Jessica Long enters her sixth Paralympics with 29 total medals

Published: Aug 21, 2024 Duration: 00:02:05 Category: News & Politics

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Finally here at five, the Paralympics start in just one week in Paris. Jessica Long left her last Paralympics in Tokyo with 29 total medals. It matched one for each year she had been alive. So now that she's 32 her goal in Paris is clear. Now, Jess, how many Paralympic medals have you won? Uh 29? Do you think that makes you queen status? Oh yeah. Queen of the pool. Jessica Long, the queen of the pool. Unbelievable one medal for every year. She's been alive just a few meters to go and it will be Jessica Long four gold medals in a row. All hail the Queen Jessica Long um Jessica Long Paralympic swimming and I'm from More Maryland. You know, when I'm on the podium, I just think of everyone who helped get me there. It's not just me. It's every single person, whether it's my parents or my coaches or friends, my husband. So it's a really emotional and special moment and also full of relief. You know, I've dreamed about it. I've visualized it, but when I'm up there, it just, it's like, ok, it finally happened. I have a little surprise for all of you. Ok. I've been working on a children's book, so I wrote a children's book called The Mermaid With No Tail. And it follows my life story, right? Being a swimmer born without my legs, I use my arms to swim. And in the book, Tatiana who was named after me, my Russian name, she wants to swim in the mermaid games and it's just so cute, right? She's found in the clamshell adopted by turtles. I was adopted. But it really just the whole message is to teach kids that the thing that makes them different is their greatest gift growing up. I never really heard from my family that you can't do something. Right. It was always what do you want to do? Just what do you want to achieve? I'm so thankful because they're all gonna be there in Paris. Really cool. So the Paralympics will begin a week from today and air in prime time on NBC, August 30th.

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