Dartanyon Crockett

Personal

Dartanyon Crockett was born with Leber's disease, a genetic condition causing progressive vision loss. After his mother died when he was just eight years old, Dartanyon endured a life of transiency and extreme poverty at the mercy of his father who struggled with substance abuse....Wrestling became an important outlet for Crockett throughout high school, and it was on the mats that the he met his best friend, Leroy Sutton. Sutton lost his legs in train accident at age eleven, and Crockett physically carried Sutton on his back through practices and competitions. In 2009, ESPN featured the extraordinary friendship between these two young men, inspiring thousands of viewers to lift them out of poverty....In 2010, Crockett was invited to try blind judo. Just two years into this new venture, he shocked the world by winning a bronze medal at the London Paralympic Games. Crockett has qualified his weight class for the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games with his victory at last year's IBSA World Championships.

Career Highlights

• Five-time Senior National Paralympic Champion (2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010)
• 2015 German Open, Heidelberg, Germany, silver medalist
• 2014 IBSA World Champion
• 2014 German Open, silver medalist
• 2014 International Grand Prix Infraero, San Paulo, Brazil, bronze medalist
• 2013 U.S. Open, bronze medalist
• 2012 Paralympics, bronze medalist
• 2012 Pajulahti Games, gold medalist
• 2011 Para Pan Games, silver medalist
• 2016 Bronze Medalist, Paralympic Games, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• 2015 Silver Medalist, German Open for Blind and Visually Impaired, Heidelberg, Germany
• 2014 Gold Medalist, IBSA World Championships, Colorado Springs, CO
• 2014 Bronze medalist, International Grand Prix Infraero, San Paulo, Brazil
• 2012 Bronze medalist, Paralympic Games, London, United Kingdom
• 2012 Gold Medalist, Pajulahti Games, Nastola, Finland
• 2011 Team Member, IPC Para Pan American Games, Guadalajara, Mexico
• 2011 Team Member , IBSA World Games, Antalya, Turkey
• 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, Gold Medalist , USA Judo National Championships for the Blind and Visually Impaired
• Paralympic Experience: Two-time Paralympian (2012,2016)
• Paralympic Experience: Rio 2016 Paralympic Games: bronze
• Paralympic Experience: London 2012 Paralympic Games: bronze