Shawn Cheshire

Shawn Cheshire is an American para-athlete and United States Army military veteran. Cheshire has competed at the National and International levels in multiple para-sports, including adaptive rowing, adaptive biathlon, tandem road para-cycling, and tandem track para-cycling.

Biography

Born in Harlingen in 1975, Cheshire joined the United States Army in 1994 serving eight years in the as a helicopter armament specialist before transitioning in 2001 to civilian career as an Emergency medical technician. Cheshire was blinded as the result of a 2009 traumatic brain injury that occurred while she was working as a paramedic in the back of an ambulance. Cheshire began tandem cycling in 2012, and was identified as an emerging talent at a 2012 United States Association of Blind Athletes training camp. She first competed internationally in 2013, at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships. Cheshire, with tandem partner Mackenzie Woodring, were selected to represent Team USA in the Women's Tandem Time Trial and Women's Road Race events at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.