Hoang, who competes as a wheelchair athlete in track and field events, made her first appearance on Team USA at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo
On Tuesday (Jan. 11), Vancouver Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle presented Paralympian athlete Yen Hoang with the Key to the City.
Hoang, who competes as a wheelchair athlete in track and field events, made her first appearance on Team USA at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo, competing in the 800-meter, 400-meter and 100-meter events.
Her journey to joining Team USA at the Paralympics has been marked by following achievements:
- At the 2019 Parapan American Games she earned a gold medal in the 800-meter and a silver medal in the 400-meter
- At the 2015 U.S. Paralympics Track & Field National Championships, she placed fourth in the 100-meter and fifth in the 400-, 800-, and 1,500-meter events
- And she placed in the top three at the women’s 2021 Chicago Marathon, 2021 Boston Marathon, and virtual 2020 New York City Marathon
Hoang grew up in the Pacific Northwest and graduated from Evergreen High School in 2015. Her first Paralympic competition was the 2014 U.S. Paralympics Track & Field National Championships.
“Yen has made the city of Vancouver and the entire state of Washington proud by not only competing, but also excelling on the international stage,” Mayor McEnerny-Ogle said. “She embodies the true spirit of commitment to excellence, dedication and achieving success.”
“My next steps are to be better than I once was, to be faster than I once was,” Yen Hoang said. “I’m very internally motivated and just like to be good at what I do. My teammates also motivate me.”
Along with competing in track and field, Hoang enjoys playing wheelchair basketball, as well as competing in cross-country and wheelchair rugby events. Her hobbies include doing crafts in her free time, including oil painting and origami.
She is the third Olympic hometown hero to be honored in the last year. In October, javelin thrower Kara Winger was presented with a Key to the City. The four-time Olympian served as one of two captains of the track and field team in the 2020 Olympics and represented the entire U.S. Olympic Team by carrying the flag in the closing ceremonies
In August, gymnast Jordan Chiles was also presented with a Key to the City. Chiles graduated from Prairie High School in 2019. She competed in the vault, floor exercise and balance beam events at the summer Olympics and won a silver medal for Team USA in the women’s artistic all-around event.
