Roundup: They’re Going To Kobe — U.S. Athletes Celebrate Their World Championships Berths

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!

Celebratory Meal

At the U.S. Paralympics Track & Field National Championships earlier this month, Noelle Malkamaki won her third straight national title in the women’s shot put F44.

Since the meet took place in Walnut, California, Malkamaki celebrated the feat with a West Coast staple.

Malkamki was celebrating more than just the national title though. Her throw of 13.21 meters comfortably met A standards and earned her a spot at the 2024 World Para Athletics Championships in Kobe, Japan.

Making this year’s team was no easy feat.

Team USA brought a roster of 45 athletes to last year’s world championships in Paris, with some Paralympic and worlds medalists not making the cut.

With a contested competition schedule this summer, the U.S. is bringing just 30 athletes to the  world championships this May in Kobe.

That group, which was named following the national championships, is stacked with some of the biggest names in the sport — Malkamaki is one of nine U.S. athletes who will be defending world titles they won in Paris last summer.

There was still some room on the roster for new faces as well. Arelle Middleton (women’s shot put F44), Korban Best (men’s 100-meter T47) and Catarina Guimaraes (women’s long jump T38) all won national titles in one event and will each make their world championships debut in Japan.

Guimaraes, who recently left High Point University to train for Team USA full time, was in a parking garage when she received the email letting her know she made the cut for worlds. She couldn’t contain her excitement and posted a reaction video before even leaving the garage.

You can see the list of all 30 U.S. athletes set to compete in the world championships here.

Advice From A Champion

Before competing in the 2024 United Airlines NYC Half earlier in March, Susannah Scaroni answered some questions from Women’s Health magazine.

One question was if Scaroni had any advice to younger athletes?

“My advice to younger athletes is to make big goals,” Scaroni said. “You want it to be something challenging, but then after that just break it down into small steps. Think about what you’re actually going to do right now to reach that bigger goal.”

If one of Scaroni’s goals was to win defend her NYC Half title, then she did a great job of following her own advice. The two-time Paralympic medalist won the women’s wheelchair division in 53:50, almost a full two minutes faster than her winning time from a year ago.

Stop The Clot

Tatyana McFadden took second place in the women’s wheelchair division at the NYC Half, finishing just under five minutes behind Scaroni.

While the 20-time Paralympic medalist was in New York, she saw herself on a billboard in Times Square promoting Stop the Clot, a campaign from the National Blood Clot Alliance to raise awareness about the dangers of blood clots.

McFadden developed a serious blood clotting disorder in 2017, and it took her close to 20 months to fully recover from it. Now McFadden, who has already qualified for her seventh Paralympic Games this summer in Paris, is sharing tips to help others avoid a similar fate.

Equipment Malfunction

Evan Correll was the only American to reach the NYC Half podium in the men’s wheelchair division, finishing second. His time of 52:06 was a significant improvement from 2023, when Correll crossed the finish line in 58:19 to take third place.

A surprise absentee from the podium was Daniel Romanchuk. The Paralympic medalist had finished in the top three in each of his previous five appearances in the NYC Half, including victories in 2019 and 2022. However, a flat tire plagued the Paris 2024 qualifier at this year’s race, which resulted in him taking eighth place.

Romanchuk still found silver linings from the race.

“These things happen,” Romanchuk wrote on Instagram, “and I’m very grateful it happened on the climb/top, not the descent, and only resulted in a flat front tire, not a crash!”

Sprinting Royalty

Shortly after securing a berth in for the upcoming world championships, Nick Mayhugh traveled to Kingston, Jamacia, for the Issa/Grace Kennedy Boys & Girls Championships. The annual track meet started more than 100 years ago and features the top student-athletes from around Jamaica.

While he was there, Mayhugh — a four-time Paralympic medalist and current world record holder in three sprinting events —met a couple other sprinting icons in Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake.

Blake has the second fastest 100 and 200 times ever, trailing only Bolt’s world records in each event.

Pretty In Purple

The track that will revolve around the Stade de France this summer for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024 will have a distinct color to it.

Mondo, and Italian company that produces the track and field surface for the Games, will lay down a track in Paris with two shades of purple along with a shade of gray.

While the color of the track will catch viewers’ eyes right away, Maurizio Stroppiana, vice president of the sports sector at Mondo, hopes the performances of the athletes does as well.

“We measure the quality of our work from athletes’ personal bests,” Stroppiana told Olympics.com. “If they succeed, it means that our products contributed and allowed them to perform at their best. World records represent the cherry on top of the cake.”

You can find out more about Mondo’s track for the Olympics and Paralympics here.