TOKYO, Japan – Daniel Romanchuk (Mount Airy, Md.) and Roderick Townsend (Stockton, Calif.) put on a show in the biggest night of track and field competition for Team USA thus far at the Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020.
Romanchuk and Townsend each found a way to make secure storybook wins – Romanchuk with a come-from-behind nail biter and Townsend with a new world record – en route to two of Team USA’s eight medals of the day.
Townsend and Paralympic newcomer Dallas Wise (Columbia, S.C.), were dominant in the men’s high jump T47. Townsend defended his Paralympic gold medal from Rio 2016 and set a new world record of 2.15-meters. Wise, in his Paralympic debut, shook off the jitters to tie for second with India’s Nishad Kumar. The dynamic duo has had a mentor-mentee relationship dating back to when Wise discovered adaptive sport, and both were quick to credit each other with their own success. Both athletes will compete in the men’s long jump T47, an event Townsend also won in Rio.
On the track, meanwhile, Romanchuk blazed to his first Paralympic medal in the men’s 400m T54, just a day after making his first Paralympic wheelchair racing finals ever in the 5000m T54. The 23-year-old American was in second place behind Thailand’s Athiwat Paeng-Nuea until the last 25 meters, when he surged ahead and edged Paeng-Nuea by just .01 seconds.
Romanchuk has one of the busiest schedules of any track and field competitor in Tokyo. He will head back to the track again tomorrow morning in the men’s 1500m T54 with the 100m, 800m and marathon still on deck.
In the women’s 800m T54, Tatyana McFadden (Baltimore, Md.) and Susannah Scaroni (Tekoa, Wash.) combined for their second double podium in Tokyo. Just over 24 hours after medaling in the women’s 5000m T54, McFadden and Scaroni did it again, finishing with silver and bronze, respectively. Their times of 1:43.16 (McFadden) and 1:44.43 (Scaroni) were both season-bests for the duo.
The medal was the 19th of McFadden’s storied career who needs two more to tie Canadian Chantal Petitclerc for the honor of the most decorated Paralympic track and field athlete of all-time. McFadden and Scaroni have another quick turnaround, returning to competition tomorrow night for the preliminary heats of the women’s 1500m T54.
Three-time Paralympic medalist Amanda McGrory (Savoy, Ill.), who also works full-time as an archivist for the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee, made her Tokyo debut alongside McFadden and Scaroni, finishing sixth in a tightly contested race.
The medals kept coming for Team USA as the night went on. Jaleen Roberts (Kent, Wash.), Raymond Martin (Jersey City, N.J.) and Noah Malone (Fishers, Ind.) all earned silver medals. For Roberts and Malone, their medals in the women’s long jump T37 and the men’s 100m T12 respectively were the first in their Paralympic careers. Martin, who took silver in the men’s 400m T52 on the first day of competition, came back strong to capture silver in the men’s 1500m T52 for his ninth total Paralympic medal. Martin will go for his 10th in the 100m on September 3. Teammate Isaiah Rigo (Cheney, Wash.), in his first Paralympics, qualified for his second event final and finished seventh.
Isaac Jean-Paul (Evanston, Ill.) made his Paralympic debut in the men’s 100m T13, qualifying for the final with a personal best 10.86-second effort. He bettered that in the final and missed the podium by .19 seconds, finishing fourth in 10.84.
Three-time Paralympian Brian Siemann (Champaign, Ill.) also just missed the podium, dropping into fourth place in the men’s 400m T53 by just .2 seconds. His finals time of 49.61 was a season-best.
In her second Paralympic appearance, Jessica Heims (Swisher, Iowa) finished fifth in the women’s discus throw F64, setting an American record in the process with her 34.89-meter toss. In a mixed class event, Heims was the top F64 athlete as F44 throwers swept the podium. The result is a big improvement from Rio, where Heims finished eighth.
Chelsea McClammer (Richland, Wash.) and Yen Hoang (Vancouver, Wash.) both qualified for the final of the women’s 800m T53. McClammer recorded a season-best of 1:51.19 in the final to put her in sixth, while Hoang in her first Paralympic event, finished eighth.
In other Team USA action, Alexa Halko (Williamsburg, Va.) and Eva Houston (Omaha, Neb.) took sixth and eight, respectively, in the women’s 100m T34 race. Making her Paralympic debut, Houston’s time of 19.82 was a personal best. Scot Severn (Caro, Mich.) placed seventh in the men’s shot put F53. Josh George (Herndon, Va.) posted a personal best time, but narrowly missed the finals of the men’s 800m T53 race.
Track and field competition resumes on Sunday at 8:30 p.m. EST. All races will be live streamed through NBCOlympics.com, on Peacock and through the NBC Sports app.
-U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee-