TEKOA, Wash. — Tekoa native Susannah Scaroni won gold in the 5,000-meter race at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.
Scaroni finished in 10:52.57, a new Paralympic record. The old record, 11:47.37, was set by her teammate Tatyana McFadden, in 2016.
McFadden closed the gap to earn the bronze medal but wasn’t able to catch up to the first place spot. Scaroni said she had beaten McFadden before in races, but never with such high stakes on the line.
Scaroni said she looked back at the field with seven laps to go, expecting the pack to be at her heels, but there was no one behind her.
“I’ve been telling myself all summer that I can’t do what I would love to do and honesty I pulled hard like I normally do, I was going to move out for the next person to go through but nobody was there. I’m really grateful and surprised,” Scaroni said.
This was Scaroni’s first gold medal and her third Paralympic games. It was also Team USA’s first track and field double podium of the Paralympics.
Scaroni works as a dietician for the U.S. Paralympic and Olympic Committee. She was paralyzed at the age of 5 after a car accident.
Scaroni was born in Tekoa and attended the University of Illinois.
