Meet Jessica Long, the Russian-American para-swimmer who made 5 Paralympic appearances with 30 medals to her name

Jessica Long has done it yet again. Though she didn't break any record, the 32-year-old Paralympic champion won the gold medal for the women's 400m freestyle S8 category at the Paris Paralympics 2024, clocking 4 minutes, 48.74 seconds. Alice Tai of Great Britain won the silver medal, while Francesca Xenia Palazzo of Italy won the bronze.

This is Long's fifth consecutive appearance at the Paralympics since the Athens Paralympics held in 2004. With the gold medal in the 400m freestyle S8 event, the American para-swimmer has won a whopping 30 Paralympic medals, including 17 gold medals.

Her total is two more than Michael Phelps Jr., who has won 28 Olympic medals, the only difference being that Phelps has won more Olympic gold medals than the Paralympic gold medals won by Jessica Long.

From being abandoned after birth in Russia to earning infinite laurels for the USA, Jessica Long has seen it all. One of the youngest Paralympic champions for the USA, Jessica Long also has 54 World Championship medals to her credit, including 33 gold medals in the long course and four gold medals in the short course.

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Jessica Long's early life

Jessica Long was born on February 29, 1992, in Bratsk, Russia. Her original name was Tatiana Olegovna Kirillova. Her biological parents, Natalia and Oleg Valtysheva, abandoned her soon after her birth when they learned that she suffered from fibular hemimelia, which is a condition in which the child has a short fibula or no fibula in the leg at all. As a result, Tatiana Kirillova's legs had to be amputated when she was one and a half years old.

Despite her condition, she was adopted by an American couple, Steve Long and his wife Beth Long. They raised her in Baltimore, where she took an interest in multiple sports, from gymnastics to rock climbing. Tatiana Kirillova was now named Jessica Long.

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Jessica Long's early achievements

Jessica Long in action at the London Paralympics in 2012 [Image Source: Getty]

At the age of 10 years, Jessica Long took to competitive swimming. She began training at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club, the same place from where Michael Phelps took his baby steps toward Olympic glory.

Long's talents did not go unnoticed, and she made her international debut at the age of 12 at the Athens Paralympics in 2004. Jessica Long participated in three events viz. women's 100m freestyle S8, women's 400m freestyle S8, and the 4x100m freestyle relay. Long won all three of them, becoming an overnight sensation. Since then, she never looked back.

By the time Paris Paralympics arrived, Jessica Long had become one of the most decorated para swimmers of all time. She had won a whopping six medals at the Tokyo Paralympics, with three gold, two silver, and a bronze medal to her credit.

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Jessica Long's performance at the Paris Paralympics

Jessica Long in action during the preliminaries of the women's 400m freestyle S8 at Paris Paralympics 2024 [Image Source: Getty]

Paris Paralympics is Jessica Long's fifth consecutive appearance at the quadrennial edition. Contrary to her previous appearances, the Paris Paralympics has been a mixed bag for her.

Jessica Long qualified for the finals of all her three events, viz. the women's 200m individual medley S8, the women's 100m backstroke S8, and the women's 400m freestyle S8 respectively.

However, in the backstroke event, Long finished sixth out of the eight swimmers contesting for a podium finish. She missed out on a podium finish by a whisker in the 200m individual medley.

However, when it mattered most, Jessica Long didn't disappoint in the women's 400m freestyle. She won the gold medal, marking her fifth consecutive medal in this event since the Athens Paralympics held in 2004.

Jessica Long will now be representing the USA in the women's 100m butterfly S8 event. The preliminaries, as well as the finals for the same, will be held on the same day, i.e. September 7.