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Paralympics

Long Wins 30th Paralympic Medal in Gold Medal Performance

September 5, 2024 by Tara S

by Julie Goldsticker | USA ParaSwimming

PARIS – Six-time Paralympian Jessica Long (Baltimore, Maryland) won her 30th Paralympic medal on Wednesday, scoring gold in the women’s 400-meter freestyle S8. Morgan Stickney (Cary, North Carolina) and Christie Raleigh Crossley (Toms River, New Jersey) each added silver medals in the women’s 100-meter freestyle S7 and 100-meter freestyle S9 respectively.

Long’s gold medal is her sixth in the women’s 400-meter freestyle alone and her fourth first-place finish in the event going back to the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games. She almost didn’t compete in the race following a silver medal finish in Tokyo but Long’s idol and director of U.S. Paralympics Swimming Erin Popovich provided the encouragement she needed to return to the 400 free.

“After Tokyo, I said to reporters, ‘I’m never doing that race again’ and here we are three years later. It was Erin Popovich who talked to me in December and said Jess, you need to get back into training for the 400 and I’m so glad she gave me that push. I got sixth in the backstroke, and fourth in the IM and I’m just really thankful and grateful. I got to stand on the podium but there’s so many people that should have been up there with me,” she said.

The 32-year-old felt the aches and pains from her competitions earlier in the day. “I woke up today really sore. My back was hurting. I’m so thankful for my coach who just continued to believe in me the whole day. I just remember thinking to myself before I jumped in – do this is for the little Russian girl who never gave up,” Long said.

She acknowledged that winning that 30th medal was important to her, and she accomplished what she set out to do. “I wanted to get to 30. That’s the goal. It’s so hard to prove can I do it again and again. This is my sixth Paralympic Games,” she said. “I was proud of my first Paralympic medal when I was 12 years old and I won by a tenth of a second and this to me is probably right up there. Just going back and showing my friends and family that I won a gold medal, there’s nothing better.”

As she approaches the end of her sixth Paralympic Games with a stacked trophy case, Long still doesn’t allow her medal count to be the full representation of who she is. “It’s amazing but this doesn’t define me. It can’t. I want people to see my work ethic and I want them to see how long I’ve done it and I want them to be proud of that and the fact that I’m still here. That’s a gold medal to me,” she added.

Long will complete her Paris 2024 schedule on Saturday in the women’s 100-meter butterfly S8.

Crossley has been racking up the hardware in Paris and Wednesday was no exception. She followed her gold medal on Tuesday with a silver in the women’s 100-meter freestyle S9. Despite her busy schedule, Crossley is enjoying her time in the pool at the Paris La Defense Arena. “It was fun to race. I’m definitely sore. I just want to go out there and have fun. Swim the best that I can in the pool. Come out with a smile on my face and I think everyone saw that there was a smile on my face tonight,” Crossley said.

She isn’t solely focused on her medal count. “The medal color doesn’t matter to me. It’s just putting out that best effort. Even if that wasn’t a podium, even if it was a fourth place and I gave everything I have. You’ve got to be happy if you’re coming out smiling. There’s zero expectations. It’s all about how we feel when we get done racing,” Crossley said.

She will be back for one more race, the women’s 100-meter butterfly S9 on Friday.

Stickney also put on quite a show in Paris, winning gold in her last event on Monday. She closed out her Paris 2024 Games with a silver medal in the women’s 100-meter freestyle S7 on Wednesday night and although it didn’t go exactly as she hoped, she is grateful to be able to compete. “I feel great. It wasn’t exactly how I wanted to do in the race, but I’m just honored to be here and really grateful to have this opportunity. Six or seven months ago, I didn’t even know if I would be here so to be able to be here and represent my country and come home with two medals is amazing,” Stickney said. “It was a bit of a challenge, but I tried my best and at the end of the day, I’m really happy.”

She says her biggest takeaway is to be able to have her family, supporters and medical team with her in Paris. “Having everyone up in the stands will be my biggest memory. I didn’t have that in Tokyo so being to share this moment with them is incredible,” she added. Today’s race was the final event of Paris 2024 for Stickney.

Filed Under: Athlete Spotlight, Paralympics, Swimming

Noelle Malkamaki Shatters World Record at Paralympic Games in Paris

September 5, 2024 by Tara S

By: Jo Marquez | Hoodline

It was a golden toss for DePaul graduate Noelle Malkamaki at the Paralympic Games in Paris. The shot put ace launched a 14.06-meter throw, setting a new world record in the Women’s F46 category, as reported by CBS News Chicago. This isn’t Malkamaki’s first spin around the victory track; she previously snagged top honors at the U.S. Paralympic trials earlier this summer, where she also set a then-world record.

Breaking barriers and records with the same throw, Malkamaki’s story extends beyond the field, paralleling her own journey with identity. A high school athlete from Decatur, Illinois, her confidence had to wrestle with doubt before setting foot on the larger Paralympic stage. As she told NCAA.org, “I’ve competed against able-bodied athletes my entire life; I didn’t come across adaptive sports until a couple years ago.” Malkamaki’s congenital condition left her uncertain if she was “disabled enough” to stand alongside other parasport athletes. It marks a telling insight into the intersecting complex layers of identity and competition.

The two-time Para Athletics world champion didn’t settle merely for accolades but used athletics as a means for self-actualization. Aided by therapy and a sports psychologist, Malkamaki came to terms with her dual athletic identity. “It doesn’t matter what anyone else is throwing at college or a para meet because if I’m just always trying to throw as far as possible, the challenge is the same either way,” NCAA.org captures her poised perspective.

Malkamaki’s throw also places her firmly within a tradition of excellence nurtured by DePaul. The support extending from her alma mater played its part in honing her craft, which is evident in the educational institution funding her coach’s travel for competitions; a form of backing rarely offered, except from universities notably engaged with their adaptive athletes. Reminiscing with NCAA.org, Malkamaki shed light on her coach’s view that saw her as an elite athlete first and foremost, “regardless of, you know, nothing taking into account.”

As the U.S. tallies 24 gold, 22 silver, and 11 bronze Paralympic medals to its name, Noelle Malkamaki remains a standout with her gold and world-breaking performance. Yet, her most significant triumph might come in the shape of empowerment she lends to others tackling similar identity complexities.

Filed Under: Athlete Spotlight, Paralympics, Track and Field

Aurélie Rivard wins 3rd straight Paralympic title in women’s S10 400m freestyle

September 5, 2024 by Tara S

The Canadian Press

Canada’s Aurélie Rivard swam to her third consecutive Paralympic gold medal in the women’s 400-metre S10 freestyle event on Thursday at the Paris Games.

The 28-year-old from St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., won the final with a time of four minutes 29.20 seconds at Paris La Défense Arena.

Alexandra Truwit of the United States (4:31.39) and Bianka Pap of Hungary (4:35.63) earned silver and bronze, respectively.

It’s the third medal of the Games for Rivard, 28, who holds the world and Paralympic record in the 400 freestyle, set at the Tokyo Paralympics in 2021. She has also won silver in the 100 freestyle and bronze in the 50 freestyle in Paris.

Tess Routliffe reached the podium for Canada in the pool just minutes before Rivard.

Routliffe grabbed bronze in the women’s SB7 100-metre breaststroke for her second medal of the Paralympics. The 25-year-old resident of Caledon, Ont., earned silver in the women’s SM7 200-metre individual medley.

Filed Under: Athlete Spotlight, Paralympics, Swimming

Noelle Lambert Is Setting Records Less Than Three Months Into Her Long-Jumping Career

May 2, 2024 by Tara S

by Steve Drumwright | US Para TF

Noelle Lambert was already a world-class Para sprinter when she got the idea to try something new.

Before the start of the 2024 track season, Lambert decided to train as a long jumper. If all went well, she reasoned, maybe she could make her second Paralympics this summer as both a sprinter and a jumper.

So far, that’s looking good

When she participated in the U.S. Paralympics Track & Field National Championships in March, Lambert had only been training for the long jump for less than three months.

The 27-year-old from Manchester, New Hampshire, set an Americas record in the event’s T63 class with a jump of 4.75 meters — breaking the previous record by 0.65 meters.

Now imagine what she can do with a little more practice in a Paralympic year.

“I have a great coach, coach Kris Mack, out here in California,” Lambert said during nationals. “I knew if I was going to start long jumping, I needed to go to him because he’s the best. It’s been incredible to see my progress.”

Lambert went on to call coach Mack a “genius” for the way he’s been able to adapt her to the new event so quickly.

Lambert’s record-breaking jump would have been good enough for fourth place at the Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020, just 0.27 meters away from the podium.

She is seeking a return to the Paralympics after finishing sixth in the 100-meter T63 in Tokyo. At nationals, Lindi Marcusen edged out Lambert in the 100 by three-hundredths of a second. While that would be a tough loss for some, the race pumped up Lambert.

“It was just really exciting to kind of get the competition aspect with her,” said Lambert, who still clocked a personal-best time of 15.25 seconds. “I PR’d and came home with silver. So that’s a good day in the office and I was separated by .03. That just makes it more exciting. It’s showing that the T63 women are growing and we’re ready for the competition.”

Lambert has embraced competition all her life. She grew up with three older brothers and wanted to beat them in everything.

“From a very early age, I was always competing with them, showing them who the boss in the family was, who the best athlete in the family was,” Lambert said. “I think I’ve taken that belt.”

That competitive drive helped her adapt after losing her left leg in a moped accident in 2016.

“I never went a day in my life without being active in some sort of way,” she said. “I’m the type of person that if I hit a roadblock, I typically just want to run right through it and to prove to people that it won’t slow me down and that you can do anything you put your mind to.”

Lambert didn’t get back into her active lifestyle alone, though. Before her amputation, she played lacrosse at  UMass Lowell. While Lambert was convinced her lacrosse career was over, she said her teammates and coaches were determined to get her back on the field.

Less than two years after losing her leg, Lambert became the first above-the-knee amputee to ever play Division I college lacrosse.

“I credit that solely to my teammates and coaches,” Lambert said. “Because if it was up to me, I would have quit day one. It just shows how special a whole community can be.”

Lambert has continued to make more history since then. In 2022, she was a contestant in season 43 of Survivor, making her the first above-the-knee amputee to appear on the show.

Lambert will continue her long jump training with her eyes set on the U.S. Paralympic Team Trials – Track & Field set for July 18-20 in Miramar, Florida, where she hopes to secure a spot in another Paralympics.

While Lambert had quick success in the long jump at nationals, Mack reminded her that she’s still very early into what could be a long journey.

“I wanted to jump 4.80, 4.90, and (Mack) was just like, ‘You’re still learning. You’re still very early (in this process),’” she said. “I’m a very impatient person. I want things done now, but you know, I’m trusting the process and really enjoying it as well.”

Filed Under: Paralympics, Track and Field

Paris 2024: Introduction to Para judo

April 30, 2024 by Tara S

BY: paralympics

Welcome to week 10 of Paris 2024 Paralympic Sport Weeks. This week, everything you need to know about Para judo.

Para judo is a sport contested by athletes with vision impairments. There will be up to 148 athletes from around the world competing in 16 medal events at the Paris 2024 Paralympics, which will open on 28 August.

Brief history of Para judo

Judo is a martial art that originated in Japan in the late 19th century.

Para judo was introduced to the Paralympic Games at Seoul 1988. Great Britain’s Simon Jackson became the first Paralympic judo champion after he won the men’s -60kg division, while Japan won four of the six gold medals up for grabs in the Republic of Korea.

Two female judo athletes in action at Athens 2008.
Women’s events were added to the sports programme at Athens 2008. @Lars Baron/Bongarts/Getty Images

Six women’s events were added to the Paralympic sports programme at Athens 2004, where 118 athletes from 30 nations competed in 13 medal events. France’s Karima Medjeded became the first female Para judo gold medallist.

Japan, the birthplace of judo, is the most successful nation at the Paralympics. The country has won more than 30 medals in Para judo, including 12 golds.

Male Para judo athletes in action at Sydney 2000
Japan’s Satoshi Fujimoto won five medals from 1996 to 2016. @Jamie Squire/ALLSPORT

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What to watch in Para judo 

In Para judo, athletes use their sense of touch to “feel” their opponent’s intention. The grip, breathing and body movements trigger their instincts to throw, pin, or lock their opponent during a match, which lasts up to four minutes.

In Para judo, athletes compete in J1 or J2 classes.

In J1, athletes may have varying degrees of vision impairment, from some vision to fully blind. They wear a red circle to let others know that they may need guided support before, during and after a match. J2 athletes are partially sighted.

Two male judokas grapple during competition at London 2012.
At Paris 2024, athletes will compete in J1 or J2 classes. @Matthew Lloyd/Getty Images

Athletes start a match by gripping their opponents’ uniform, known as a ‘judogi’. The quickest way to victory is to score one maximum point, called ‘ippon’, by throwing their opponent on their back, pinning them for 20 seconds, or by arm lock or choke submission.

If ippon is not achieved, athletes can win with the highest score through ‘waza-ari’ (half point) or other minor points.

If a match is tied, judokas enter Golden Score. The first athlete to get any points wins the match.

Alana Maldonado in action during the Tokyo 2020 final
Paris 2024 will feature 16 medal events in Para judo. @Getty Images

Top Paralympic moments 

Over the years, there have been many memorable moments at the Paralympic Games.

At Beijing 2008, Brazil’s Antonio Tenorio topped the podium in the men’s -100kg division and became the first Para judoka to win gold at four Paralympic Games in a row. He went on to win bronze at London 2012 and silver at Rio 2016.

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Sandrine Martinet of France shot to stardom at Rio 2016. After finishing fifth at London 2012 and second at Beijing 2008 and Athens 2004, she topped the podium by beating two-time Paralympic champion Ramona Brussig of Germany in the women’s -52kg final.

Five years later, judo returned to its spiritual home as the Nippon Budokan received athletes from across the world at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. Twenty-two countries claimed at least one medal.

Azerbaijan finished atop the Para judo medals table, winning six out of a possible 13 gold medals. Shahana Hajiyeva started the gold rush by topping the podium in the women’s -48kg division on the first day of competition.

Shahana Hajiyeva of Azerbaijan
Hajiyeva beat defending champion Sandrine Martinet of France at Tokyo 2020. @OIS/Joe Toth

Paris 2024 programme 

Men’s events 

-60kg J1 

-73kg J1 

-90kg J1 

+90kg J1 

-60kg J2 

-73kg J2 

-90kg J2 

+90kg J2

Women’s events

-48kg J1 

-57kg J1 

-70kg J1 

+70kg J1 

-48kg J2 

-57kg J2 

-70kg J2 

+70kg J2 

Paris 2024 venue 

The Champ de Mars Arena will stage Para judo and wheelchair rugby competitions at Paris 2024. It is a 10,000 sqm building in the centre of Paris currently known as the Grand Palais Overlay.  

Designed by French architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte, this beautiful venue, built with sustainable materials, was created to host art, fashion and sports events. 

Paris 2024 Look of the Games featuring Champ de Mars Arena
Para judo competition will take place at the Champ de Mars Arena. @Paris 2024

Book your tickets for the Paralympic Games by visiting the Paris 2024 ticketing website.

Filed Under: Martial Arts, Paralympics

March 26, 2024 by Tara S

Travel Expenses Quickly Add Up For Para Athletes. Tatyana McFadden Wants To Help With That

By: Ryan Wilson | US Paralympics

Para athletes face a ton of obstacles while pursuing an athletic career.

One frequent deterrent for athletes is travel expenses, which is something Tatyana McFadden wants to help the next generation of Para athletes deal with.

That’s why the 20-time Paralympic medalist, in connection with the DICK’s Sporting Goods Foundation, has created the Tatyana McFadden Competitor Award. Recipients of the award will receive up to $500 to help cover travel expenses to any Move United-sanctioned competition (including the Hartford Nationals) taking place this year.

“It’s really just a dream come true that I can do this,” McFadden told USParaTF.org. “It’s what I want to continue doing.”

Often, the barriers of entry into wheelchair racing can be quite high. While the athletes on the national team receive a monthly stipend, younger athletes don’t receive any financial assistance and are responsible for covering the cost of traveling to races. That alone can cost upwards of four figures when factoring in hotels, food, transportation and other costs.

Many athletes raise funds on their own through online resources. Some get help from nonprofit organizations.

McFadden, now 34 and training for her seventh Paralympic Games this summer in Paris, got her start more than two decades ago with the help of donations from Bennett Blazers, an adaptive sports program run through the Kennedy Krieger Institute in her hometown of Baltimore. On top of providing specialized coaching, the program helped McFadden pay for some of her early racing equipment, another major expense for any racer.

New racing wheelchairs can cost between $5,000 and $10,000. Repairing or replacing individual parts like tires, handrims or seat cushions can cost hundreds of dollars as well. McFadden said tires can cost an additional $1,000 apiece.

Bennett Blazers, similar to other adaptive sports programs, is given spare equipment through donations, and McFadden was able to capitalize on the equipment they had on hand.

In fact, she was able to practice with a chair designed by Bob Hall. Touted as the “father of wheelchair racing,” Hall was one of the first wheelchair racers in the Boston Marathon and paved the way for having wheelchair racers accepted as official participants in the event. Hall eventually went on to design his own chairs. McFadden said using one of Hall’s chairs allowed her to experiment with the design to accommodate her comfort level.

“That took off a great expense right there, because I didn’t have to keep buying racing chairs,” McFadden said.

McFadden and Daniel Romanchuk — a two-time Paralympic medalist wheelchair racer who also got his start with the help of Bennett Blazers — have donated old equipment back to their starting place in Baltimore.

Romanchuk once gave the program a $6,000 chair. Wheelchair basketball player and fellow alum of the program Ryan Neiswender, a 2020 U.S. Paralympian, helped the Blazers secure $20,000 to buy more wheelchairs.

McFadden said adaptive programs now allow new racers to try out elite equipment she did not have access to when she first started.

“It’s amazing that they can also start with carbon wheels and start with really nice things because they have been donated,” McFadden said.

The assistance McFadden received early in her career helped her become a six-time Paralympian and one of the most decorated wheelchair racers in the world. Her 20 Paralympic medals include eight golds, seven silvers and four bronzes from wheelchair racing, and one silver from the Sochi 2014 Winter Games in Nordic skiing. McFadden has also won 23 world championships medals, 16 of which are gold.

She is set to continue her high level of racing in the Paralympic Games Paris 2024 later this year, as she’s already qualified for the marathon event at the Games. McFadden kicked off her 2024 track season in mid-February at the Dubai Grand Prix, where she broke her own world record in the 400-meter T54 by 0.18 seconds.

With no signs of slowing down, McFadden also hopes to compete in the 2028 Games in Los Angeles, where she’d be 39 years old.

McFadden has already elevated the sport of wheelchair racing, and she wants to leave a lasting legacy on the next generation of athletes like herself. The Tatyana McFadden Competitor Award, she said, was another way to do that.

“It means the world to me that I can just help out a little bit,” she said. “Of course, I want to do more, but right now, it’s just a great start.”

https://agsa.org/2024/03/5434/

Filed Under: Para-Cycling, Paralympics

Paris 2024: History-maker Mariana Zuniga’s training keeps her on target

February 27, 2024 by Tara S

By AMP Media | For the IPC

Chilean Paralympic archer Mariana Zuniga was 10 years old when she watched the animated movie “Brave”, where the main character, a young Scottish princess named Merida, uses a bow and arrow.  

“There was this iconic scene where Merida puts one arrow after the other like Robin Hood, and that scene made me fall in love. I told my mom that I wanted to experience that,” Zuniga, 21, said. 

She had tried out wheelchair tennis before but not really fallen for it. Archery was love at first sight, and Zuniga was good. When she was 19 years old, she won the individual compound W2 silver medal at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. 

Para archer Mariana Zuniga holding up her silver medal on the podium
Zuniga celebrates her historic silver medal at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics © Kiyoshi Ota/Getty Images


She was the first Chilean archer to compete at the Paralympics. Her medal was the first won by an archer from the Americas in the compound open women’s category. 

“Tokyo was a surprise,” Zuniga said. “We weren’t going to Tokyo expecting a medal. We were looking to gain experience, just living the experience of having qualified for the Paralympic Game And then the medal came.” 

Balancing act  

Today she combines psychology studies at a university in Chile’s capital Santiago with training five to six times a week and preparations for Paris 2024. 

Every day looks a little bit different as she is trying to fit those two sides of her life together.

“This semester I am studying in the mornings, so when I get up, I prepare things for the university and also for training because after studying I go to train,” she said. 

It always, though, starts with an alarm clock.

“I would love to be able to wake up with my biological clock. But that’s impossible because I really like to sleep.”  

Where many people get over that morning tiredness with a cup of coffee, Zuniga does not. “I feel like it makes me shiver. My pulse goes up, and of course, especially on training days, that’s not good for the precision,” she said, adding that her breakfasts are usually rather all about eggs. 

When she is not training, she can allow herself some caffeine. “If I’m at home on the weekend and have nothing to do, then I might have a cup of coffee.” 

She likes to cook but she prefers it when it is simple. She either prepares something to eat at home – “usually something Latin” – or eats at the university after her morning classes are over. 

“They always sell good dishes there, for example salads that are very complete and dishes with carbohydrates, with proteins. There I also buy some snacks for the afternoon. After that I start with my bow assembly.” 

Before she arrives at the training ground, she has already put together her archery gear. She lives 45 minutes from the range, so every minute saved between practice and university is valuable. Assembling the equipment takes about five minutes. 

“I get to the field and start the warm-up, beginning with a joint movement, moving the arms, in different directions,” Zuniga said. 

“Then I do a little warm-up with an elastic band, and then I start the training.” 

Perfecting technique  

She admits she does not have a stretching programme, but always does the same movements including stretching the shoulder blades, neck and torso. 

And it works. Zuniga says she has never had any serious injuries. She only feels a little pain in her chest and in the trapezius muscle in her upper back when she gets a massage at the end of the week. 

Female Para archer Mariana Zuniga smiling while holding her bow
Zuniga trains five to six times a week while also studying at university © Kiyoshi Ota/Getty Images


What she does in training depends on where in the season she is, and in what stage of competition she is in. 

“If we were closer to an event, we are only polishing details of the technique. It depends a lot,” she said. 

“When I for example need to polish a very specific technical aspect, I stay short, usually three metres from the target. There are times when I spend a whole week shooting from three metres.” 

“Archery is a sport in which one is always learning and unlearning. One can return to a technical aspect or improve something that I worked on, for example, three years ago.” 

A general training session lasts for three to four hours. Zuniga likes to train shooting from 70 metres.  

“It is a challenge to hit the target from further away and it is also part of the exercise to polish the timing of the shot,” she said. 

“I like it a lot, that exercise feels like a very different sensation. It’s like that thing of wanting to be more accurate when shooting.” 

Some training days she has been shooting at 18 metres, another competition distance.  

“I generally tend to be more slick when shooting at close range than at long range. Yes, there I don’t know what the principle is, but I think that maybe when one is closer all the movements become a little smaller,” she said. 

Para archer Mariana Zuniga pulls back her arrow ready to shoot
Zuniga’s training session last for between three and four hours per day © OIS


Zuniga also goes to the gym about twice a week. “There my physical coach does different exercises with dumbbells, with a ball, elastic, and co-ordination exercises. I’m terrible at co-ordination exercises,” she said. 

“We increase the load, depending on the period. And there we also work with specific muscle groups, depending on what my coaches see in the actual shooting practice.”  

In archery it is important to be physically strong:  “The main muscles that one – hopefully I – should have super good all the time are the triceps,” she explained. 

“The triceps give us a lot of stability in the arm that supports the bow, and that means an improvement in aiming.” 

But working on her strength has not always been a favourite activity for the young archer.  

“At first I hated it because I didn’t train with the gym coach but my coach who watches over my archery. He did the exercises for me and they were only elastic band exercises,” she said. 

Feeling like she was getting nowhere, she started training at a gym with her teammates, and loved it. ”Especially those days when, for example, I’m more stressed about university or things like that. I get to the gym and throw out all my energy and it’s clearing up a little,” she said. 

Dreaming of Paris 

After training, Zuniga goes back home to take care of the homework from university and other housekeeping. She has dinner – “usually something Latin” – and spends some time with her family and boyfriend. The same goes for Sundays, which are usually training-free. Zuniga’s boyfriend is also an athlete, so they also get to see each other at training, to which her parents drive her. 

Her close connection to her family is also something that made her recognise herself in Merida in “Brave”. 

“The movie shows a lot about the protagonist’s relationship with her mother. My mother has also been fundamental in my personal and sporting process, she has always been the one who has supported me in everything,” she said. 

At around 11pm she goes to sleep, ready to repeat it all the next day, over again until this summer’s Games. That is where her focus is right now. After that alarm clock rings, her dreams are about winning another medal, perhaps one in gold. 

“I think that whenever an athlete goes to a mega event or tournament in general, he or she always dreams of reaching the podium. If not, I wouldn’t be there,” Zuniga said. 

Filed Under: Archery, Athlete Spotlight, Paralympics

Already A State Champion, Arelle Middleton Has Her Sights Set On Paralympic Glory

February 1, 2024 by Tara S

by Lela Moore | usparatf

Arelle Middleton knew her throw of 12.02 meters was good enough for a California state title in the shot put last May.

What the Los Osos High School freshman did not know at the time was that the mark would have won her a gold medal in the women’s F64 classification at the Para track and field world championships later that summer.

Middleton found that out in December when U.S. Paralympics Track & Field named her its High School Female Field Athlete of the Year. The 15-year-old received one of the top honors among 44 athletes who made the U.S. Paralympics Track & Field High School All-American list.

“It was a pretty big deal to me,” Middleton said. “To get recognized for all the work, to see that other people think I’m a good thrower.”

Sandra Van Embricqs, Middleton’s mother, said that the recognition was “totally unexpected” and a “nice surprise” after watching her daughter’s talent for throwing develop over the years.

Van Embricqs, a high school basketball coach and French teacher at Chino High School in California, has always encouraged Middleton to compete in sports.

In 2019 and 2020, Middleton won Southern California sectional matches in wheelchair tennis, and she now competes at a high level in both track and wheelchair basketball.

Currently, Van Embricqs drives Middleton, now a sophomore at Los Osos, an hour each way to wheelchair basketball practice twice a week, before or after school. Van Embricqs said she is relieved now that her daughter can train for track and field at her high school. Middleton did not participate in indoor track this season but is preparing for her outdoor season this spring.

Middleton’s left leg is about six inches shorter than her right, and her left hip is also underdeveloped, because of a congenital femoral deficiency. Officially classified as F44, she would have competed in F64 at the world championships as F44 was not on the program for shot put.

While Middleton has competed in Para track and field meets like the Angel City Games, where she first realized her throwing talents, Van Embriqcs encouraged her to try out for her high school track and field team and to compete against able-bodied athletes in the sport.

“As a mom, as a coach, I’ve just been watching it in awe because I knew what she could do in the Para world,” Van Embriqcs said.

Middleton has participated in Para track and field clinics since age 12 and, more often than not, she wound up at the top of the podium at those competitions.

“But to see her compete against able-bodied people in the way that she has this past year, that’s been pretty amazing,” Van Embriqcs said.  

While Middleton thrives in both the discus and the shot out, she prefers the shot put because it requires less footwork, which is more complex for her because of her shorter left leg.

Van Embriqcs termed Middleton’s success in track and field as “icing on the cake” for her daughter.

“Having a disability and always having people look at you as ‘less than’ or ‘less capable than,’ and then to have her beat them out as a freshman, that was amazing,” Van Embriqcs said.  

Middleton’s teammates, as well as her high school coaches and athletic director, have embraced her.

“I’m really happy for that, because not everybody has that experience,” Van Embriqcs said.

“The older you get, the less people really care about it,” Middleton added.

Set to graduate in 2026, Middleton aspires to compete in college and beyond in both wheelchair basketball and track and field. Right now, though, she said mostly basketball programs have been approaching her. Some programs will allow her to do both sports, and she believes that the cross-training will benefit her performance in each one.

Before Middleton even considers college offers, there’s a gigantic athletic opportunity in the Paralympic Games Paris 2024 this August. The prospect of competing on the world’s largest stage would be enticing no matter what, but Middleton has family in Europe who would provide a large cheering section for her if she qualified for the Games.

Both mother and daughter are learning the ropes of the Paralympic qualification process as they go.

“There’s a lot to learn,” Van Embriqcs said. “(But) I’m excited for Arelle. Her future looks bright, and I think 2024 is going to be an exciting year.”

Filed Under: Athlete Spotlight, Paralympics, Track and Field, Youth Sports

When a world record puts the icing on the cake for gold medal Paralympians

January 16, 2024 by Tara S

The ultimate aim of an elite Para athlete is to become a Paralympic champion, to have that gold medal round the neck as validation of years of sweat and tears competing on the biggest stage.

To stand on the centre of the podium may be a dream come true but why stop there?

Winning is the priority but doing it with a world record time, well, that is just a perfect bonus.

Sports like swimming, athletics, cycling, rowing, often see many world records at the Paralympic Games, rivals pushing each other harder, faster. Barriers are smashed down every edition and that is likely to happen again at Paris 2024.

At Rio 2016 there were 177 events in athletics and 69 world records set.

Four years later, at Tokyo 2020, there were 167 events in athletics and 45 world records claimed.

There were 152 swimming events at Rio and more than 60 world records broken.

At Tokyo 2020 there were 146 swimming events and 70 world records broken. Cycling saw 25 official world records established at the Izu Velodrome. In total, 48 were broken as some were lowered several times over the 51 events.

Rio recap

Gold medalist Anna Stetsenko of Ukraine celebrates on the podium at the medal ceremony for the Women's 100m Backstroke - S13 on day 10 of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games
Anna Stetsenko (Ukraine) won a gold medal and broke an old-standing world record in Rio 2016. @Buda Mendes/Getty Images

Records tend to tumble anyway when it comes to the pool but Rio 2016 proved to be a watershed for some of the oldest records.

Bradley Snyder (USA) and Ukraine’s Anna Stetsenko (UKR) demolished two of the longest-standing marks in the sport.

Snyder broke the 30-year-old world record held by countryman John Morgan in the men’s S11 100m freestyle to take his third Paralympic gold medal in a time of 56.15 seconds.

“It is something that I have been trying very hard to do during the last three years. And to break that record was a remarkable experience,” Snyder said.

We inspire each other to push each other even harder – Bradley Snyder 

“I know I will not be the world record holder for long. There are many athletes and we inspire each other to push each other even harder.”

Stetsenko bettered the mark set by Germany’s Yvonne Hopf in the women’s 50m freestyle S13 at Atlanta 1996 Paralympic Games, touching in 27.34 seconds, just 0.04 faster.

“I can’t say that I was really surprised because I trained a lot for it. I felt a delight, happiness and lots of positive emotions which overwhelmed me that moment,” Stetsenko said.

As mentioned before, there were 152 swimming events at Rio and more than 60 broken world records. 

The dominating star of the Rio Aquatics Centre was China’s Wenpang Huang, who swam world record times in S3 and SB2 events in the 50m freestyle, 50m breaststroke, 200m freestyle and 200m individual medley. Tragically he died in a car accident in 2018.

Durand, the legend

A female Para athlete celebrates after winning her race at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games
Cuban Omara Durand is the fastest female Para athlete in the world and has set several world records. @Alex Pantling/Getty Images

Looking back to the Brazilian edition of the Games, the best was saved to last as the final day of the athletics programme saw seven world records broken.

The headlines belonged to Cuba’s Omara Durand, the sprinter who never stops winning. The fastest female Para athlete on the planet won the 400m T12 to add to her 100m and 200m titles. She did it with her third world record of the Games.

She posted a time of 51.77 seconds knocking over a second off her qualifying run two days earlier. Durand also reduced her own 100m T12 record to 11.40 seconds.

Tokyo 2020 was a great success for the Cuban too and who would bet against the eight-time gold medallist breaking even more records in Paris?

Durand, who originally set her T12 200m world record of 23.03 seconds in Doha in 2015, finally broke it in Japan with a time of 23.02 seconds.

The future is bright

So, what will we see at Paris 2024? More world records, certainly. American runner Nick Mayhugh was a hugely exciting prospect at Tokyo, and he is not afraid to state his aim of more world records having finished with three.

He also won three gold medals from his four events in the T37 class.  In the men’s 200m, Mayhugh broke the world record for the second time with his time of 21.91. It was his third world record of Tokyo 2020.

The footballer turned athlete confirmed his spot in the final of the 100m with a world record sprint of 10.97 seconds in the qualifying heats becoming the first T37 runner to beat the 11-second barrier. In the final he lowered his time again, recording 10.95.

“I expected things to happen the way they did in Tokyo. I have worked for it and I had world record times written and taped on my wall,” Mayhugh said after his success.

Power point

Three women posing for photos on the podium with their medals
Folashade Oluwafemiayo (center) won the gold medal and set a world record in the 86 kg category in Para Powerlifting in Tokyo 2020. @Hiroki Nishioka/WPPO

There were 20 Para powerlifting events at both Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. Nine world records were broken in the Brazilian edition of the Games and just two in the Japanese one. The latter came by the efforts of Guo Lingling and Folashade Oluwafemiayo.

China’s Lingling will be favourite to break a world record or two in Paris, having gone from strength to strength since making her Paralympic Games debut in Tokyo.

She set a world record of 109kg in the 41kg event at Tokyo 2020. Her starting lift was 105kg (a Paralympic record) and she failed once at 108kg before making it. She then succeeded in an extra world record attempt at 109kg.

The other world record holder, in the 86kg category, was Nigeria’s Oluwafemiayo, who beat her own world record twice before using a fourth and final attempt to set a mark of 152kg.

Expect rowing world records

Rowing is likely to produce world records at Paris 2024 after the changes to the rules. Tokyo 2020 was the first time the Para crews raced 2,000m (instead of 1,000m) to put the sport in line with able-bodied world rowing.

The standard is rising very quickly, and world’s best times are being set constantly. It seems inevitable that records will go in the ‘City of Light’.

There are five events scheduled including, for the first time, the PR3 mixed double sculls.

Filed Under: Athlete Spotlight, Paralympics

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