Baltimore Native Paralympian Joins Ambassador Team On Road To Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020
NASHVILLE, Md. (WJZ) — Baltimore native Jessica Long has just partnered with Team Bridgestone USA on the road to the Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020.
She joins the team with athletes including Missy Franklin, Scout Bassett, Jordan Burroughs, Allyson Felix, Will Groulx and Ryan Murphy to serve as athlete ambassadors for the upcoming Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2020.
Long has 23 Paralympic medals. She grew up in Baltimore but is originally from Siberia, where she was adopted from a Russian orphanage at 13 months old.
Long was born with fibular hemimelia. She was missing the fibulas, ankles, heels and most of the other bones in her feet. Her legs were amputated below the knees so she could be fitted for prosthetic legs and learn to walk at 18 months old.
The Paralympian began swimming competitively at 10-years-old. Two years later, she competed in the Paralympic Games Athens 2004 as the youngest athlete on Team USA.
Now, she's 27-years-old and has collected 13 Paralympic gold medals, 31 world titles and multiple world records.
She is still training in Baltimore with eyes on a fifth-straight appearance at Tokyo 2020.
The team will participate in activities before, during and after the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020.
These seven athletes join a global Team Bridgestone roster that includes more than 50 ambassadors across 14 different countries.