Paralympic quad doubles 4-peat eludes Wa-Hi grad Wagner, Taylor
U.S. tennis players David Wagner and Nick Taylor were the dominant quad doubles team coming into the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics.
Wagner, a 1993 Walla Walla High School graduate, and Taylor, of Wichita, Kan., entered as the three-time defending Paralympic champions.
But Australia’s Dylan Alcott and Heath Davidson dashed the top-seeded Americans’ hopes of a four-peat, beating Wagner and Taylor 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 on Tuesday in the gold-medal match.
Wagner and Taylor, who led 3-0 in the third set before the Australians rallied to go ahead, tied it up at 5 before Alcott and Davidson won the final two games.
Wagner, 42, will play South Africa’s Lucas Sithole on Wednesday for the bronze in quad singles. A win would give Wagner his fourth Paralympic quad singles medal, adding to the bronze he won in 2008 and his silvers from 2004 and 2012.
Meanwhile, Benton City wheelchair track athlete Chelsea McClammer claimed her second medal of these Paralympics, taking bronze in the 1,500 meters-T53/54 as part of a U.S. podium sweep.
Tatyana McFadden won gold in 3 minutes, 22.50 seconds. Amanda McGrory took the silver in 3:22.61, and McClammer was third in a personal-best time of 3:22.67.
McClammer, 22, was the silver medalist Sunday in the 400-T53. She will compete in the 5,000-T53/54 heats Wednesday.
This story was originally published September 13, 2016 at 6:31 PM with the headline "Paralympic quad doubles 4-peat eludes Wa-Hi grad Wagner, Taylor."