Challenged Athletes Foundation

Last updated
Challenged Athletes Foundation
Founded1997;28 years ago (1997)
Founder Jim MacLaren
Type501(c)(3) Non-profit
33-0739596
Location
  • 9591 Waples Street
    San Diego, CA
Revenue$3,695,032
Endowment $425,000
Website challengedathletes.org

The Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF), established in 1997, assists, supports, and provides opportunity to people with physical challenges, so that they can lead active lifestyles and compete in athletic events. [1] It is founded in the belief that involvement in sports at any level increases self-esteem, encourages independence and enhances quality of life. The Foundation does this by providing funding for training, competition, rehabilitation, and equipment for the challenged athletes. [2] [3] [4] [5]

Contents

The Challenged Athletes Foundation is divided into four different programs: Access for Athletes, Operation Rebound, Catch a Rising Star, and Project N.Ex.T., all of which focus on the betterment of disabled athletes, but vary in their target group. Access for Athletes is the flagship program of CAF.

History

Challenged Athletes Foundation was founded in 1997 in response to below-knee-amputee endurance racer Jim MacLaren who suffered an accident while competing in a triathlon. In June 1993, while competing in a triathlon in Orange County, California, MacLaren was on his bike when a van went through a closed intersection, hit the back of the bike and propelled him into a pole. [6] When he arrived at the hospital he was told that he was a quadriplegic and would never move again from the waist down.[ citation needed ]

Events

The Challenged Athletes Foundation holds a number of high-profile fund raising events in order to raise money to support disabled athletes to compete in sports. These include CAF events with the San Diego Triathlon Challenge; Million Dollar Challenge; Heroes, Heart and Hope Gala held at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City, Hawaii Revisited; Tour de Cove; Rock on the Green and numerous other events under the banner of Race for a Reason. [7] For its 30th anniversary, the CAF held in evening of gratitude for its community and supporters and the event supported Operation Rebound. [8]

Athletes

The Challenged Athletes Foundation has enabled a number of disabled athletes to get to the starting line. Amongst these are Sarah Reinertsen who was the first female leg amputee to complete the Ironman Triathlon World Championships in Kona, Hawaii and a World Marathon Challenge Finisher.

Other well-known challenged athletes include:

References

  1. ↑ "Challenged Athletes Foundation". Challenged Athletes Foundation.
  2. ↑ "Challenged Athletes Foundation's Flagship Fundraising Weekend Return". 12 March 2025.
  3. ↑ "Challenged Athletes Foundation's 'Gravel Grandeur Challenge' swings through Vail". 5 September 2024.
  4. ↑ "Boise trails come alive as Challenged Athletes Foundation hosts annual skills clinic". 31 May 2024.
  5. ↑ Aquino, Steven. "Inside NBCUniversal And The Challenged Athletes Foundation's 'Wicked' PSA". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-11-05.
  6. ↑ D2P2 (2023-05-22). "Challenged Athletes Foundation Distributes $7M". San Diego Business Journal. Retrieved 2025-11-05.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ↑ "» 25 Years". www.challengedathletes.org. 31 July 2018. Retrieved 2020-03-20.
  8. ↑ "Challenged Athletes Foundation hosts an evening of gratitude". San Diego Union-Tribune. 2024-12-02. Retrieved 2025-11-05.
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