The five-person team is composed of 2010 Paralympian Patrick McDonald (Madison, Wis.); David Palmer (Mashpee, Mass.), a member of Team USA in 2012; two-time Paralympian Jimmy Joseph (New Hartford, N.Y.); Penny Greely (Green Bay, Wis.), a member of the last two world teams; and 28-year-old Meghan Lino (East Falmouth, Mass.), who will make her debut as a member of the national team. These five athletes will represent Team USA at the 2013 World Wheelchair Curling Championship on Feb. 16-23 in Sochi, Russia.
These athletes will be given top consideration to be nominated to the 2014 U.S. Paralympic Team, which will compete in Sochi, Russia, on March 7-16, 2014. The five Paralympic athletes will be officially named in December 2013.
Team USA finished fifth at last year's world wheelchair event and secured essential qualifying points for the U.S. for the 2014 Paralympic Games. The Americans are in good shape to earn a berth for the Paralympic Games as they are in sixth place in the qualification standings and will earn a minimum of a single qualification point by competing in the 2013 world championship. Countries earn points at the three world wheelchair championships in the lead-up to the Paralympic Winter Games. The 10 qualified nations will be formally announced after the 2013 world event. For a complete look at the qualification standings, please visit the World Curling Federation website at http://www.worldcurling.org/curling-at-the-paralympics.
