Jessica Lewis Now Aiming For Paralympics
[Written by Stephen Wright]
Jessica Lewis believes the best is yet to come after winning her third successive gold medal in the T53 100 metres at the Parapan Am Games.
Lewis stormed to victory in her signature event in Santiago, Chile, on Saturday [November 25], in a time of 16.71sec, smashing her own Games record of 17.36.
The 30-year-old showed her extra class during an impressive performance, finishing a whopping 1.84 ahead of runner-up Chelsea Stein, of the United States.
“It was a great way to end the Games and incredible to win another gold medal,” Lewis told Bernews. “I was very excited to hit the 16-second mark.”
In the past few months, Lewis has made significant career changes, moving to Victoria, British Columbia, to train at the Athletics Canada West Hub under her new coach, Geoff Harris, having made drastic alterations to her position in the chair.
“This is a fantastic baseline to have, especially since I was only in this new [seating] position a week and a half before the Games,” said Lewis, who also won gold in Toronto in 2015 and Lima in 2019.
“It’s a huge boost, and we’re heading in the right direction. It’s a great start.
“We’ve changed where I start on the push rim, and my coach was like, ‘See how fast you can make this thing go.
“A huge thank you to my coach, Geoff; I’m excited to see where we’re heading next.”
Lewis also praised her team-mates and boccia pair Yushae DeSilva-Andrade, who won silver in the women’s individual BC1 division, and Omar Hayward, who placed fourth in the men’s event.
“I’m so proud of Omar for putting up such a huge fight in his bronze-medal match, and for Yushae to come away with the silver was amazing,” she said.
Lewis will now switch her focus to qualifying for the Paralympic Games in Paris next summer.
“I’ll head back to Victoria for some more base training through December to January and then head to Dubai in January for the first competition of the season,” she added.
“I’m hoping I’ll get one of the high-performance slots for the Paralympics. I’m in a good position [to qualify].”
I have all faith in you Jessica. Go for it.