American Athletes Eager To Experience More Of Paris After Competing In Worlds Last Summer

When Nick Mayhugh competed in the Para track and field world championships last summer in Paris, he experienced some of the top tourist attractions that the French capital has to offer.

Mayhugh, along with most of his U.S. teammates, of course went to the Eiffel Tower. In his free time, the four-time Paralympic medalist explored some of the city’s famous museums as well.

The Manassas, Virginia, native will get another chance to check out the city this summer after qualifying for the Paralympic Games Paris 2024 that begin Aug. 28.

This Paris competition will be different in a couple ways for Mayhugh.

First, on top of sprinting in the men’s 100-meter and 400-meter T38, events in which he won a gold and bronze medal at the Tokyo Games, he’ll also be competing as a long jumper for the first time in an international competition.

And even more monumental: When the 28-year-old runs and jumps at the Stade de France, his family will be in attendance to cheer him on, something they weren’t able to do a summer ago — much less in Tokyo, when no unofficial visitors were allowed due to the pandemic.

The Paris Games represent a return to normalcy after Tokyo, and in one of the world’s iconic cities to boot. That creates all sorts of opportunities for U.S. track and field stars to be excited about.

For Mayhugh, that’s getting to see Paris with his family.

“That’s what I usually do, like when I’m in Tokyo or at any of these events,” Mayhugh said. “I always FaceTime my family because I want them to experience it with me because they don’t really get to travel (to meets).”

His parents have quite the sense of humor about making a trip overseas to watch him compete, though.

“My mom’s funny enough to say, ‘Why do I need to travel that far to watch you for 10 seconds, I can just watch you on TV,’” Mayhugh said.

Noelle Malkamaki shared a similar sentiment about her return trip to Paris, which she booked by breaking her own world record (that she set in Paris last summer) in the women’s shot put F46 at the U.S. Paralympic Team Trials on July 20.

“This year, I’m going to have my family come with me, and I’m very excited about that,” said Malkamaki, who will be making her Paralympic debut in Paris. “That’s the main thing is just being able to celebrate with my family and kind of show them around Paris.”

Malkamaki will be returning to the city of not only her breakout competition but also her first international competition. She’ll be competing in a different venue, though. The world championships took place in Stade Sébastien-Charléty, which has a capacity of 20,000, while the Paralympic track and field events will take place in the Stade de France, which can hold up to 80,000 spectators.

The Decatur, Illinois, native said she was so nervous and focused on the competition during the world championships that she didn’t get to take in as much of the city as she would have liked.

A return trip has long been on her mind.

“The longer I’ve been gone from Paris, the more I look back. I’m like, ‘Actually I loved Paris, like I can’t wait to go back,’” the 23-year-old said.

When Jaleen Roberts thought about what she’s most looking forward to about the Games, she enjoyed the thought of just having people around in general after making her Paralympic debut in Tokyo.

“I feed off of people and energy,” the Kent, Washington, native said. “I do obviously get nervous for my first race in a big stadium, but more times than not I like big crowds like that.”

When Roberts competed in Tokyo — where she won silver in the women’s 100 and long jump T37, respectively — she could only take a bus from her hotel to the stadium on days when she competed.

She didn’t get the full Paralympic experience of being able to attend events to cheer on her teammates or go to other venues to watch different sports. Roberts also missed out on being able to interact with athletes from all over the world in the Paralympic Village.

“I love mingling and integrating with the people of wherever I’m at, because it’s a culture that I’m not familiar with,” the 25-year-old said. “And I like that that’s a part of track … I get to be immersed in other cultures and see what that’s kind of like.”

Jaydin Blackwell will be back in the city where he burst onto the Para track and field scene by winning world titles in the men’s 100 and 400 T38 — setting a world record in the latter. Already this year, the 20-year-old defended both of those world titles and broke the 100 world record at the Paralympic trials. He’ll be looking to set two new records when he returns to Paris for his Paralympic debut.

 When he isn’t competing, Blackwell is looking forward to tasting more of the local cuisine, which left him a bit unsatisfied a year ago.

“(I want to) try more food,” the Oak Park, Michigan, native said. “(There’s) really a ton of food there that I haven’t tried. Some of the food was, eh, just kind of in the middle.”

Luke Hanlon is a sportswriter and editor based in Minneapolis. He is a freelance contributor to usparatf.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.