TOKYO – Jeremy Campbell (Perryton, Texas) took his first throw of the men’s discus F64 competition out to 60.22 meters and secured victory early, earning his third Paralympic gold medal in the event at the Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020.
The win was redeeming, Campbell said, after he took fourth in Rio, the only time in his throwing career that he hasn’t podiumed at a Games.
Noah Malone (Fishers, Ind.), Cheri Madsen (Nebraska City, Neb.) and Jaleen Roberts (Kent, Wash.) took home a trio of silvers to round out Team USA’s medals on day seven of track and field competition in Tokyo.
Campbell’s win came in wet conditions, with steady rain falling on the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo throughout the day and into the evening. Campbell said it was the slickest conditions he’s ever thrown in. The weather hampered teammate and 2016 Paralympic gold medalist David Blair (Eagle Mountain, Utah), who finished fourth after slipping several times and uncharacteristically faulting four of his six throws. Blair and Campbell are two of the top Paralympic discus throwers in the world, and Campbell, who set the current world record in May, said after the competition that he would not be on the top of the podium without Blair, that they push each other to be better in training and competition.
In the morning session, Malone and Roberts both repeated as silver medalists, earning their second career Paralympic podiums and their second silver medals in Tokyo. Both first-time Paralympians, Malone and Roberts sped to their medals in the men’s 400m T12 and the women’s 100m T37, respectively. Malone, who also competes for Indiana State University, said it was just his third time racing the 400m, while Roberts, whose signature event is the long jump, said she came into the 100m without expectations.
Madsen earned her 10th career Paralympic medal today in the women’s 400m T54, capping a legendary career that spans 25 years and four Paralympic appearances. After winning her heat in the morning session with a season-best 53.16 effort, she finished behind only Switzerland’s Manuela Schaer in a rainy final. The veteran athlete said this would be her last Games, and that she is excited to head home and spend time with her family.
Tatyana McFadden (Baltimore, Md.) and Daniel Romanchuk (Mount Airy, Md.) both just missed the podium, taking fourth in the women’s 400m T54 and the men’s 800m T54, respectively. In the final of the men’s 800m T53, Brian Siemann (Champaign, Ill.) finished in eighth place. Siemann still has Sunday morning’s marathon as he looks for his first podium of Tokyo.
Beatriz Hatz (Lakewood, Colo.) was the lone American to qualify for the finals of the women’s 100m T64 race after taking third in her heat. Femita Ayanbeku (Boston, Mass.) and Sydney Barta (Arlington, Va.) finished fifth and sixth in their heats. The U.S. will have two representatives in the women’s 400m T13, as Kym Crosby (Yuba City, Calif.) and Erin Kerkhoff (Coralville, Iowa) both qualified through the prelims. Taylor Talbot (Ontario, Ore.) just missed the final, finishing fourth in her heat.
Other Team USA athletes competing today included Joshua George (Herndon, Va.), who took fifth in his heat of the men’s 800m T53 competition. Yen Hoang (Vancouver, Wash.) and Kelsey LeFevour (Chicago, Ill.) took fifth and sixth, respectively, in their preliminary round heats of the women’s 400m T53 race, and Hannah Dederick (Mead, Wash.) just missed the final of the women’s 400m T54 a day after her first career Paralympic final.
-U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee-