Remember the Paris 2024 Olympic Games? Remember when for two weeks Black Twitter was arguably the most patriotic nook on Beyonce’s internet?
Well we have reason to once again get our reds, whites and blues on for reasons outside of this being an election season where history is on the verge of being made.
This week, France will once again become one of the epicenters of the sporting world as the Paralympic Games commence. Team USA, as was the case with the Olympics, will once again send a large contingency of Paralympians to Paris as 225 of them (per the Olympics website) will represent the Stars and Stripes in the City of Lights.
In total, over 4,000 para-athletes will take part in what is being referred to as a “people’s parade” this Wednesday. The Place de la Concorde, which hosted several sports including BMX and 3×3 basketball during the Olympics, is also expected to be a major focal point for the Paralympic Opening Ceremony.
NBC’s Peacock service will be the primary hub for Paralympics coverage in the United States (along with big NBC and USA Network) will CBC/Radio-Canada doing the same north of the border. Here are six names to keep an eye out for once the Games (once again) begin.
Sarah Adam
Ask a person on the street what makes them think about wheelchair rugby and many may mention something regarding the movie “Murderball.” If one has never seen wheelchair rugby competition at the Olympics, this is a name that one will get acquainted with. Then one will ask themselves why did they not become acquainted with Adam earlier.
Naperville’s very own made history as she will be the first woman who will participate as part of the U.S. Parlaympic Wheelchair Rugby team.
Adam is currently an assistant professor of occupational science and occupational therapy at Saint Louis University. It was two years ago when she earned a berth on the national team and made history as the first-ever woman to claim a gold medal with USA Wheelchair Rugby when the Parapan American Games took place last year in Chile.
Jessica Long
Where have we heard this before? A swimmer with loads of talent from…Baltimore.
While she was born in Russia, Maryland is her home. Paris 2024 will be Long’s sixth Paralympics.
She first made her debut at the Athens Paralympics in 2004 – when she was only 12 years old. Now as a 32-year old Para swimmer, she has compiled 29 total medals – including 16 of the gold variety.
This is on top of the more than 50 medals she has compiled in world championship events. Long is poised to add to her legendary resume in Paris and her name certainly deserves recognition as one of the greats in her sport.
Lora Webster
If the phrase “Strong Island” were in either the Merriam-Webster or the Urban Dictionary, a photo of Webster’s face ought to appear.
A star of the sitting volleyball realm, Webster attended college at Stony Brook and calls Point Lookout in Nassau County home. She is 37-years old and will be competing in her sixth Paralympic Games – including the Tokyo Paralympics…while pregnant.
Webster was named the Best Blocker of the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janiero and was the first recipient of the All-Time Great Female Sitting Volleyball Player Award by USA Volleyball.
Natalie Schneider
Prior to Schneider making her mark in wheelchair basketball, she originally competed in sitting volleyball.
Then she qualified for five consecutive Paralympics and the rest is history. With two gold medals having already been won, Schneider will look to make it a third in France.
The two gold medals were won at Beijing in 2008 and in 2016 at Rio de Janeiro. In Tokyo, her team departed from Japan with bronze medals. Schneider and Team USA claimed gold at the Parapan American Games in Chile and will be in search of the same style of medal in France.
Nicky Nieves
Speaking of sitting volleyball…
Here is a name that will be front and center as the Paralympic Opening Ceremony commences. Why? Because Nieves will be one of the two flagbearers for Team USA at said Opening Ceremony.
Nieves was originally from Queens before her family moved to Florida. She is a middle blocker on the team and has also been adamant on speaking out on social issues – including the Black Lives Matter movement.
She last competed in the Paralympics in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro and was unable to compete at the Tokyo Paralympics due to the pandemic.
Valentina Petrillo
While we have mostly highlighted American athletes set to compete at the Paris Paralympics, we also have to mention an Italian Para athlete who is on the verge of making history.
Petrillo is an Italian sprinter who will make history as the first transgender athlete to ever compete at the Paralympics. The 50-year old will be part of the women’s 200 meter and 400 meter events in the T12 classification.
She was diagnosed with Stargardt disease which causes progressive vision loss and barely missed out on qualifying for the Paralympics three years ago in Tokyo.
Paris is also the same city where the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships took place. At that event, Petrillo was part of the 200 meter competition where she won bronze.
