Gretsch, who was born with spina bifida, grew up swimming and competed on her high school’s swim team
She made her Paralympic debut as a winter-sport athlete, winning two gold medals in Nordic skiing at the Paralympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018
She became involved in triathlon after her sophomore year of college, after she was encouraged to join a local paratriathlon club, Dare2tri, while at a swim practice
She especially loves the positive community aspect of triathlon, as well as being able to race outdoors
She is inspired the most by her fellow teammates because she takes motivation from seeing them work hard in practice every day
The biggest satisfaction she gets out of competing in sports is seeing her own personal growth and having the ability to push herself as hard as she can to get better
She finds satisfaction in competing in both a summer and winter sport because she is always in a racing season, so it forces her to maintain a competitive mindset all year
In 2014, Gretsch was named the USA Triathlon Female Paratriathlete of the Year, and in 2015 she was nominated for an ESPY for Best Female Athlete with a Disability
She became a Paratriathlon Gold Medalist at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games and is a three-time World Paratriathlon World Champion, earning the title in 2014, 2015 and 2016

Paralympic Games Paris 2024, silver (PTHC - Women)
Paralympic Games Beijing 2022, gold (10km Middle - Sitting - Women), silver (12.5km Individual - Sitting - Women), bronze (6km Individual - Sitting - Women), 4th (15km - Sitting - Women), 5th (1km Sprint - Sitting - Women), 6th (7.5km - Sitting - Women), 9th (4 x 2.5km Relay Open - Open)
Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020, gold (PTHC - Women)
Paralympic Games Pyeongchang 2018, gold (12km - Sitting - Women, 6km Individual - Sitting - Women), 4th (10km Middle - Sitting - Women), 6th (5km - Sitting - Women), 7th (1km Sprint - Sitting - Women, 4 x 2.5km Relay Mixed - Mixed), 8th (12.5km Individual - Sitting - Women)

Most recent: 2025 – gold (12.5km Individual - Sitting - Women, 3km Pursuit - Sitting - Women, 7.5km Sprint - Sitting - Women)
Years of participation: 12.5km Individual - Sitting - Women 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025; 3km Pursuit - Sitting - Women 2024, 2025; 7.5km Sprint - Sitting - Women 2023, 2024, 2025; 4km Team Sprint - Sitting - Open 2024; PTHC - Women 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024; Team Relay - Open 2022, 2023, 2024; 10km - Sitting - Women 2023; 10km Middle - Sitting - Women 2019, 2022, 2023; 18km - Sitting - Women 2023; 1km Sprint - Sitting - Women 2019, 2022, 2023; 4 x 2.5km Relay Mixed - Mixed 2022, 2023; 15km - Sitting - Women 2022; 6km Individual - Sitting - Women 2019, 2022; 7.5km - Sitting - Women 2022; 12km - Sitting - Women 2019; 5km - Sitting - Women 2019; PT1 - Women 2014, 2015, 2016
Medals: 34 (22 gold, 10 silver, 2 bronze)

Gold – 2025 (12.5km Individual - Sitting - Women, 3km Pursuit - Sitting - Women, 7.5km Sprint - Sitting - Women); 2024 (12.5km Individual - Sitting - Women, 3km Pursuit - Sitting - Women, 4km Team Sprint - Sitting - Open, PTHC - Women, Team Relay - Open); 2023 (10km - Sitting - Women, 10km Middle - Sitting - Women, 12.5km Individual - Sitting - Women, 18km - Sitting - Women, 4 x 2.5km Relay Mixed - Mixed, 7.5km Sprint - Sitting - Women, Team Relay - Open); 2022 (10km Middle - Sitting - Women, 12.5km Individual - Sitting - Women, 7.5km - Sitting - Women); 2019 (12.5km Individual - Sitting - Women); 2016 (PT1 - Women); 2015 (PT1 - Women); 2014 (PT1 - Women)
Silver – 2023 (1km Sprint - Sitting - Women, PTHC - Women); 2022 (15km - Sitting - Women, PTHC - Women, Team Relay - Open); 2019 (10km Middle - Sitting - Women, 12km - Sitting - Women, 5km - Sitting - Women, 6km Individual - Sitting - Women, PTHC - Women)
Bronze – 2024 (7.5km Sprint - Sitting - Women); 2019 (1km Sprint - Sitting - Women)

Melissa.css-t4seef{font-size:1.75rem;}@media screen and (min-width: 48rem){.css-t4seef{font-size:clamp(1.5rem, 4.608176875690327vw, 4.5rem);}}Howard (Morrison)

Athlete Bio.css-igbi2s{margin-left:0.5rem;opacity:0;-webkit-transition:opacity 300ms ease-in-out;transition:opacity 300ms ease-in-out;}.css-igbi2s:is(:focus-visible, [data-focus-visible]){display:inline-block;outline:3px solid var(--anchor-focus-color, currentColor);opacity:1;}#