Milan: Paralympic swimming icon Jessica Long is aiming for greater glory at the upcoming Paris Games after a traumatic journey from a Siberian orphanage to a phenomenal career in the pool.
Long is one of the faces of American para sports with 29 Paralympic medals since her first Games in 2004 as a 12-year-old, one more than her friend Michael Phelps, who is the most decorated Olympian of all time.
The 32-year-old, who was born with fibular hemimelia and had both legs amputated below the knee as a child, has two more Paralympics to add to her bulging accolades as she plans to hang up her swimming cap. 2028 Games in Los Angeles.
“Obviously I want to win gold and do my best. Whatever happens, I’m so very grateful and proud of what I’ve done… I think it would be amazing to finish on home soil,” Long said. in an interview for AFP organized with the swimwear manufacturer Arena.
Long is a legend in her discipline, but as she only plans to compete in two more Paralympics, she will fall short of the record 55 medals set by American Trischa Zorn 20 years ago.
That’s because, unlike Zorn’s day, Paralympic swimmers are limited to seven events, meaning the maximum Long can go is 43.
“I wonder what I could have done if I could have swum that many events. Especially when you’re little because your body just doesn’t hurt,” Long says.
“In one Paralympics (Seoul 1988) she (Zorn) won 12 gold medals because there were more opportunities. Bring back the events!”
Long is concerned about the integrity of his sport because he says swimmers are manipulating the classification system for disabled athletes.
Para swimming, like other handicap disciplines, categorises athletes to compete against people of similar physical ability, with control swimming used to classify competitors.
But there have been a number of cheating scandals in parasport. One such example came in 2022, when Indian discus player Vinod Kumar was banned for two years for deliberately misrepresenting his abilities at the last Paralympics in Tokyo.