Why multiple Paralympic medalist Brittni Mason was not sure about participating at the Paralympics

Until the World Para Athletics Championships held in 2019, Brittni Mason, a student of Eastern Michigan University, had no idea that she was eligible for para sports. Mason was unaware that her Erb's Palsy, which restricted her motion in the left arm and shoulder, would pave the way for a promising journey at the Paralympics.

In an interview with USA Today just before the Paris Paralympics, the American para-sprinter opened up about how she initially competed with able-bodied athletes before switching to para-sports. She said,

"I've been running with able bodies my entire life up until that point, since I was 10 years old and I had no idea that I was eligible for Para," Mason said.

Mason revealed that it was during her graduation program at Eastern Michigan University when someone reached out to her coach for a para-athlete. The track and field team was confused since they didn't know of an athlete with disabilities. It was only then that Brittni Mason learned that her left arm impairment came under the T47 category, due to which she got a chance to participate at the World Para Athletics Championships held in Dubai in 2019, where Mason won a gold medal for the USA in the 100m T47 event, with a world record timing of 11.89 seconds.

Brittni Mason is a multiple Paralympic medalist from the USA, with one Olympic gold medal and three silver medals to her credit. Mason recently won the silver medal for the USA in the women's 100m T47 category at the Paris Paralympics, missing the Paralympic gold by six-hundredths of a second. She clocked 12.10 seconds to finish second behind Kiara Rodriguez of Ecuador.

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Brittni Mason's performance at the Paralympics

Brittni Mason of the USA in action at the Tokyo Paralympics [Image Source: Getty]

Five years since Brittni Mason chose to take part in para-athletics, she has four Paralympic medals and four World Championships medals to her credit. Brittni Mason qualified for the Paris Paralympics after her stellar performances at the World Para Athletics Championships held in 2023 and 2024, respectively. She won a gold medal in the women's 200m event in 2023, followed by a silver medal in the 2024 edition held in Kobe.

Brittni Mason's first Paralympic participation came in Tokyo, where she participated in three events, viz. the 100m T47, the 200m T47, and the mixed 4x100m relay. In the 100m event, Mason competed neck to neck with Lisbeli Vera Andrade of Venezuela.

The race was so intense and close that the results had to be decided via photo finish. Although Andrade and Mason clocked the same i.e. 11.97 seconds, Mason was edged out by Andrade by a time difference of just 0.001 seconds.

Brittni Mason then participated in the 200m event, where she finished second with a timing of 25 seconds. Lisbeli Vera Andrade clinched the Paralympic gold medal with a timing of 24.52 seconds.

In the mixed 4x100m relay event, Mason ran the second leg for the American team, who created a world record with a timing of 45.52 seconds. This was Brittni Mason's first gold medal at the Paralympics.

At the Paris Paralympics, Mason focused especially on the 200m, which gave her a better chance at the 100m. In her interview with USA Today, Mason further revealed,

"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. I think that has prepared me a lot more just actually feeling really fit and really in shape this year better than I have been in a very long time."

After a second consecutive medal in the women's 100m T47 event, Mason would now aim to change the color of her Paralympic medal in the women's 200m T47 event. The preliminaries, as well as the finals of the event, will be held on the penultimate day of the Paris Paralympics, i.e. September 7.