Already A Paralympian In Triathlon, Emelia Perry Is Excelling Now As A Cyclist

In May, Emelia Perry will take in Belgium’s charming countryside and storybook villages, then soak up Italy’s sun-drenched hillsides and coastal vistas.

But make no mistake — this is not a vacation.

Perry is visiting two of Europe’s most beautiful nations as part of the Para-cycling world cup series. She qualified for the events earlier this month with a strong performance at the U.S. Paralympics Cycling Time Trial in Huntsville, Alabama.

What made Perry’s performance particularly noteworthy is that she is new to Para-cycling, at least as a standalone sport. The 32-year-old typically shines in paratriathlon — which includes a cycling component, of course — but she still faced a bit of an adjustment period attempting to qualify in Huntsville.

“I think it went really well,” Perry said. “The individual start was kind of awkward, as usually there are more people around. But I got used to it.”

A native of Philadelphia, Perry spent her childhood in Japan before moving back to the States in 2011 to attend Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, where she competed on the cross country and track teams. Perry remained a dedicated runner until she experienced a spinal cord injury in 2017.

Following a few months of rehab, Perry picked up wheelchair racing. That decision eventually led to her becoming a U.S. paratriathlon national champion in 2022 before making her Paralympic debut in the sport two years later in Paris.

With her focus currently set on cycling, Perry’s committed to making her coaches, teammates and country proud when she goes overseas for the upcoming world cup events.

“Now that I’ve done a race and I’m going to Belgium and Italy, I definitely want to do well there,” she said. “I don’t want to just go to just be in Europe for three weeks. If I’m going to go there, I want to do well.”

The time trials first landed on Perry’s radar thanks to her boyfriend, 2024 U.S. Paralympic cyclist Matt Tingley.

“At first I was like, ‘Maybe I’ll tag along and it’ll be like a road trip,’” Perry said. “Then I thought, ‘Maybe I should race too?’ I felt like it was all for fun, at first, and then I started to feel last year, compared to the intensity of triathlon races, that this was something new. It felt refreshing.”

Indeed, cycling has been a breath of fresh air for Perry, who has enjoyed temporarily focusing on one element of the classic triathlon competition without worrying about the other two.

“In triathlon, when I get on the bike, I’m already thinking about the swim — and when I swim, I’m thinking about how I still have to run,” she noted.

Of the three triathlon components, cycling has historically come the least naturally to Perry. She admits that she didn’t enjoy biking as recently as a few years ago. However, as she has gained the ability to ride faster, climb higher and journey through more interesting places, she has found the cycling component to be more exciting.

As for her future, Perry is determined to take things one step at a time.

“I want to see how this race goes,” she said. “If I can make the world cup team for cycling, then I definitely want to go. But I also want to keep trying with the triathlon side too. Like (Australia’s) Lauren Parker does both — and other people have done both (such as fellow American Grace Norman, who also made the world cup team). I’m not sure if I’m good enough to do both. Closer to the Games, I might have to pick one or the other.”

Like any competitive athlete, Perry wants to go down a path that will be fulfilling but ultimately successful, as well.

“I don’t want to pick both and not do well in both,” she said. “I want to at least do well in one. I think for this year and maybe next year, I want to keep my options open. I want to work on cycling, as well as triathlon, and see where that takes me and maybe narrow it down from there.”

Looking even further ahead, Perry is certainly aware of the Paralympic Games Los Angeles 2028. However, she has a long list of goals that she hopes to accomplish between now and then.

“I definitely want to go to LA and do better than I did in Paris,” she said. “But I feel like right now (the 2028 L.A. Paralympics are only) in the back of my head. It’s in my mind, but I’m not trying to let it dictate everything I do. I want to stay more relaxed this year and next year.”

In fact, that’s a large part of Perry’s mindset as a person and as an athlete. Take things one day at a time, have fun, and along the way, make sure to keep everything in perspective.

“On race days, I try to remind myself that I’m doing this because I want to do it,” Perry said. “It’s going to hurt, but at the same time, it’s supposed to be fun. After I finish, I want to make sure that I gave my all. That I’m happy with what I did.”

After all, even on days when she doesn’t perform her best — or when she attempts a new sport altogether and battles through the adjustment period — Perry can remind herself that she has overcome adversity much greater than this.

“After my spinal cord injury, there was a time where I didn’t feel like I could be an athlete anymore,” Perry said. “That was really hard for me, but I think that’s a big identity for me — as an athlete and as a runner. For that to be taken away from me until I found Para sport, sometimes I remind myself where I was before and after my injury, when I felt like I couldn’t be an athlete anymore, and how hard that was and try to appreciate the fact that I can call myself an athlete again.”

Drew Silverman is a freelance contributor to USParaCycling.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.