Brittni Mason had no idea she was eligible for Paralympics. Now she’s chasing gold

Now she’s chasing gold Show Caption Hide Caption Security tightened in Paris ahead of Paralympic Games The 17th Paralympic Games run August 28 through September 8. While attending Eastern Michigan University, someone reached out to Mason’s coach and asked if one of their athletes would be interested in competing in para-sports. Even though Mason was born with Erb’s Palsy in her left arm, a form of brachial plexus that limits the arm’s range of motion, she never thought that disability was included in the classifications of the Paralympics. “I’ve been running with able bodies my entire life up until that point, since I was 10 years old and had no idea that I was eligible for Para.” So at 21 she competed in her first Para World Championships, coming home from Dubai with a gold in the women’s 100-meter T-47 (a designation for athletes with a below elbow or wrist amputation or impairment), cementing herself as someone to watch ahead of the Tokyo Paralympics Games in 2020, held in 2021 due to the pandemic. “I just felt like I had another opportunity to continue my career and use my platform that I had developed with fans from Dubai to continue to impact the world in a positive way and share more about the Paralympic movement and get more people involved.” Mason wants to bring more attention to the Paralympics to help other people like herself who aren’t aware of their eligibility. Using her platform of more than 40,000 Instagram followers, Mason has collaborated with brands like Celsius, Panasonic and Avendant Health to help promote the Games. “If companies are investing [in Para athletes], then they’re also putting that out into the world,” she said. “So people are more interested in watching Para track and field or other para-sports.” Though this is Mason’s second time competing at the Paralympic Games, it will be completely different than her last experience. “My coach and I were thinking, if you can run a strong 200 then you can run a really strong 100 and so that’s what we’ve been doing. – This Summarize was created by Neural News AI (V1). Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2024/08/28/us-paralympics-sprinter-brittni-mason/74978925007/