Kent’s Jaleen Roberts, collecting a silver medal for the long jump at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo, also took silver in the 100 meters. COURTESY PHOTO, Joe Kusumoto, USOPC

Kent’s Jaleen Roberts, collecting a silver medal for the long jump at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo, also took silver in the 100 meters. COURTESY PHOTO, Joe Kusumoto, USOPC

Kent’s Jaleen Roberts captures silver in 100 at Paralympic Games

Kent-Meridian graduate wins second silver medal in Tokyo

Kent’s Jaleen Roberts earned her second silver medal at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo with an United States record-setting time of 13.16 seconds in the 100 meters.

The mark shattered the previous record of 14.99 set in 2007 by Sabrina Hawkes in the T37 category. China’s Xiaoyan Wen won the 100 on Thursday, Sept. 2 in a world record 13 seconds even.

Earlier in the Paralympics, Roberts took silver in the long jump with a leap of 15 feet and placed sixth in the 200, setting an American record of 28.02.

“I’m proud of myself, I worked really hard, I sacrificed a lot of things,” Roberts said, according to an email from New York-based GreatRange marketing. “I’m proud of myself and I know people at home are proud of me too.”

Wen won her third gold as she also beat Roberts for the gold in the long jump and 200. China’s Fenfen Jiang took third in the 100 in 13.17, barely behind Roberts.

“I saw [Jiang] and I just pushed, I knew I could do it,” said Roberts, a 2017 graduate of Kent-Meridian High School. “I just pushed through the finish line, instead of stopping right at or right before, I think that makes you a lot more successful when you run all the way through the line.”

This was Roberts’ first Paralympic games. She earned two silver medals, the other on Aug. 29 in the women’s T37 long jump event.

I think it’s incredible, I didn’t really have expectations for [the 100-meter dash] but I think that after my prelim performance last night and having my 100-meter performance so close to that, I think my adrenaline was still going from last night and I just wanted to be in a really good headspace,” she said.

Roberts added that she dedicated her Paralympic performance to a friend who had recently died.

“This games was dedicated to her, I just wanted to make her proud,” she said. “I know that my family can’t be in Tokyo but I know that she’s here, I feel her, I talk to her and I think I made her proud, that was my main goal.”

Roberts plans on a short break from training before returning to train for long jump and 100 races in the future.

“I’m feeling pretty good about the training coming up,” she said.

Roberts, a 2021 graduate of Eastern Washington University in Cheney with a degree in health and physical education, was born with cerebral palsy, a condition caused by a stroke at birth that impairs her muscle coordination. She was encouraged by her high school coaches to compete in the ambulatory races at the Washington state track meet.


Talk to us

Please share your story tips by emailing editor@kentreporter.com.

To share your opinion for publication, submit a letter through our website https://www.kentreporter.com/submit-letter/. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. (We’ll only publish your name and hometown.) Please keep letters to 300 words or less.

More in Sports

Graphic provided by Kent School District.
Kent Reporter Athletes of the Week: Kentridge

Judy Chen (Sr.) tennis and Richard Calkins (Sr.) judo are this weeks winners.

Anthony Diaz celebrates the game’s winning goal. Ben Ray / The Reporter
Kent-Meridian soccer survives and advances

Royals down Federal Way 2-1 for second win this season over Eagles.

Riley Lambarena pitched four innings against Kennedy. Ben Ray / The Reporter
West Central District baseball tournament preview

Breakdown and analysis for the first round of the playoffs.

Jozi Thompson pitching against Interlake. Ben Ray / The Reporter
Fastpitch district tournament preview

Kentridge, Auburn Riverside and Auburn Mountainview begin quest for the state tournament.

Jo Thompson pitches against Auburn Riverside. Ben Ray / The Reporter
Kentridge has five-game win streak snapped vs. Auburn Riverside

Chargers now turn eyes to the postseason as they nab the No. 4 seed in districts.

Graphic provided by Kent School District.
Kent Reporter Athlete of the Week: Kentlake

Raiden Renggli (Sr.) soccer and Taylor Le (Fr.) track and field take home this weeks awards.

Jack Coleman delivers a pitch for Kentwood against Auburn Riverside. Ben Ray / The Reporter
Kentwood baseball just misses the postseason cut

Kentwood drops series to Auburn Riverside and misses playoffs for the first time since 2019.

Photo provided by Kidder Matthews.
New pickleball facility set to open in Auburn this summer

A 43,959-square-foot building is set to become Rally Pickleball Club.

Graphic provided by Kent School District.
Kent Reporter Coach of the Month: Honey Sychtysz

Sychtysz is a true champion of inclusion as she coaches unified basketball and track and field.

Jo Thompson in action against Auburn Riverside. Ben Ray / The Reporter
Kentridge’s Thompson strikes out 18 in win vs. Auburn Riverside

Kentridge defeats Auburn Riverside 3-1 in first meeting of the season.

Graphic provided by Kent School District.
Kent Reporter Athletes of the Week: Kent-Meridian

Keira Wu (Jr. Tennis) and Kade Cagampang (Fr. Baseball) are this weeks winners.

Keilor Garcia puts Decatur to bed after scoring the second Royals goal of the night. Ben Ray / The Reporter
Royals boys soccer wins seventh straight after slow start

Kent-Meridian downs Decatur and creeps toward the top of the standings.