First Paralympic Games Later Than Expected But Right On Time For Aaron Keith

The journey to the Paralympic Games took road and track cyclist Aaron Keith five years longer than he thought. He had a road time trial title from the 2014 world championships, and other strong big competition finishes, making it seem quite logical he would make Team USA for the Paralympic Games Rio 2016. 

But it didn’t happen at the U.S. Paralympic Team Trials or via selection. Keith was left figuring out what went wrong and how to rebuild for Tokyo 2020.

Keith’s story finally has a happy ending, as he is headed to Tokyo as a first-time Paralympian at age 50.

“It’s been a long journey when I think about it — I’ve been on the national team since 2013,” Keith, a native of Woodinville, Washington, said. “It’s been a long time, and the lengthy process has definitely been worth it…even when I wasn’t sure how it would work out. I’m not going to lie; it was a tortuous process after not making the team in 2016. I think I took it too for granted that I was going to Rio. That crushed me, I was definitely pretty sad.

“But I got out of it, and said there had to be some reassessing. I did it, and here we are now.”

Keith grew up cycling, growing serious about competing when he went to the University of Virginia. He was on the Cavaliers’ team and also a local club team in Charlottesville. His star in the amateur ranks was rising, and he was named the top all-around rider in the state in 1993. 

He was involved in a mountain biking accident in the fall of 1993, fracturing the 12th thoracic vertebra. The recovery process involved multiple surgeries and lengthy rehab stints. Keith’s cycling career continued, now as a Para-cyclist, because of lingering paralysis below the knee. Keith has accumulated five world championship medals in his career, including the aforementioned gold in 2014 and another in 2019.

He’s balanced his elite riding career with being a practicing chiropractor, a double full-time duality made more challenging over the past year thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“2020 kind of threw everything out the window, so I was pretty much focusing my time at the clinic,” Keith said. “I was approaching things, after I knew Tokyo was moved to 2021, like there was going to be a fictitious Games last summer. I was still training and riding well, I was super fit this time last year. My approach for this year was, let’s see if we can replicate that going into 2021. I’ve been working really hard.

“But having COVID around and the clinic really opened my eyes up to keep perspective. Things can change fast.”

His hometown has been excited about Keith’s Paralympic status, from people on the street congratulating him to overwhelming levels of supportive messages. He was named grand marshal of the annual town parade, an honor that surprised him. But like all things during COVID times, Keith’s honor came with a twist: no parade this year for public health reasons. 

Keith’s challenge in Tokyo will be balancing the road and track competitions, which are normally separate seasons outside of the Games. The disciplines, and training required, are different skill sets. Road racing is more of a tactical grind, knowing how to manage the field and the conditions. The track events are speed, speed, speed, with more emphasis on fast-twitch reactions.

Keith, along with other members of the U.S. Paralympic Team, just completed a pre-Tokyo training camp. He said it was great to hang out with the team and share the experience of preparing for the Games. 

“It’s been great, I really feed prepared to go,” Keith said. “Hopefully things go as planned in Tokyo, I’m going there to give it everything I have.”