TOKYO, Japan — Team USA walked away with an incredible five medals tonight in Athletics (track and field). Two gold, one silver and two bronze.
Same Grewe, who won silver in Rio 2016, won gold in the Men’s high jump T42 final with a world record mark of 1.90 meters.
“I remember very vividly at my starting line looking up at the board and seeing my name second. And I knew at that jump, I was gonna clear it, because I was not ready to walk away with a silver again,” said Grewe, adding that he felt surges of adrenaline doing his jump and realizing he got gold.
Ezra Frech placed 5th in the same event, and performed a personal-best jump at 1.80 meters.
“I went in with really high expectations of myself. I knew I was capable of getting on the podium,” said Frech. “To walk away without a medal stings for sure. . . I performed well but it wasn’t enough. I’ll take that with a grain of salt and we’ll come back stronger next time, nothing else I can really do.”
In the Women’s 100m T13 final, Kym Crosby won bronze, her second Paralympic medal.
“I’m feeling super excited to be back on the podium. Relieved that it’s over, but I’m just super proud of myself and the work that I’ve put into getting here,” said Crosby.
In the Women’s 100m T47 final, Brittni Mason won silver. Mason is the world record holder and was overcome by Venezuela’s Marina Libelli Vera Andrade by .001 seconds.
“I felt good. I’ve been training up for this part of my career this entire year, so I can’t ask for a better race. I thought I executed my speed and my start really well, and I remained calm during my race,” said Mason, adding that although she felt the pressure, she made sure to finish as best as she possibly could.
In the same event, former 2016 Paralympic champion Deja Young won bronze.
“There’s never been two women in my class, let alone two women of color in my class to do something phenomenal like this, so I think it’s only up from here,” said Young.
In the Women’s 400m T20, Breanna Clark won gold, breaking her own world record with a new record of 55.18.
“I felt kind of fearful at first, but I knew that the lord was upon me, and so was my family– they gave me courage,” Clark said.
In the Women’s 1500m T53/T54 final, Paralympic record holder Tatyana McFadden placed 5th with a time of 3:28.85.
“This was a tough race. Tactically, I know what I did wrong towards the end, so you always learn from that. It was a good race,” said McFadden. “I’ve just gotta shake it off and get ready for the next event.”
In the Men’s 400m T12 third heat, Noah Malone broke a Paralympic Record with a time of 48.50.
And in the Women’s 200m T44 final, Beatriz Hatz placed 6th and Sydney Barta placed 4th.
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