Coming In Fifth At The Tokyo Paralympics Was A Blessing

At the end of the day, I can’t control how the other guys jump. I can’t control the weather — it was pouring rain during my high jump final. But I can control everything in the build-up and putting myself in the best possible position to compete at the highest level, and that’s what I thought I did in Tokyo.

Sometimes you do everything right. You leave no stone unturned and you still fall short of your goal — and that’s okay.

I know a lot of athletes who tend to shy away from setting large expectations of themselves because they are afraid of not accomplishing it. But I have never set goals that I didn’t believe were possible.

The medals and winning world records are great, but I feel like my bigger purpose is to positively impact the disabled community. I want to show people what’s possible as an amputee and normalize disability on a global scale.