Republican North Carolina Congressman Madison Cawthorn sees to like to exaggerate his achievements.  Claiming he was going to go to the Naval Academy before a car crash that left him paralyzed from the waist down.  (He had his application to Annapolis rejected.)  His claim that he ran a successful real estate business.  (He formed it just as he started his campaign in 2019 and it had zero revenue and only himself as an employee.)

Now comes word that his claimed glory in the Paralympics–where he boasted he would compete in the 400-meter dash at the 2020 Games in Tokyo–was another load of hooey to add to the pile.

The Nation reports that no one in the world of serious parasports has ever heard of Cawthorn or seen him at any qualifying events necessary to join a national team and make it to compete in the Paralympics.

Cawthorn would frequently post to social media that he was “training for the Paralympics,” but there’s no evidence that he was doing any actual training and doing little more than simply exercising.  He even told a Christian podcast “I had an opportunity for the Paralympics for track and field,” although he never even entered a qualifying race.

“It’s like a kid saying they want to play in the NBA when they’re on their fourth-grade basketball team,” said Amanda McGrory, a three-time Paralympian who has earned seven medals in track and field.

Most damning, however, is the International Paralympic Registry, which athletes have to be on in order to qualify internationally.  More than 4,000 parathletes are ranked, as well as having their handicaps graded for severity, to make competitions fairer.

Cawthorn’s name isn’t one of the 4,000 on the list.