Jessica waited on the side of the pool. Her heart was beating quickly as she imagined the race in her mind. She was ready.

“On your mark, get set, go!” As the buzzer sounded, Jessica dove in. She swam to victory and, at only twelve years old, qualified for the Paralympic Games.

Jessica Long didn’t set out to break records. She simply wanted to swim. Born with fibular hemimelia, Jessica’s legs were amputated when she was eighteen months old. But she didn’t let her challenges keep her from doing a sport that she loved. Instead, she joined a swim club at age ten, the only athlete with a physical disability on the team.

"There were moments I struggled, but my teammates treated me like a friend,” Jessica said. “I just decided that I was going to be unstoppable and I wasn’t going to let my legs hold me back."

Jessica’s legs did not hold her back. She competed in her first Paralympic Games in 2004 in Athens, Greece. She is now a five time Paralympian and has won twenty-three medals at the Games, including sixteen golds.

The first Paralympics, originally called the Stoke Mandeville Games, took place in London, England in 1948. Created for veterans injured during World War II, these games hosted sixteen servicemen and women competing in archery. Since then, the Games have grown in size and popularity. In 2021, over four thousand athletes competed in Tokyo, Japan in sports ranging from triathlon to badminton.

The athletes who compete at the Paralympics come from many different countries and cultures. They have different disabilities and play different sports. But what they have in common is a fighting spirit.

As Jessica said, “With the never ending support of my family I understood that the only thing that was going to impact my future was my attitude towards my life.” With her success, Jessica has inspired many other athletes. Her attitude is pure gold.