Gomez Gets Gold as Team USA Adds Three More Medals on Day 4

NEW DELHI, INDIA – Joel Gomez wasn’t the favorite coming into the T13 (visually impaired) 1500m, but raced like the favorite. Gomez took the lead from the start of the race which kicked off just before 9:30 a.m., but instead of setting a blistering pace, he controlled the race at a conservative clip relying on his kick in the final meters. The strategy paid off. Gomez was able to hold-off two hard-charging competitors on the homestretch and take the win.

“Nobody was taking the lead. And I knew that I had been working a lot more on endurance rather than speed this season,” said Gomez, who won a World Junior title in 2019. “I just had to take it out and keep increasing the pace all the way to the finish.”

During the evening session, Kym Crosby became the first U.S. athlete to win multiple medals at this championship. Crosby, who won the bronze medal in the T13 100m on the first day of competition, repeated that performance tonight and took third in the 200m with a time of 25.64.

“I have had a really rough couple of years,” said Crosby, who flashed a butterfly symbol to Team USA fans as she left the track. “I feel like a butterfly that has come out of its chrysalis. My wings finally grew and I’m here today back on the podium for my eighth world medal.”

The women’s long jump T63 (limited movement of absence of leg above the knee) opened with a championship record by Noelle Lambert-Beirne who jumped 4.55, only to have Australia’s Vanessa Low and Switzerland’s Elena Kratter each break 5.0. Lambert-Beirne, however, eclipsed her early jump, going 4.84 on the third attempt and winning the bronze medal. 

“This is coming off a good solid year of training,” said Lambert-Beirne, who got married earlier this month. “My mindset coming in was ‘just do whatever you can to snag a medal.’ It’s great to have competition like this to go back and forth and I’m just striving to one day get that gold medal.”

In other finals tonight, Derek Loccident was fourth with a season’s best throw of 43.91 in the F64 (impairment of one leg or absence of leg above the knee) javelin. Sayers Grooms ran a season’s best 20.19 to finish fifth in the women’s T72 (frame running) 100m. Jarryd Wallace was sixth with a time of 11.23 in the T64 (absence of one leg below the knee) 100m.

Three athletes qualified for finals of their respective events in the morning session. Taylor Swanson won her heat in the T37 (movement or coordination affected on one side) 100m. Both Jaydin Blackwell and Ryan Medrano - the gold and silver medalist in the T38 100m - won their heats advancing them to the T38 (movement or coordination affected in the lower trunk and legs) 400m final tomorrow.

TOTAL MEDALS (12)

GOLD (2)

Jaydin Blackwell, T38 100m

Joel Gomez, T13 1500m

SILVER (4)

Ezra Frech, T63 high jump

Ryan Medrano, T38 100m

Samantha Heyison, F44 discus 

Jessica Heim, F64 discus

BRONZE (6)

Jaleen Roberts, T37 long jump

Katie Hwang, F36 shot put

Kym Crosby, T13 100m

Alicia Guerrero, F64 discus 

Kym Crosby, T13 200m

Noelle Lambert-Beirne, T63 long jump