PARIS, FRANCE – Team USA’s Roderick Townsend (Stockton, California) jumped into the history books by winning his third consecutive high jump T47 Paralympic title on the third day of track and field competition at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. In a big night for wheelchair racing and jumps, Americans brought home five medals in front of another electric crowd at the Stáde de France.

In addition to Townsend’s title, Jaleen Roberts (Kent, Washington) earned her second straight Paralympic silver medal in the women’s long jump T37, while the trio of Susannah Scaroni (Tekoa, Washington), Brian Siemann (Champaign, Illinois), and Daniel Romanchuk (Mount Airy, Maryland) all brought home bronze in their wheelchair racing events.

With his wife and young son watching from the stands, Townsend, who earned his fifth career Paralympic medal, jumped 2.12 meters to secure victory over rival Nishad Kumar of India. The victory extended his streak of major world high jump titles – Townsend has won every Paralympic and world championship high jump gold medal since 2015.

Tonight, he said, he utilized the energy of the crowd to spur him to gold. He added it was extra special to have his family – including his wife, Olympian Tynita Townsend – watching him. It was the first time friends and family other than his wife and his coach have been able to see him compete.

“Words really can't describe,” he said. “This has been a really turbulent year in many aspects. I didn't perform well at Paralympic Trials, and Team USA is the hardest team in the world to make.

“When I heard the Games were going to be in Europe again, I expected great things, but I've never been in a stadium this loud, this dynamic, this impactful. I'm so grateful how much they appreciate talent in general. They supported every one of the athletes and we all felt at home.”

Townsend will return to the track for long jump on Sept. 3.

Roberts had her best jump – 4.77 meters – on her first attempt and rode the momentum to a silver medal in the women’s long jump T37. It marked the third overall Paralympic medal for Roberts, who won two silvers in her Paralympic debut in Tokyo.

The 25-year-old is coming off a season hampered by an injury that kept her out of world championships and said that while her numbers weren’t where she wanted them to be, she was happy to be on the podium.

““It feels good to walk away with a silver,” she said. “I could have jumped farther, but on each jump there was something that was technically sound and then something I could work on. So it’s all about putting all that together. I’m confident that when LA (2028 Games) comes around, the gold will be my future."

Roberts has one event remaining, the 100-meter T37, in which she is the defending Paralympic silver medalist.

It was a triumphant moment for Siemann, who is competing in his fourth Paralympic Games and earned his first career Paralympic medal in tonight’s 400-meter T53 race. The 34-year-old won his first world championships medals in 2023, and said that trusting his training is what has helped him to peak at this point in his career.

I’ve managed to do this with the support of my teammates,” he said. “I’ve been lucky to train with some really great athletes. Real legends in the sport. I think they’ve always been the force that’s pulling me, sometimes quite literally, across the track to get a little bit better and a little bit faster. That’s what’s gotten me here. Their commitment to making me a better athlete.”

Siemann clocked a personal-best time of 47.84 and said it was an emotional moment.

“I couldn’t stop smiling when I saw my name on the board because I’ve been in that position when I’ve been waiting and I look and I see my name in fourth place by a hair. To finally see it up there and to race as fast and as well as I did is really exciting. There’s still more work to be done.”

Scaroni took a risk on an inside line in the final 100-meters of the women’s 800-meter T54 and it paid off, resulting in her second medal in as many days. The now five-time Paralympic medalist earned bronze in 1:43.42, eking ahead of teammate and 20-time Paralympic medalist Tatyana McFadden (Baltimore, Maryland), who clocked a time of 1:43.58 and finished fourth. The third American in the race, two-time Paralympian Hannah Dederick (Mead, Washington) kicked off her second Games with a seventh-place finish with her best events still to come.

For Scaroni, both Paris medals have come as a result of strategic execution of her race plan. In today’s 800-meter, she sat at the back of the pack until the final 200-meters of the race, where she turned on the power and chose the correct line.

Strategy has paid off for Scaroni in Paris. She said she has been enjoying that aspect of competition.

“There’s a lot of strategy, there’s a lot of going as hard as you can while being able to respond what’s going on,” she said. “I’ve realized Tokyo was Tokyo, this is a new Games. It’s been really fun for me to focus on the racing. Tokyo, no one had raced for awhile, and it was going to be kind of mysterious. Here, I know the strengths of this field and I’m just excited to race.”

Scaroni returns to the track for her 1500-meter competition on Sept. 3, while McFadden and Dederick are set for the 100-meter on Sept. 4.

Also earning his second medal of the competition was Romanchuk, who found an extra gear at the end of the men’s 400-meter T54 and took bronze, just a day after winning the 5000-meter event. Romanchuk’s time of 45.11 put him comfortably in third, over half a second ahead of the fourth-place finisher.

Starting off her Paris run on a high note was world championships bronze medalist Eva Houston (Omaha, Nebraska), who overcame a slow start in the women’s 100-meter T34 to finish just off the podium in fourth place. Houston still has her signature 800-meter event to go, in which she will compete on Sept. 7.

The American trio of three-time Paralympian Jessica Heims (Swisher, Iowa) and teenagers Samantha Heyison (Adamstown, Maryland) and Arelle Middleton (Rancho Cucamonga, California) represented the U.S. in the discus F64 competition.

Heyison, in her Paralympic debut, was the top Team USA finisher in fifth with a best mark of 38.78 meters. The 19-year-old won two medals at her world championships debut in 2023 and competes collegiately at Wake Forest University.

Heims was close behind her in sixth with a best throw of 34.68, while the 16-year-old Middleton finished 10th. For Heims, throwing in her third Paralympic Games alongside two young athletes making their Paralympic debuts was rewarding.

“It was fun to have Sam and Arelle with me, and I think I enjoyed that part the most,” Heims said. “It’s fun to see them go through the things I went through, especially at Arelle’s age, and it reminds me how cool this experience is. You can get sort of numb to the excitement of it, but seeing them go through it makes me love the sport even more.”

Heims wraps her Paris Games, while Heyison and Middleton will compete in shot put later in the week.

Paralympic medalist Isaac Jean-Paul (Evanston, Illinois) opened his Paris campaign with a fifth-place finish in the men’s 100-meter T13. He will return for his signature long jump – the event in which he is the 2023 world champion and 2020 Paralympic bronze medalist – on Sept. 7.

In her first race at the Paralympic Games, Chelsea Stein (Spring, Texas) placed seventh in the women’s 800-meter T53 with a time of 2:11.91. She will return to the track for the 100-meter and 400-meter races.

A slew of Team USA sprinters competed in their 100-meter preliminary heats, with Hunter Woodhall (Syracuse, Utah) advancing to the final of the 100-meter T64 and Desmond Jackson (Durham, North Carolina) and Ezra Frech (Los Angeles, California) earning spots in the 100-meter T63 final. Woodhall, Jackson and Frech will race for medals tomorrow night.

Two-time Paralympian Jonathan Gore (Fayetteville, West Virginia) and 2024 world championships medalist Derek Loccident (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) finished 12th and 11th, respectively, in the men’s 100-meter T64 prelims and will not advance to the final. Gore will race in the 200-meter on Sept. 7, while Loccident still has the high jump, long jump and javelin remaining on his Paris calendar.

Track and field competition in Paris resumes Sept. 2 at 10 a.m. local time. All sessions will be streamed live on NBC’s Peacock. Follow U.S. Paralympics Track & Field on Facebook, Instagram and X for team results and updates from Paris 2024.

For media requests and photo inquiries, please contact Kristen Gowdy at Kristen.Gowdy@usopc.org.

Team USA Medals – September 1, 2024

GOLD
Roderick Townsend – men’s high jump T47

SILVER
Jaleen Roberts – women’s long jump T37

BRONZE
Brian Siemann – men’s 400-meter T53

Daniel Romanchuk – men’s 400-meter T54

Susannah Scaroni – women’s 800-meter T54

Other Team USA Results

Samantha Heyison – 5th, women’s discus F64

Isaac Jean-Paul – 5th, men’s 100-meter T13

Jessica Heims – 6th, women’s discus F64

Arelle Middleton – 10th, women’s discus F64

Hunter Woodhall – Finals, men’s 100-meter T64

Ezra Frech – Finals, men’s 100-meter T63

Desmond Jackson – Finals, men’s 100-meter T63

Jonathan Gore – Prelims, men’s 100-meter T64

Derek Loccident – Prelims, men’s 100-meter T64

Townsend Three-Peats as High Jump Paralympic Champion as Team USA Adds Five Medals on Third Day

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