The Olympics may not have started yet, but two eleven-year-olds from the Upper East Side have just brought home gold.
Harry Houng-Lee and Rishi Upadhyay took home a total of eight gold medals at the 67th annual Move United Hartford Junior Nationals in Birmingham, Alabama, which took place on Sunday and Monday.
The competition is the “largest, long-standing annual multi-sport event in the United States for youth with a physical, visual, and/or intellectual impairment who are classifiable under the International Paralympic Committee’s classification system.”
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The sponsoring organization, Move United, is an official U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee affiliate and works to use sports to create opportunities for people with disabilities.
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Harry and Rishi found their way to the Junior Nationals through the Rising New York Road Runners Youth Wheelchair Program, and were two of the program’s five kids who qualified for the event this year. Collectively, the boys participated in six events and won a gold medal in all of them: Harry took gold in the 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m and 1500m, and Rishi took gold in the 60m, 100m, and 200m.
Harry Houng-Lee
Harry Houng-Lee has been interested in wheelchair racing for some time. He would get up early each year with his family to watch the professional wheelchair racers in the TCS New York Marathon, before he joined the NYRR program several years ago. This was his third time competing in the Move United Junior Nationals, and he hopes to attend the University of Illinois to join their wheelchair racing program and one day race in the Paralympics. In additional to racing, Harry also does adaptive rock climbing and skiing.
Rishi Upadhyay
Rishi Upadhyay hasn’t been racing as long, joining the NYRR program in 2022. It was his first time at the Junior Nationals, although he also qualified in 2023 and did not compete. This year, he was honored as the Rising New York Road Runners Wheelchair Racing Athlete of the Year.
New York Road Runners is a New York City-based nonprofit that “builds healthier lives and stronger communities through the transformative power of running.” Their Upper East Side run club is free to join and meets Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 9:00 a.m. The Rising New York Road Runners Youth Wheelchair Program is free for youth with physical disabilities ages 6 to 21 and offers weekly training sessions in-season. They also offer resources for schools that help them adapt exercise for children with disabilities.
July is Disability Pride Month, a month that observes the promotion of “visibility and mainstream awareness of the positive pride felt by those within the disability community.” Harry and Rishi are certainly doing just that by pursuing their dreams and coming out on top in this important competition.
