Photo credit: Getty Images/Sam Barnes
"I'm a freaking bronze medalist, baby!" exclaimed Jarryd Wallace after capturing his first Paralympic medal while competing in his third games this past Saturday. The Atlanta Track Club Elite Team member and Hometown Hopeful realized his decade-long dream while crossing the finish line of the 200m T64 final with a time of 22.09. Wallace had a great start from lane five, despite the wet conditions, jumping to the front of the field early on with Costa Rica’s Sherman Isidro Guity Guity and Germany’s Felix Streng. The trio ran close together through the 100m mark, where they began to pull away from the rest of the field. Guity Guity crossed the line first with a time of 21.43, winning Costa Rica’s first Paralympic gold medal after also earning silver in the 100m T64. Streng was second in 21.78 after winning the 100m T64. But as the race concluded, the NBC Sports commentators were focused on Wallace and his triumphant bronze medal performance, knowing his long journey toward the podium as he pointed toward the sky then fell to his knees, overwhelmed with emotion.
“After nine years and three Paralympic games it’s hard to put into words how special this medal is to my family and I,” described Wallace a day after reflecting on his performance. “My wife has sacrificed so much for me over the past two years leading into Tokyo and I couldn’t have done it without her. This medal is a representation of perseverance and shows the true value is in the journey not the destination. I’m a better man, not because of the medal, but because of the journey to the podium.”
After running a world-best time of 10.99 in the 100m at the U.S. Paralympic Team Trials back in June, it seemed Wallace was poised to capture his first Paralympic medal in that event. During the Paralympic 100m T64 final, Wallace jumped out of the blocks from the inside lane to take the early lead, which he held through around 40 meters. Wallace fought hard toward the finish and crossed the line in 11.04, which would be good enough to medal at most previous Paralympic 100m T64 finals, but placed him at sixth in a race that will likely be remembered as the best, if not the most dramatic, event from the 2020 Paralympics.
Each of the top four finishers were separated by .03 seconds and ran under the Paralympic record. The race for bronze had been so close that it took over three minutes for the results to finally display that Germany’s Johannes Floors and Jonnie Peacock, who had won the event in 2016, had actually tied with a time of 10.79. The rules determine that only in the event of a gap of less than 1,000th of a second would two athletes share a place.
For full results click here
To watch the Paralympics 200m T64 final click here
