At one point or another, Enumclaw has been home to some top athletes — famed hometown hero race car driver Kayse Kahn, World Cup and Winter Olympics skier Judy Ann Nagel , NBA basketball player Swen Nater, and numerous other collegiate and professional sports players.

But Paralympic hand biker Travis Gaertner appears to be the first to bring home an Olympic medal.

Gaertner competed in three hand bike races during the Paris Paralympics from Sept. 4 – 7, placing fifth in the Men’s Road Time Trial (43:27.26, 95 seconds behind third place), fourth in the Men’s Road Race (1:35:30, 90 seconds behind third place), and finally, earned a bronze with fellow teammates Katerina Brim and Matt Tingley in the Mixed Team Relay with a time of 25:50.

“All athletes, when you’re going through all that hard work, pain, and sacrifice, there’s plenty of times when you think, ‘Why am I doing this? Should I do this? This is crazy’,” he said after the race, when he was back home in the ‘Claw. “And then you get there, and you’re celebrating what you’ve done with athletes across the world from all across the world… it’s just fantastic.”

Born without legs, Canadian-born Gaertner’s high-school dream to compete on the world stage in basketball. That dream was realized during the 2000 games, when he won his first Paralympics gold medal in his 20s for Team Canada. He won another gold in 2024.

Around the same time, Gaertner started competing as a hand biker in the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) Cycling World Championships. He earned his first bronze medal in 1998, and another three in 2002, 2019, and 2023.

Gaertner credits his history of top-tier athletics to his drive to push his body to the max, and then some — he calls his talent a gift from God, and that he’s meant to utilize that talent to its full potential.

But he had a slightly different strategy for the Paris Paralympics: take no risks.

Gaertner’s big focus of the games this year for was the relay race, and his three-person team was banking on placing in this event, so any happenstances that would keep them from succeeding in their goal was being avoided as best as possible.

“There was an abundance of caution… to protect that race, because we were one of the favorites to medal,” Gaertner said.

This included Brim and Tingley staying out of other events both due to health concerns and because there was an unusual number of crashes in the road race and time trial events.

While Gaertner did compete in all three events (and even crashed himself in the road race, though he and his custom bike were uninjured/damaged), he said that he pulled back when necessary.

“After I [crashed], I had to take… one turn — it was pouring rain, it was a turn that was in the middle of a downhill — I had to take that turn very easy for the last three laps,” he said. “At the end of the day, that may have cost me a bronze medal… the guy who got bronze, I was with him for most of the race, but I had to let him go every time we approached that turn.”

The relay was the last hand bike event on Sept. 7.

Gaertner was the first out of the gate; he completed his lap in 2 minutes, 36 seconds in the first round; achieved a 2:42 in the second; and rounded out with a 2:42 in the third.

Brim is second. Being a quadriplegic, she is the most disabled team member.

Gaertner said this sort of team set-up is unusual. Most teams try to balance out their disability levels, but Gaertner and Tingly rate on the low end of the disability scale for hand bikes, while Brim ranks high.

But Gaertner called her their “secret weapon” because of her high degree of talent and strength relative to her level of disability.

Brim finished her round one lap in 3:08; the round two lap in 3:10; and the third lap in 3:15.

Tingly finished his first lap in 2:43; the second, 2:48; and the third, 2:47.

Now back home, the question is: will we see Gaetner back in the races in four years?

“I don’t know the answer to it yet,” he said. “I’m going to take a little time off right now, and probably get back on the bike in a day or two.”

But the clock is ticking, as Paralympic levels of athleticism is a lifestyle; even on vacations, Gaertner has to bring his equipment and train every day in order to achieve these results.

“Within the next… four weeks, I’ll probably make a preliminary decision,” he continued.

You can follow Gaertner’s training and competitions on his website at gaertnergold.com or on instagram at instagram.com/travis.gaertner.

Team USA rally hand bikers Travis Gaertner, Katerina (Kate) Brim, and Matt Tingley. Courtesy photo