Mason, Jean-Paul, Houston find podium as track and field competition concludes at Stade de France

PARIS, FRANCE – Three Team USA athletes secured medals as track and field competition at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games concluded at the Stáde de France. Two-time Paralympians Isaac Jean-Paul (Evanston, Ill.), Brittni Mason (Cleveland, Ohio) and Eva Houston (Omaha, Neb.) all found the podium in their respective events.

Jean-Paul earned the second Paralympic medal of his career, upgrading his Tokyo long jump bronze medal to silver in today’s long jump T13 competition. In one of the tightest competitions of the Games for Team USA, Jean-Paul and Paulo Andrade dos Reis of Brazil recorded the same best distance of 7.20 meters, but Jean-Paul’s second-best jump beat out Andrade dos Reis by one centimeter, breaking the tie.

The 2023 world champion, Jean-Paul said he was competing for his late grandmother.

“It was amazing. I came here wanting to compete for my grandmother who passed away last year right after I won my world championship gold,” he said. “She was able to hold it. We were able to share a special moment. Now to come out here, having a tough, extremely tough year, I’m just so proud of myself.”

Jean-Paul credited Paris for embracing the Paralympic Games. The Stáde de France was packed for the last day of track and field competition.

“The people of Paris, they’ve been such an amazing crowd,” he said. “It was totally different compared to Tokyo. I was told during the 100-meter final there were 70,000 people watching in the stadium. In Tokyo, it was 100 people. That was just coaches and athletes and cameramen. This experience has been very humbling and just incredible.”

Mason, meanwhile, earned Team USA’s second silver medal of the day – and her second silver medal in Paris – in the women’s 200-meter T47. The now five-time Paralympic medalist sped to a time of 25.18 and medaled out of lane eight after qualifying fourth overall out of the preliminary heats.

“I’m just really happy and excited now that I’m done,” Mason said. “I’m going to go back into the lab and see where I can grow and fix some things. I know that gold is in reach.”

Mason has earned silver in every individual Paralympic race in which she’s competed across her two Games, plus a gold in the 2020 mixed 4x100-meter universal relay. She has never finished below second in a Paralympic or world championships meet.

“Consistency is super important, especially in my class, and I’m really proud of how I’ve been able to stay consistent throughout my career,” she said. “My class is pretty big within the Para realm and there are always new girls coming in, so I’m just trying to be consistent every single day.”

Earning the first Paralympic medal of her career was Houston, who clocked a time of 2:05.94 in the women’s 800-meter T34 race to earn bronze.

It is the second Paralympic Games for the 23-year-old Houston, who trains at the University of Illinois.

It feels amazing,” Houston said. “I feel like at the beginning of this week I got a little bit in my head and was really struggling with some of the competitors that I had. I had to do some mental work and really just at the end of the day, believe in myself. I believe in myself after tonight.”

Houston has excelled in the 800-meter competition in recent years, earning the first world championships medal of her career in the same event in 2023.

“I think the bell lap, something in me kicks in and it’s my favorite feeling on the planet,” she said. “I live for that bell ring, and then you have one lap to give it all you’ve got.”

In the same race, Team USA’s Lauren Fields (Spokane, Wash.) placed eighth with a time of 2:33.51. The 18-year-old will be headed to the University of Illinois next year to train alongside Houston and other Team USA wheelchair racing greats.

“Even making the team was just huge for me, and being able to race with all these strong and amazing women has been an incredible experience, especially going into college,” Fields said. “It’s a big motivator to see what I can do in the next four years.”

Wrapping her competition after qualifying for her second event final in Paris was Erin Kerkhoff (Coralville, Iowa), who placed fifth in the women’s 400-meter T13. Kerkhoff also made the final and finished seventh in her 100-meter T13 race. In her second Games, she improved on both of her results from her Paralympic debut in Tokyo, where she finished eighth and 15th in the 400-meter and 100-meter, respectively.

Parapan American Games 1500-meter T38 champion Leo Merle (Fontana, Calif.) made his Paralympic debut and placed sixth with a time of 4:16.43. Merle, who graduated from dental school in May, said he has been able to focus more on his training in the past three months without school on his plate.

“I was really excited coming into this, I knew my fitness was fantastic,” Merle said. “Prior to [graduating], just being stuck in the dentistry, it made me have a lot more rigor and a lot more balance. Once I got to training alone with no dentistry, I started to really think about my training. I started focusing less on just getting a hard effort in and more on getting a smart effort in. It really pivoted how my training went.”

Team USA’s Lindi Marcusen (Spokane, Wash.) and Noelle Lambert (Manchester, N.H.) finished in sixth and seventh, respectively, after making the final of the women’s 100-meter T63.

Competing in her first Paralympic Games, Marcusen said she will take lessons out of her performance in Paris. The 28-year-old also competed in long jump, where she finished eighth.

“Games are a marathon and that’s what I think people don’t understand,” she said. “It’s not just competition, it’s daily life and everything else that goes into less than 20 seconds. It’s just been absolutely incredible, I’ve learned so much and I feel even more prepared going toward LA 2028.”

Lambert spoke to the growth of the T63 class on the women’s side. She said the growth of the class has kept her motivated and focused.

“It’s insane, it’s incredible,” Lambert said. “It’s the representation that we need, and it sets the bar for everyone else. It’s been incredible for me to have that in the back of my head. If I don’t perform, I don’t make it to the final. So to make it and be alongside the best athletes in the world is a huge accomplishment. I’m just honored to compete alongside them.”

In the morning’s preliminary heat of the men’s 200-meter T64, two-time Paralympian Jonathan Gore (Fayetteville, W.Va.) placed fifth in his heat and just missed qualifying for the evening final.

Team USA Medals – September 5, 2024

SILVER
Isaac Jean-Paul – men’s long jump T13
Brittni Mason – women’s 200-meter T47

BRONZE
Eva Houston – women’s 800-meter T34

Other Team USA Results
Erin Kerkhoff – 5th, women’s 400-meter T13
Leo Merle – 6th, men’s 1500-meter T38
Lindi Marcusen – 6th, women’s 100-meter T63
Noelle Lambert – 7th, women’s 100-meter T63
Lauren Fields – 8th, women’s 800-meter T34
Jonathan Gore – prelims, men’s 200-meter T64
 

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