Roundup: After A Landmark 2023, It’s Officially A Paralympic Year
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by Luke Hanlon
Every other week we scour the web for the latest going on in the world of U.S. Para track and field. Here’s what you missed!
Bring On The Paralympic Year
The transition into a new year can mean a lot of different things.
For U.S. Paralympics Track & Field, the clock striking midnight on 2023 meant one thing: it’s officially a Paralympic year!
While there are still more than 200 days until the Paralympic Games Paris 2024 kick off, seeing the calendar switch to 2024 increased the anticipation and excitement for the upcoming Games.
Before fully focusing on events leading up to Paris, the U.S. Para track and field Instagram account posted some of the best photos from 2023, featuring shots from the world championships, Parapan American Games and more.
Looking Back On 2023
Plenty of U.S. Para track and field athletes also took time before the ball dropped to reflect on the past year.
Justin Phongsavanh spent a lot of time helping others in 2023, as he attended multiple Move United competitions and hosted four throwing camps alongside fellow U.S. thrower Max Rohn.
After winning a bronze in the men’s javelin F54 at the Tokyo Games, Des Moines, Iowa, native is hopeful to be on the podium again this year in Paris.
“I’ll see you at the top of the mountain (or podium) in 2024!” he wrote.
Fellow thrower Noelle Malkamaki enjoyed a breakout year in 2023.
The Decatur, Illinois, native finished her senior season with the DePaul University track team before taking the international stage by storm. Malkamaki set the world record in the women’s shot put F46 with a toss of 12.63 meters at nationals in May. She then followed that up by breaking her own record twice at the world championships — setting the new mark at 13.32 meters — this past July in Paris.
Malkamaki will now attempt to follow up her stellar year with a trip to Paris in 2024.
Malkamaki wasn’t the only American athlete to break a world record in 2023.
Shortly after he graduated from Brentwood High School in California, Ezra Frech made the trip to Paris for the world championships. The 18-year-old cleared 1.91 meters in the men’s high jump T63, setting a new world record and claiming his first international gold medal. Frech then broke his own record and set a new mark of 1.95 meters.
It’s not hard to tell why Frech dubbed 2023, “The greatest year of my life.”
End Of The Year Awards
Brittni Mason and Samantha Heyison each received a nice reminder of how successful their past year was.
A three-time Paralympic medalist as a sprinter, Mason added to her medal count this year when she won gold in the women’s 200 and silver in the 100 T47 events at the world championships. For those performances, USA Track & Field named Mason its Women’s Para-Athlete of the Year.
“Extremely grateful for all the accomplishments in 2023,” Mason wrote. “So excited to see what 2024 has in store.”
Awards are nothing new to Heyison, who was U.S. Paralympics Track & Field’s Female Field High School Athlete of the Year in 2021 and 2022. Now she can call herself the 2023 USA Track & Field U-20 Women’s Para-Athlete of the Year. Heyison earned that honor after she took home bronze medals in the women’s shot put and discus F64 events during her world championships debut.
Before competing in Paris, Heyison won her third state discus title in Maryland and her first state title in shot put. She graduated from Urbana High School in May and now competes as a thrower at Wake Forest University.
Natural Talent
Kym Crosby has always been willing to try new things.
A three-time Paralympic bronze medalist as a visually impaired sprinter, Crosby began training as a Para-cyclist last year and is hoping to compete in two different sports in the Paralympics this summer.
She may have found a third sport to pursue as well. The 30-year-old recently tried archery for the first time and hit a bull’s-eye with her first arrow.
“Don’t be afraid to try something new,” Crosby wrote. “You never know what you’re going to be good at or could work hard towards getting better at.”
Luke Hanlon is a sportswriter and editor based in Minneapolis. He is a freelance contributor to usparatf.org courtesy of Red Line Editorial, Inc.
