While most teenagers are busy readjusting to classroom routines and tackling homework after a long summer break, 16-year-old Arelle Middleton is at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, competing for team USA in track and field.
At this year’s summer Paralympics in Paris, Middleton earned a silver medal in the F64 shot put. She also competed in the F64 discus event and came in 10th place. F64 is a classification for Paralympians with limb deficiencies and leg length differences.
“With able-bodied kids, they can use their body differently,” Middleton, a sophomore at Los Osos High School in Rancho Cucamonga, California, told The Daily Bulletin in an interview last year. “They have both of their legs. They can do certain things a lot stronger. But it doesn’t matter because I can still compete with them.”
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Middleton is one of three inspiring high school Paralympians on Team USA who are competing in Paris this year. Here are their stories: