A Crash At Trials Couldn’t Keep Jenna Fesemyer From Her Second Paralympic Games

While wheeling around the track in Miramar, Florida, Jenna Fesemyer struggled to hit her compensator, the steering mechanism at the front of her chair, which in turn made the transitions between curves and straightaways difficult.

With six laps remaining in the women’s 5,000-meter T54 at the U.S. Paralympic Team Trials in July, she moved into a curve and hit the compensator too early, resulting in Fesemyer rolling into the guardrail and knocking a wheel off her chair.

After confirming that she was not disqualified, the Ravenna, Ohio, native replaced the wheel and eventually resumed the race, even if she knew it wouldn’t earn her a spot in Paris.

“I knew my time was in the can,” Fesemyer, 27, said. “It wasn’t going to make the team.”

The good news for Fesemyer was that she still had two events to go. Three years ago, in her Paralympic debut, Fesemyer raced in three events, including the marathon, in Tokyo. Now, if she was going to head to a second Paralympics in Paris, she’d have to do it in a short event, the 800 or the 1,500.

“I was very shocked and confused,” she said about the immediate aftermath of the crash. “Knock on wood, I never have any issues in terms of navigating the track.”

Up next for Fesemyer was the 800, which she used as an opportunity to build up her speed and to remind herself that she was safe at those speeds. She finished in fourth place and called the race a “confidence booster.”

After that, instead of feeling squeezed by the pressure of a last chance to qualify to the Paralympics, Fesemyer said she “felt a lot of peace” heading into the 1,500.

“I reminded myself of my training, of the hundreds and probably thousands of laps that I’ve done leading up to that race,” she said.

She talked with Susannah Scaroni, Eva Houston and Yen Hoang — who all train with her in Champaign, Illinois — to go over her strategy in the 1,500 and to help prepare for the do-or-die race.

Those pre-race meetings paid off, as Fesemyer finished in 3 minutes, 33.62 seconds, barely trailing runner-up Scaroni and a little more than three seconds behind the winner Tatyana McFadden. That time qualified Fesemyer for Paris for her second Paralympics.

Despite her challenging experience with the new racing chair at trials, Fesemyer broke it in enough to compete in three races in Paris — the 1,500, 5,000 and marathon.

She ended her second Paralympics with the marathon and raced it in the kneeling position, something she’d never done before. While she said her time wasn’t what she was hoping for, Fesemyer was still happy with how she executed the race, which earned her a 13th-place finish.

Unlike some athletes, Fesemyer has fond memories of the Tokyo Paralympics, which were held without crowds due to the pandemic. Perhaps, she mused, because as a first-time Paralympian, just competing in the Games was enough for her.

“Maybe it wasn’t as shiny to them because they knew the fullness of a non-pandemic experience,” Fesemyer said. “But for me, it was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. And so, to go to Tokyo, even in a pandemic, was truly so special.”

Once she experienced the Paralympics with full crowds — including having her family and fiancé, James, in attendance — Fesemyer admitted that these Games meant a bit more to her.

“Paris is just extra special because of so many reasons. One of them is being able to celebrate another Games with all my great teammates from the University of Illinois,” she said. “Another reason is that my family was able to come and so to finish with the marathon in Paris over all of the humbling cobblestones, I feel like that's a great way to finish this quad.”

Fesemyer has already received two degrees from the University of Illinois, where she competed on the school’s vaunted wheelchair racing team. Now back from Paris, the third-year Ph.D. student will get back to hitting the books.

Fesemyer is studying physical activity and sports engagement for adolescents with disabilities. She hopes to become a professor, ideally in the Midwest, where she grew up and continues to live, train and work.

She’ll also have more time to plan for her wedding, set for May 2025, now that the Paralympics are over. Fesemyer said James has been supportive while she’s balanced her hectic schedule. 

“He’s been my rock in my Ph.D. journey and my Paris journey,” she said.

Lela Moore is a freelance contributor to usparatf.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.