CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Dan Cnossen MPA '16, MTS '18 won a gold medal in mixed relay cross-country to conclude his run at the Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, while also competing in five other events in his third Paralympic Games.
 
Cnossen helped Team USA win the mixed 4x2.5-kilometer relay on March 13 with a gold-medal winning time of 25:59.3. The medal marked Cnossen's second gold medal at the Paralympics and seventh medal overall in his career.
 
Taking part in five other events across the disciplines of cross-country skiing and biathlon at the 2022 Paralympic Games, Cnossen placed fourth in sprint biathlon, sixth in long-distance cross-country, seventh in individual biathlon, 12^th in middle-distance biathlon, and 13^th in sprint cross-country.
 
A three-time Paralympian (2014, 2018, 2022), Cnossen has totaled seven medals in his career – two golds, four silvers, and one bronze. At the 2018 PyeongChang Games, Cnossen compiled one gold, four silvers, and one bronze medal following his Paralympic debut at the 2014 Sochi Games.
 
A former Navy SEAL, Lt. Cmdr. Cnossen was serving as the platoon commander for SEAL Team One in Afghanistan in September 2009 when he stepped on an IED (improvised explosive device) and was wounded in the explosion. The accident caused him to lose both his legs just above the knee. Cnossen went through rehabilitation first at the Bethesda National Naval Medical Center and later at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where he learned to walk with his new prosthetics. Cnossen was awarded both a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star with Valor from the Secretary of the Navy for his service in combat.
 
A native of Topeka, Kan., who grew up on a fifth-generation family farm, he earned a bachelor's degree from the United States Naval Academy in 2002 prior to gaining master's degrees from Harvard in 2016 and 2018.