“The legacy I want to leave is that we progress our knowledge around how to enable Paralympian athletes to continue competing in a safe and healthy way. In addition to keeping them safe, we’re showing the world that these are real athletes that have trained their whole lives for this opportunity.” – Dr. Cheri Blauwet on her role as Chief of the medical unit that advised athletes at the 2016 Rio Summer Paralympic Games.
Injured in a childhood farming accident that left her paralyzed from the waist down, Cheri Blauwet, drew inspiration from her family and friends in Larchwood, Iowa, as she was encouraged to participate as a wheelchair competitor on her high school track team. At the University of Arizona, she excelled in both athletics and academics as she raced in events from 100m to the marathon, while gaining a degree with high honors in molecular biology.
On a journey that saw her graduate from Stanford Medical School in 2009, Blauwet combined her studies with a professional athletic career that’s nothing short of remarkable. While competing for the United States in the 2000 and 2004 Paralympic Games, Blauwet compiled the following record:
2000 Sydney Games, Silver in 100m
2000 Sydney Games, Bronze in 200m
2000 Sydney Games, Bronze in 400m
2000 Sydney Games, Bronze in 800m
2004 Athens Games, Gold in 800m
2004 Athens Games, Bronze in 5000m
2004 Athens Games, Bronze in marathon
It’s a listing that invites a double take. Winning medals in both the 100m and marathon among the world’s best, while combining her training with medical studies, is the essence of over- achievement.
In addition, she is a four-time winner of the Los Angeles Marathon and two-time winner of both the BAA and New York City Marathons.
Her career path led to Boston, where she serves as an Associate Professor in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School and the Founding Director of the Kelley Adaptive Sports Research Institute. Her clinic website describes her work as follows:
“Dr. Blauwet is a pioneer and change agent in the area of disability and health equity, with a specific focus on sport and physical activity for health promotion and chronic disease prevention. She is deeply committed to ensuring that opportunities for achieving optimal health are equitable and universally accessible to all, inclusive of people with disabilities.”
In a city blessed with a variety of sports champions and stars in the field of medicine, Dr. Blauwet stands out as a singular presence. In 2015, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Emerson College and the following year she received the Harold Amis Diversity Award from Harvard Medical School. In 2017, she was named one of Boston’s Ten Outstanding Young Leaders by the Boston Chamber of Commerce. In 2023, she was elected chair of the board of governors of the Boston Athletic Association, an organization for which her combination of skills offers the perfect opportunity to continue her life-long advocacy for the inclusion and encouragement of citizens with disabilities.
She is one of America’s great champions and ambassador/advocates for inclusion in world sports.
