scaroni wins women’s event |url=https://apnews.com/article/hug-silver-bullet-marathon-nyc-cc56740eb0d1a5f976bd9b495d03c585 |work=AP News}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|colwidth=40em}}
==External links== {{commonscat}} * {{Team USA|new_id=daniel-romanchuk-802266|old_id=Daniel-Romanchuk|sport=para-track-and-field|archive=20200429095505}} * {{IPC|id=daniel-romanchuk|id2=1206324}} * [https://www.paralympic.org/tokyo-2020/athletes?individualId=76b2797c-fb80-3f7c-bc00-81f0f39f5477 Daniel Romanchuk at the IPC Tokyo 2020 website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210924060300/https://www.paralympic.org/tokyo-2020/athletes?individualId=76b2797c-fb80-3f7c-bc00-81f0f39f5477 |date=September 24, 2021 }} * [https://www.paralympic.org/en/paris-2024-paralympics/athlete/daniel-romanchuk_2487041 Daniel Romanchuk] at the Paris 2024 Summer Paralympics ([https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024-paralympics/athlete/daniel-romanchuk_2487041 alternate link], [https://paris2024.rtve.es/es/paris-2024-paralimpicos/atleta/daniel-romanchuk_2487041 alternate link 2])
{{Footer London Marathon Champions Wheelchair Men}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Romanchuk, Daniel}} Category:1998 births Category:Living people Category:American men wheelchair racers Category:American people of Ukrainian descent Category:Boston Marathon men winners Category:Chicago Marathon men winners Category:Medalists at the 2015 Parapan American Games Category:New York City Marathon men winners Category:People from Mount Airy, Maryland Category:People with spina bifida Category:Sportspeople from the Baltimore metropolitan area Category:Sportspeople from the Washington metropolitan area Category:Track and field athletes from Maryland Category:World Para Athletics Championships winners Category:Paralympic track and field athletes for the United States Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Category:Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Category:Medalists at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Category:Paralympic gold medalists for the United States Category:Paralympic bronze medalists for the United States Category:Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Category:21st-century American sportsmen Category:Parapan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Category:Parapan American Games gold medalists for the United States