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* CBS…
DePaul University graduate Noelle Malkamaki is bringing home a gold medal with a world record in the shot put at the Paralympic Games in Paris.
Malkamaki broke her own world record in the Women’s F46 shot put final with a throw of 14.06 meters. She’d set the previous world record this summer at the U.S. Paralympic trials.
She’s also a two-time Para Athletics world champion in shot put.
Before competing in track & field and volleyball at DePaul, Malkamaki was a high school athlete in Decatur in central Illinois.
* Tribune…
Olympian Valerie Tarazi is proud to swim for her country.
It was a dream of hers since she was a child watching the Olympics as a fan, said Tarazi, 24. However, the Crystal Lake native did not swim for the United States, where she was born and raised, but was one of eight athletes who competed for Palestine.
She placed 32nd when she competed at the Olympics in Paris this summer and set a new personal best in the 200-meter individual medley. Tarazi was one of the flag-bearers for the opening and closing ceremonies and continues to use her exposure at the Olympics to promote a message of peace.
“It was the biggest honor carrying the flag on my shoulder and representing the millions of Palestinians in the world,” she said.
Tarazi’s Palestinian heritage comes from her paternal grandfather, who was born in Gaza, she said. Her roots go even further back, though. The Tarazi family is one of the oldest Christian families in Palestine, she said, and she has traced her ties all the way to the year 400.
* WSIL…
A former Saluki will represent Southern Illinois in the upcoming 2024 Summer Paralympics.
Chuck Melton will compete in the Wheelchair Rugby. This is Melton’s third time in the games, having previously competed with Team USA in the 2016 and 2020 Paralympics. […]
Forty-five-year-old Melton was bound to a wheelchair after a C7 spinal cord injury in 2002 that occurred in a diving incident. He began his journey with rugby in 2007.
Melton also has experience in the World Championships for Wheelchair Rugby in 2014, 2018 and 2022.
The United States wheelchair rugby team will be bringing home a silver medal from the Paris Paralympics. […]
Chuck Aoki and Sarah Adam led the U.S. with 14 and Josh Wheeler added 7.
Aoki, of Minneapolis, is co-captain of the U.S. team with Newby. Adam, a native of Naperville, Illinois, is an assistant professor of occupational science and occupational therapy at Saint Louis University.
Newby also scored three in an earlier U.S. win over Canada.
Newby, who was born in Alton, lives in Godfrey with his young family. As a youth, he moved with his family to Nashville, Illinois and graduated from Nashville High School. He attended Maryville University in St. Louis. He had family in the Godfrey/Alton area and he and his wife, Megan, settled there. He previously also lived in Colorado.
* WCIA…
Eva Houston is competing in 100-meter and 800-meter wheelchair racing. The recent U of I alum competed in the 2020 games but said the lead-up feels different this time around.
“Because of COVID, we didn’t really have a fan experience,” Houston said. “You know, my parents couldn’t join. So to have all this support and to be able to share this with our people and our community is so special.”
For others, like Aaron Pike, the games are nothing new.
“It’s sweet that we get to find a day like this, to get everybody out and meet everybody and see faces, and it’s a lot of fun,” Pike said.
Pike is a staple, competing seven times in both winter and summer games over the last 12 years. This year, he’ll race in the 1,500 and 5,000-meter events and cap it off with a marathon for good measure. The Illini alumnus said it’s no accident so many athletes have ties to the orange and blue.
* Fox Chicago…
The Paralympic Games kick off this week in Paris with nine athletes from the University of Illinois representing the United States.
Susannah Scaroni blew her previous marathon record out of the water when she won the Boston Marathon in wheelchair racing. This week she’s going for the gold in Paris. […]
Susannah moved to Illinois after she was injured and paralyzed in a car accident when she was five years old.
“Fortunately for me, I learned about adaptive sports when I was ten and that led me to Illinois. So I started with wheelchair basketball and was happy to do whatever I could, so when I learned about wheelchair racing I started doing that,” she said.
* More…
* 2 Houston | Rice swimmer Ahalya Lettenberger heads to Paralympics: Lettenberger, who was born with arthrogryposis amyoplasia, a muscular skeletal disorder that affects her lower limbs, plans to swim 200 meters and 400 meters this year, the latter event being her favorite. She races in the SM7 category, which is for swimmers with movement affected from a low to moderate level in the arms, trunk and legs, moderately down one side, those with short stature, or the absence of limbs. All these swimmers have to work harder at stroke timing or getting hold of the water, according to LEXI - an explainer of Parasport classifications. […] Lettenberger, a Chicago area native also relishes the opportunity to represent Team USA again.
* 21st Show | Marco De La Rosa: A Vet, a Hero, and a Paralympian: The 2024 Paralympics are underway in Paris. Marco De La Rosa, originally from Chicago, now based in San Antonio, Texas is a para-shooter who competes professionally in the 10-meter Air Pistol category. He will make his second Paralympic appearance at the 2024 games after previously competing in the Rio 2016 games.
* IPM Newsroom | Local athlete heads to Paris for his fourth Paralympic Games: Brian Siemann, a local resident, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign graduate, and four-time Paralympian, will compete in the 100m, 400m, 800m, 5,000m, and marathon events for the US Paralympic Track and Field Team. Morning Edition host Kimberly Schofield, who has Siemann since 2008, recently interviewed him about the upcoming games and his journey to becoming athlete.
* NAU Athletics | Keegan Knott Earns Roster Spot for 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games: Following the Paralympic trials in Minnesota this weekend, NAU’s Keegan Knott has been officially announced the U.S. Paralympic roster for the Paris games. The Illinois native will be returning as a Paralympian for Team USA after previously competing in her first-ever games in Tokyo as the youngest on the 2021 roster. Knott will be chasing her first Paralympic podium finish in Paris.
posted by Isabel Miller
Friday, Sep 6, 24 @ 9:49 am
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Congratulations to all these outstanding athletes!
Comment by Retired SURS Employee Friday, Sep 6, 24 @ 10:05 am
Those were good reads. Thank you Isabel and as always, I’m impressed at your work.
Comment by Lurker Friday, Sep 6, 24 @ 10:18 am
GREAT post Isabel(banned punctuation)Thank you for comprehensive coverage of these athletes. It is compelling athletic action and inspiring watching the athletes compete. Live sports in the am. Rugby, aka murderball, was wow, Sarah Adam first woman on a USA team, and there was a woman on the winning Japan team. the opening ceremony was fantastic art, worth finding to watch. closing on sunday.
Comment by Amalia Friday, Sep 6, 24 @ 10:47 am
Don’t forget the GOAT Tatyana McFadden
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/paralympian-tatyana-mcfadden-on-her-quest-for-a-track-and-field-medal-record
Comment by Sox Fan Friday, Sep 6, 24 @ 11:04 am
Congratulations to these athletes who make us proud to be from Illinois.
Comment by Just a Citizen Friday, Sep 6, 24 @ 12:24 pm