Kortney Clemons

Kortney Clemons (born June 23, 1980)[1] is an American Paralympic athlete and Iraq War Veteran.[2]

Kortney Clemons
Personal information
Nationality United States
Born (1980-06-23) June 23, 1980
ResidenceLittle Rock, Mississippi
Height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)

He is featured in the 2009 documentary Warrior Champions about American soldiers who lost limbs or suffered paralysis in Iraq, and their way to the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing.

Early life
Paralympic athlete Sgt. Kortney Clemons and former New Orleans Saints running back Deuce McAllister reminisce about when they played against each other when Clemons was a high school freshman and McAllister was a senior.

Clemons went to high school in Little Rock, Mississippi. He played football, basketball and baseball.

He played junior college football as a cornerback at East Mississippi Community College before he joined the army.[3]

Military service

Clemons is a Purple Heart recipient. He served in the United States Army from 2001 to 2006.[4]

He was working as a combat medic in the 1st Cavalry Division.

Clemons lost his leg in Baghdad, Iraq on February 21, 2005, when he and other soldiers were helping a group of soldiers whose car had hit gravel and tipped over. As they were helping, a roadside bomb exploded, and wounded some and killed others. In the first years since this happened, Clemons has worn a bracelet with the name of three soldiers who lost their lives; 1st Lt. Jason Timmerman, Staff Sgt. David Day and Sgt. Jesse Lhotka.[5]

Paralympic career

Clemons attended a clinic held by U.S. Paralympics at Brooke Army Medical Center in 2005, and then a Military Sports Camp, which was when he started track and field training. He first started competing in power lifting, but chose to commit to track and field in 2007.[6]

He is the first Iraq war Veteran to have qualified for the U.S. Paralympic team.[1][2][7]

He tried to qualify for the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing,[8] but did not make the cut.[9] This is featured in the 2009 documentary Warrior Champions.[10] He is now focusing on the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London.[11]

Currently, he is on the roster to compete for the U.S. in the 2016 Summer Paralympics.[12]

National championships

He won the 100m (T42) at the U.S. Paralympics Track & Field National Championships, Tempe, Ariz, in 2008.

Education

He attended Penn State University and participated in their Ability Athlete program.[13][14][15]

Bibliography

Clemons, Kortney; Briggs, Bill (2008). Amped: A Soldier's Race for Gold in the Shadow of War. John Wiley & Sons. p. 288. ISBN 978-0-470-28137-6.

Filmography
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References
  1. Iraq war vet outruns tragedy, regains athletic drive, USA Today, November 20, 2006
  2. Kortney Clemons Archived 2010-10-06 at the Wayback Machine, Hire Heroes USA
  3. Wounded veteran Kortney Clemons takes on Oscar Pistorius at the Paralympic World Cup, The Telegraph, May 23, 2009
  4. House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs - Statement of Sergeant Kortney Clemons, USA (Ret.) Archived 2010-04-10 at the Wayback Machine, veterans.house.gov
  5. Kortney Clemons: A soldier's story of amputation, haitiamputees.msnbc.msn.com, March 19, 2010
  6. "Össur Americas".
  7. Iraq war vet outruns tragedy ; Bomb attack took his leg, but couldn't shake his confidence, USA Today, November 21, 2006
  8. Iraq war amputee seeks success on track Archived 2012-10-09 at the Wayback Machine, nbcsports.msnbc.com, 2006
  9. Wounded veterans fill Paralympic ranks, universalsports.com
  10. Warrior Champions: Behind the scenes with Craig Renaud, U.S. Paralympics, November 10, 2009
  11. Clemons' Road to London goes straight through Iraq, U.S. Paralympics, November 10, 2009
  12. "U.S. Paralympics - Features, Events, Results - Team USA". Team USA.
  13. "Ability Athletics helps Wounded Warriors focus on strengths".
  14. "Penn State Ability Athletics to host Run, Walk and Roll Mile Race Oct. 24".
  15. "BTN LiveBIG: Penn State premiere". Big Ten Network.
  16. Warrior Champions Archived 2011-10-06 at the Wayback Machine, Austin Film Festival
  17. "Stockton to host screening of 'Warrior Champions: From Baghdad to Beijing'". NJ.com.
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