The body received a total of $68,000 (£54,000/€61,000) under the Grants for Adaptive Sports Programs for Disabled Veterans and Disabled Members of the Armed Forces Programme.

It is intended to be used to help further establish programmes and educational opportunities for veteran athletes.

USA Para-triathlon programming, made possible through the grant award, focuses specifically on its Military Programme.

It follows four fundamental pillars, including exposing athletes to the sport through camps focusing on introductory concepts and skill development, and evoking confidence in injured veterans to feel comfortable with triathlon training and racing equipment.

The two others are educating existing adaptive sport clubs and veteran organisations about the sport through hands-on support, and enabling pursuit of excellence through high-performance support of those who show Paralympic potential.

USA Para-triathlon says it will partner with Veterans Administration (VA) hospitals, Paralympic sport clubs, veteran adaptive sport clubs and major existing veteran games to increase exposure of the sport to veterans.

Additionally, the grant complements another partnership programme between USA Para-triathlon and VA - the Paralympic training allowance - which provides assistance for disabled veterans in their triathlon training.

"The Department of Veterans Affairs enables USA Para-triathlon to create and sustain opportunities for veteran athletes through camps, equipment and travel support," said Amanda Duke Boulet, USA Para-triathlon’s programme manager.

"For five years now, we have been able to provide an unprecedented level of support to both new and continuing Para-triathletes with ties to our nation's military, and we are grateful that we can help develop skills and confidence through this grant funding."

USA Para-triathlon's military programme has received more than $300,000 (£240,000/€269,000) to date from the annual VA grant.

The programme aims to provide appropriate opportunities for all, whether it be to simply learn the requisite skills to swim, bike and run safely for recreation or to train and compete at an elite level with an objective to represent the US at the Paralympic Games.

The US won two Paralympic triathlon gold medals at Rio 2016, with Allysa Seely leading an American clean sweep of the women’s PT2 podium and Grace Norman taking top honours in the women’s PT4.

Hailey Danisewicz finished runner-up in the women’s PT2, while Melissa Stockwell came away with the bronze medal.