Looking Back On Some Top Moments From The Track In Paris

Tatyana McFadden didn’t have anything to prove at the Paralympic Games Paris 2024.

The wheelchair racing legend had already won 20 medals across six Paralympics — with her 19 track-and-field medals by far the most of any active U.S. Paralympian.

However, that tally left her just one shy of the American Para track-and-field record that wheelchair racer Bart Dodson set by winning 20 medals across five Games from 1984 to 2000.

With seven races in Paris, McFadden had seven chances to make history.

After a fourth-place finish in the women’s 800-meter T54, the 35-year-old from Baltimore was back three days later and burst into an early lead in the women’s 100 T54.

Though Belgium’s Lea Bayekula overtook the American around the 80-meter mark to win gold, McFadden’s silver medal pushed her into a tie with Dodson for the career mark.

“The accomplishment is absolutely wonderful, just to stay in the longevity of this sport and really not giving up and to keep going through anything that can happen,” McFadden said. “Through injuries, through races that you’ve lost or that you’ve won, I really learned it’s the journey along the way.”

McFadden wasn’t done yet. She helped close out the last day of competition at the Stade de France when she raced with Noah Malone, Taylor Swanson and Hunter Woodhall to win a bronze medal in the 4x100 universal relay, officially making McFadden the most decorated U.S. Para track and field athlete of all time.

While that could’ve served as a perfect swan song for an iconic career, McFadden plans to go for an eighth Paralympics four years from now in Los Angeles at 39 years old. There, she’ll have a chance to break Switzerland’s Franz Nietlispach’s world record of 22 track-and-field medals.

McFadden’s milestone was just one of many memorable moments from the track in Paris. Here’s a look at a few of the others.

Threepeating In Style

Before Roderick Townsend looked to win gold in the men’s high jump T37 for the third straight Games, he visited a Paris salon to make sure he looked his best while competing on the world’s biggest stage.

When the Stockton, California, native showed up at the Stade de France, he did so with a Pablo Picasso-inspired design in his hair. A self-described “showman,” Townsend, 32, lived up to the billing, beating out India’s Nishad Kumar to win another Paralympic gold. 

Epic Battle

Since 2008, few athletes have dominated an event as much as Jeremy Campbell has dominated the men’s discus F64. The Perryton, Texas, native won his first Paralympic title in Beijing and has gone on to win three more across four Games.

The current world-record holder in the event, Campbell, 37, set a Paralympic record in Paris with a throw of 61.14 meters to secure his fourth gold in the discus and the fifth gold in his career.

Since his Paralympic debut, the only Games Campbell didn’t finish atop the podium in the discus was in 2016 in Rio, when fellow American David Blair earned the gold.

A native of Eagle Mountain, Utah, Blair came into Paris as the two-time defending world champion in the discus F64. While Campbell beat him out for the Paralympic title, the 49-year-old Blair came home with a bronze for his second career medal.

Slaying A Giant

In 2021, Daniel Romanchuk beat Switzerland’s Marcel Hug by one second to claim the men’s wheelchair title at the Chicago Marathon. From that day on, however, Hug went undefeated in major marathons and track races, often leading to runner-up finishes for Romanchuk.

Many expected Hug’s run of dominance to continue in Paris, and that looked to be the case as Hug maintained a lead for a majority of the men’s 5,000 T54. However, with two laps to go, Kuwait’s Faisal Alrajehi slipped to the outside of the pack and aggressively stormed past Hug into the lead. Soon, other racers followed suit and boxed in Hug.

As the pack turned into the homestretch, Hug shifted way outside to try to sprint his way to gold, with Hug, Alrajehi and Romanchuk racing dead even. Finally, with the finish line approaching, Romanchuk kicked. The final push was enough to secure the gold medal, while Hug settled for silver.

Following that thrilling finish, Romanchuk, a 26-year-old from Mount Airy, Maryland, went on to win bronze in the 400 T54 to secure his fourth career Paralympic medal.

Significant Firsts

Throughout Hunter Woodhall’s decorated career, gold medals always seemed to allude him. Going into Paris, the Syracuse, Utah, native had won a combined six silvers and three bronzes from two Paralympic appearances and four world championships.

The 25-year-old finally got over the hump in Paris, as he finished 0.54 seconds ahead of the runner up in the men’s 400 T62 to win his first gold.

“I’m just waiting to wake up man,” Woodhall said after his win. “I didn’t know it was mine until I crossed the line — it still doesn’t feel real.”

Like Woodhall, Susannah Scaroni already had a collection of medals before the Paris Games. The Tekoa, Washington, native made her Paralympic debut in 2012 and won her first medals three years ago in Tokyo, taking home a gold and a bronze.

Through three Paralympic appearances, the one thing that had evaded Scaroni was a medal in the women’s marathon T54. She improved her result at each Games, marking a personal best sixth-place finish in Tokyo.

The 33-year-old vastly improved on those results in Paris by winning bronze. That concluded Scaroni’s best Games to date, as she left France with three bronzes and a silver.

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.