PARIS, FRANCE – Paralympic champions Jeremy Campbell (Perryton, Texas) and David Blair (Eagle Mountain, Utah) went 1-3 in the men’s discus F64 competition to lead six Team USA medals, the second-highest single day tally for the U.S. in Paris thus far.
Also adding medals for Team USA was Taylor Swanson (Spokane, Wash.), Noah Malone (Fishers, Ind.) and 16-year-old Arelle Middleton (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.), who each took home silver in their respective events. Team USA’s Jaleen Roberts (Kent, Wash.) and Brian Siemann (Champaign, Illinois) earned bronze for their second Paralympic medals in Paris.
Through seven days of competition at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, Team USA’s track and field medal count stands at 30, including nine golds.
Campbell provided the power for one of those gold medals, throwing a best mark of 61.14 and setting a Paralympic Record in the process.
It was the fourth Paralympic discus gold for Campbell and fifth Paralympic title overall.
“Excitement, relief, gratitude,” he said of his emotions after the competition. “Coming into this event I was thinking it is going to be my last competition. There is still a good chance it will be. In the end, I am really full of gratitude for my Paralympic journey, for Paralympic sport, for the programs that have been supporting me, for the growth that the sport has seen.”
Blair tallied a best mark of 57.76 meters en route to bronze. The now two-time Paralympic medalist accomplished the rare feat of winning a world title and a Paralympic medal in the same year due to the postponed 2021 world championships being held in 2024. He also won the 2023 discus world championship title just over a year ago.
The 2016 Paralympic champion said that while he was hoping to throw further tonight, he is excited about what he has accomplished this year.
“It’s pretty cool, it’s a unique year where you can get a world title – or two – plus a Paralympic title in the span of 13 months,” Blair said. “I felt really ready today and just couldn’t pull that big throw out of the basement. But any time I find myself on the podium is an honor, so I’m very excited about that.”
Adding to the throws medal tally was Middleton, who at just 16 years old is the youngest member of the Para track and field team in Paris. The high schooler showed poise beyond her years, going toe-to-toe with China’s throwing legend Juan Yao. Middleton’s personal best throw of 12.19 meters wasn’t enough to catch Yao’s 12.53 meter attempt, but it beat out the rest of the field for the first medal of her young career.
Middleton credited her coach and family for helping her stay calm amid the pressure of her first Games.
“Jasmine [Burrell, her coach] helped a lot,” Middleton said. “She kind of just told me to stay confident and stay calm. I just kind of blocked everything else out. I knew I could do it, so I just did it. I’ve had such great support here, I’ve loved having my family here. It helps a lot to have family here. There have been some hard parts and some good parts, but overall this has been a great experience, and I can’t wait for future Games.”
Middleton and fellow teenage throwing phenom Samantha Heyison (Adamstown, Md.), who placed ninth in today’s competition, have completed their Paris competition slates.
Earning her first career Paralympic medal was Swanson, who bounced back from a devastating fall at the finish line of the 200-meter T37 final to finish with silver in the 100-meter T37.
Swanson medaled twice at her world championships debut in May, and today finished with a time of 13.19.
“With it being my first Paralympic Games, and after the fall in the 200, to get the silver I couldn’t ask for anything more,” she said. “I’m just learning that if things don’t go your way, move forward as there is always another race to look forward to.”
Already a silver medalist in long jump in Paris, Roberts finished just behind Swanson in a season-best time of 13.29. Her bronze medal is the fourth Paralympic medal of her career.
For Roberts, the 100-meter was a battle of will. After a slower start, she was able to edge China’s Fenfen Jiang by .05 seconds in a come-from-behind effort.
“I’ve definitely found myself to be a chaser,” Roberts said. “It was the same thing that happened in Tokyo, it was kind of a like an instinctual hunt for me. I just made sure I found the speed but also made sure that I stayed in form because sometimes when you pick up your speed you sometimes lose your technique a little bit.”
Just two days after his 100-meter silver medal was upgraded to gold due to a results disqualification, Malone snagged his second medal of the Games, a silver in the 400-meter T12. In adverse conditions due to heavy rain, Malone clocked a time of 49.35.
“It wasn’t an ideal warm-up situation with the rain,” he said. “As a visually impaired athlete, any other factor that hinders you can be difficult on the track. But we all had to run in it, so it’s just another element. This has been a battle mentally every race, especially in the 400m, so to walk away with a fifth Paralympic medal at 22 years old is pretty good.”
Malone said he is proud of the way he has competed thus far in Paris.
“With the conditions and physically how I feel, that was my best today,” he said. “I can walk away with my head high. It was just the conditions. It is hard to run personal records when the conditions are like this. But you have to enjoy it because not everyone can be here, and not everyone medals, so it is a win.”
After medaling in the 400-meter T53 earlier in the week, Siemann snagged his second career Paralympic medal in his best event, the 800-meter. In his fourth Games, Siemann is enjoying the best performance of his career.
“I’m very, very happy,” Siemann said. “This was the event that I’ve wanted to medal in for a very long time, so to pull that out for my last track event is really exciting.”
Siemann will wrap his Paris competition with the marathon on Sept. 8.
Two-time Paralympian Hannah Dederick (Mead, Wash.) earned the best finish of her Paris Games with a fourth-place result in the women’s 400-meter T54 race, finishing in 54.68. Twenty-one time Paralympic medalist Tatyana McFadden (Baltimore, Md.) earned the bronze in the race, but was later disqualified due to a lane infraction. Already a silver medalist in Paris, McFadden will return to the track for tomorrow’s universal relay and Sunday’s marathon.
After picking up long jump last year, two-time Paralympian Noelle Lambert (Manchester, N.H.) nearly had her first Paralympic podium, placing fourth in the women’s long jump T63 competition. Lambert, who already holds the Americas Record for long jump in her class, jumped a best mark of 4.66 meters. Teammate Lindi Marcusen (Spokane, Wash.) made her Paralympic debut in the same event and placed eighth. Both will return for the 100-meter T63 on Sept. 7.
Having already won two medals in Paris, four-time Paralympic medalist Daniel Romanchuk (Mount Airy, Md.) picked up another top-five finish in the men’s 800-meter T54. Romanchuk’s time of 1:31.24 was just .26 seconds off the bronze medal pace set by Marcel Hug of Switzerland. Romanchuk will have two days off before finishing his third Paralympic Games with the marathon.
Competing in her second event in Paris, Team USA’s Catarina Guimaraes (Cranford, N.J.) made the cut for the final and placed eighth in the women’s long jump T38. Her best jump of 4.35 meters came on her third attempt. She will return to the track for her 400-meter prelim on Sept. 6.
Team USA’s Chelsea Stein (Spring, Texas) rounded out her first Paralympic Games with an eighth-place finish in the women’s 400-meter T53. Stein, a 2023 Parapan American Games silver medalist, finished in 1:06.47.
In preliminary heat action, Femita Ayanbeku (Boston, Mass.) and Erin Kerkhoff (Coralville, Iowa) advanced to the finals of the 100-meter T64 and 400-meter T13 competitions, respectively. Paris bronze medalist Beatriz Hatz (Lakewood, Colo.), as well as teammate Annie Carey (Boise, Idaho) placed fourth and fifth in their 100-meter T64 prelims and missed the final, while three-time Paralympic medalist Kym Crosby (Yuba City, Calif.) competed in the 400-meter T13 prelims, where she placed fourth in her heat and did not advance. Hatz, Carey and Crosby have all completed their competitions in Paris.
All sessions will be streamed live on NBC’s Peacock. Follow U.S. Paralympics Track & Field on Facebook, Instagram and X for team results and updates from Paris 2024.
Team USA Medals – Sept. 5, 2024
GOLD
Jeremy Campbell – men’s discus F64
SILVER
Noah Malone – men’s 400-meter T12
Taylor Swanson – women’s 100-meter T37
Arelle Middleton – women’s shot put F64
BRONZE
Jaleen Roberts – women’s 100-meter T37
David Blair – men’s discus F64
Brian Siemann – men’s 800-meter T53
Other Team USA Results
Noelle Lambert – 4th, women’s long jump T63
Hannah Dederick – 4th, women’s 400-meter T54
Daniel Romanchuk – 5th, men’s 800-meter T54
Catarina Guimaraes – 8th, women’s long jump T38
Lindi Marcusen – 8th, women’s long jump T63
Chelsea Stein – 8th, women’s 400-meter T53
Samantha Heyison – 9th, women’s shot put F64
Femita Ayanbeku – finals, women’s 100-meter T64
Erin Kerkhoff – finals, women’s 400-meter T13
Annie Carey – prelims, women’s 100-meter T64
Beatriz Hatz – prelims, women’s 100-meter T64
Kym Crosby – prelims, women’s 400-meter T13
Tatyana McFadden – DSQ, women’s 400-meter T54.
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Publish date : 2024-09-06 07:42:00
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