The 2023 Para track and field world championships didn’t go as planned for frame runner Sayers Grooms.

Hoping to at least set a personal best in Paris last year, Grooms’ chances were derailed shortly after the start of the women’s 100-meter T72. Her right shoe fell off, as the special laces she uses were not fastened securely. Still, she pushed through the rough opening of her race and finished eighth out of eight competitors in a time of 22.51 seconds, less than 2 seconds out of seventh place.

The 18-year-old from Gainesville, Florida, has brushed that race off, however, and took some positives away that she is building toward the upcoming world championships, which run May 17-25 in Kobe, Japan.

“I learned how to race alone and set myself up to race,” said Grooms, who has ataxic cerebral palsy. “Also, I got so many connections from being with the athletes and the coaches on the team.”

Not much has changed in the way she has been training in frame running, which she describes as an oversized “tricycle without pedals,” grabbing the handlebars and leaning into the frame and running. One area Grroms is focused on is achieving better starts — which goes beyond just keeping both shoes on.

“(I’ve been working on) my start the most because my coach shows that how my start goes dictates the rest of my race,” Grooms said. “It’s definitely the place that I’ve always been the worst at and have been improving over the last few years.”

Worlds will be the highlight of Grooms’ 2024, as frame running is not yet part of the Paralympic program. In fact, the 100 is the only event available to frame runners. It was proposed for the Paralympic Games Paris 2024, but ultimately was not chosen.

Grooms has won the last two gold medals at the U.S. Paralympics Track & Field National Championships, winning the title in 2023 in 18.46 seconds and improving on that in 2024 with a time of 18.29 seconds — her current personal best.

“I definitely want to break 18 seconds,” Grooms said. “It’s been a goal of mine for years and I feel like I’m definitely ready. And then I don’t know how low I’ll get in the 17s.”

Despite setting a new PR at nationals, Grooms is confident her performance at worlds will be better and could be good enough to get her on the podium.

“When I set my PR, the 18.29 race, I did not execute the best,” Grooms said. “So I know that if I execute, I can run much faster.”

Her PR would have been the third-best time at last year’s worlds, with only one runner breaking the 18-second mark.

May is a big month for Grooms. In addition to the world championships, she is graduating high school on May 24. This fall, she will attend Cornell University and plans to major in industrial labor relations with the hope of helping the disabled community as an advocate.

When she competes at worlds, Grooms will be the only American frame runner in Kobe. Last year, the U.S. also sent Michel Anwar, but the U.S. is taking 15 fewer athletes than it took to Paris last summer.

“I’m the only one, so I’ll perform for the American frame runners and do my best to perform for them,” Grooms said. “It makes me feel honored because I know how hard the team was to make. So I’m just honored that they selected me to be one of the people that gets to go.”

While the 100 is the only frame running event at worlds, Grooms enjoys both the short- and long-distance races — she said she has done everything from the 100 to the 1,500 in competitions — for different reasons, as you might expect from someone who enjoys playing board games and putting together puzzles.

“I learned how I can pretty much shut off my mind and just go and be able to completely rely on my training and not have to think about anything I’m doing,” Grooms said about shorter races.

“I like how I need to use tactics and how important pacing is,” she said of longer races.

Grooms is hoping frame running is included in the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics, with potentially more than just the 100. However, just having one race on the world’s biggest stage would be a huge win.

“The thing that we’re going to push for is to be included in the Paralympics because we can’t compete yet there,” Grooms said. “So that’s more important than adding events.”

Steve Drumwright is a journalist based in Murrieta, California. He is a freelance contributor to usparatf.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.

Last Year’s Disappointment At Worlds Is Behind Sayers Grooms As She Prepares For Kobe

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