Jaleen Roberts (born November 19, 1998) is an American track and field athlete. Born with cerebral palsy, she has won medals for Team USA at the 2017 World Para Athletics Championships, 2019 Parapan American Games, and 2019 World Para Athletics Championships.
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| Born | November 19, 1998 Tacoma, Washington, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home town | Kent, Washington, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Education | Eastern Washington University | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 5 in (165 cm) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Country | United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disability | Cerebral palsy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disability class | T37 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Early life and education
editRoberts was born on November 19, 1998, in Tacoma, Washington.[1] Although she was born with cerebral palsy, Roberts competed in soccer, wrestling, gymnastics and track growing up.[2] While attending Mill Creek Middle School and Kent-Meridian High School, Roberts competed in wrestling, gymnastics, basketball and track. She decided to stick with wrestling and track in high school, where she qualified for the state wrestling tournament in both her junior and senior years.[3] By the conclusion of her high school career, Roberts was the co-recipient of Female Field Athlete of the Year with Jessica Heims.[4]
Career
editRoberts enrolled at Eastern Washington University where she studied Health and Physical Education to become a physical education teacher.[5] As a student, she competed with the United States National Team at the 2017 World Para Athletics Championships. Roberts earned two bronze medals in the Women's 100 metres and Women's 200 metres, and silver in the Women's long jump.[6] Her time of 28.28 for the 200 meters set a United States record.[7]
At the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships, she again earned a silver medal in the long jump.[8] Roberts also qualified for the 2019 Parapan American Games where she earned four gold medals and set two record times.[9] As a result of her athleticism, she was named to the United States 2020 Paralympics Track and Field National Team.[10]
Roberts is openly bisexual.[11]
References
edit- ^ "JALEEN ROBERTS". teamusa.org. Archived from the original on July 27, 2019. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
- ^ McNicholl, Danamarie (February 27, 2020). "'All of it circles back to Tokyo': Spokane athlete with cerebral palsy trains for Paralympic Games". krem.com. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
- ^ "Royal mission". Kent Reporter. January 12, 2017. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
- ^ Etchells, Daniel (October 21, 2017). "US Paralympics honours top 71 high school track and field athletes". insidethegames.biz. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
- ^ Tanner, Kara (August 27, 2019). "Already A Two-Time Parapan Champion, Jaleen Roberts Finds Belonging On The Track". teamusa.org. Archived from the original on August 28, 2019. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
- ^ Jacobs, Heidi (August 17, 2017). "Kent's Roberts shines on world track stage with 3 medals". Kent Reporter. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
- ^ Scarr, Georgia (July 18, 2017). "World Para Athletics Championships: Day 1-4". runnersworld.com. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
- ^ November 10, 2019, Blythe (November 10, 2019). "Jaleen Roberts Scores Second Consecutive Para Athletics Worlds Long Jump Silver Medal". teamusa.org. Archived from the original on November 11, 2019. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "ParaSport Spokane has impressive showing at 2019 Parapan American Games". The Spokesman-Review. August 31, 2019. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
- ^ "U.S. Paralympics Track & Field names 54 athletes to national team". sportsnspokes.com. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
- ^ Theil, Michele (August 31, 2024). "These are the five LGBTQ+ athletes competing in the Paralympic athletics events". PinkNews | Latest lesbian, gay, bi and trans news | LGBTQ+ news. Retrieved October 12, 2024.