Courage Kenny Employee Named Finalist for Paralympic Hall of Fame
A longtime Courage Kenny employee is in the running for a distinguished honor in sports. Susan Hagel has been named a finalist for the Class of 2025 Paralympic Hall of Fame.
Since the 1970s, the name Susan Hagel and women’s wheelchair basketball have been synonymous. She joined her college’s team at the University of Illinois her sophomore year.
“I actually was in the very first basketball game between two women’s teams,” Hagel said.
As her team improved, they competed internationally. She became a member of the U.S. women’s national wheelchair basketball team and stayed on the team for 25 years.
Hagel medaled five times in four Paralympic games — two gold medals in archery in 1976, a bronze in basketball in 1980, a gold in archery in 1984 and a gold in basketball in 1988.
“You know, there is nothing better than when you do win the gold medal, and they play the Star-Spangled Banner!” Hagel reflected.
A Career in Recreation
At the start of her Paralympic pursuits, Hagel also started her therapeutic recreation career at Sister Kenny, now called Courage Kenny, in Golden Valley.
“That if I can help someone to figure out how to navigate your life as a newly disabled person, that’s what I wanted to do. Because I didn’t have that,” Hagel said.
She worked with people like Ian Lynch, an eventual wheelchair basketball gold medalist. Hagel immediately became a mentor to Lynch, and encouraged him to try out wheelchair basketball.
“She was my therapeutic recreational specialist when I was first paralyzed,” Lynch said. “She was one of the first people in a wheelchair that I met.”
He said he didn’t realize what a pioneer she was until he made it to the Paralympics himself. There, he said he saw her on a banner– and it was a full-circle moment.
“It’s incredible what she’s done over her lifetime, and it’s not these big home-run hits. But it’s step-by-step, being able to build a legacy like that. It’s really powerful to me,” Lynch said.
Hagel has spent her entire career at Courage Kenny. She also started a therapeutic recreation golf program, which she still volunteers with after her retirement.
Hagel and Lynch during one of his childhood therapeutic recreation appointments.
Going for Gold… One More Time
Hagel’s story is still being told. She was recently named a finalist for the U.S. Paralympic Hall of Fame.
“Twenty-five years have gone by since I retired from competitive sport. And now, to have this nomination is just so special to me,” Hagel said.
She said she’s proud of the legacy she continues to leave — even if as she said, she didn’t realize that’s what it was at the time.
“You know, it makes me proud to have been a part of getting it started, and providing opportunities for girls and women now,” Hagel said.
People can cast their votes for Hagel, other Paralympians and Olympians on Team USA’s website. Paralympic individuals are on the second page of voting.
Voting closes on April 10.
Hagel with her five Olympic medals.
