For the first time ever, the paratriathlon is at the Paralympic Games and a Wauwatosa woman could be the person to beat.
Hailey Danisewicz is gunning for gold this summer in Rio, but just five years ago, Hailey's Olympic dreams weren't dreams at all.
“There are some kids that grow up, like dreaming of being Olympians and like that wasn't really me,” Danisewicz said. “This wasn't really something that I planned on doing.”
In 2003, Danisewicz was diagnosed with bone cancer in her left leg. She'd undergo a year of chemotherapy and several reconstructive surgeries. In 2004, she was declared cancer free.
“But then for the next year or so, I just wasn't really able to recover from the surgeries and I had this leg that was basically functionless,” Danisewicz explained. “So after a year of dealing with that and trying to put that chapter of my life behind me, and just not making much progress, I decided that I would have a much higher quality of life with a prosthetic, so when I was 14, I made the decision to have my leg amputated above the knee.”
“I remember going into that surgery and being very scared,” she went on. “But I also knew that this decision was going to lead to something better. It was going to lead to something great. And I didn't know what that something was just yet, but I knew that it was out there and it was that knowledge that really made me at peace with everything, and so now, going to Rio. It really made me realize everything kind of came full circle like this was my thing.”
A 750 meter swim, 13 mile bike and 5K run.
“I will never be out-suffered,” Danisewicz said with passion. “I know how to suffer harder than anybody.”
In Rio, the Wauwatosa-native will suffer and shine as she returns to the same course she won on last year to qualify for the games. As for that moment when Danisewicz qualified, she said, “Gosh, that was unbelievable,” she described. “When I crossed that finish line, I really just tried to take it all in and say okay, this is what this feels like, this is what this moment looks like and that moment is one that I replayed in my head so many times.”
Danisewicz said that at 25 years old, for an endurance sport, she's young. She still has about a decade left in her of high-level competition, so that means as a pioneer in the paratriathlon world, this is just the beginning of getting to know Hailey Danisewicz.
