Adam Bleakney

Adam Bleakney has served as the Head Coach of the University of Illinois Wheelchair Track and Road Racing team since 2005. In that time his athletes have won 55 medals across four Paralympic Games while setting 14 world records on the track, and have won the Boston Marathon, London Marathon, Chicago Marathon, and NY City Marathon. In recognition of such performances, he has been named the USOPC U.S. Paralympic Coach of the Year on three occasions.

In 2017, he established the UIUC Human Performance and Mobility Maker Lab, an interdisciplinary lab where students with and without disabilities collaborate to design and develop assistive technology. Adam is faculty in the School of Art + Design at UIUC and a research affiliate at the UIUC Beckman Institute.

Adam has consulted with BMW, Toyota, Bridgestone Americas, and several Champaign-based start-ups in advancing racing wheelchair and other accessible technology research and development initiatives.