Paralympic Triathlete Praises God for Gold
By Movieguide® Contributor
On Monday, Grace Norman competed at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games as a triathlete, secured her second Paralympic gold medal and gave God the glory.
That triathlon consisted “of a 750-meter swim, a 20-kilometer bike ride and a 5,000-meter run,” and Norman finished in 1:04:40, beating “Great Britain’s Claire Cashmore by 1 minute, 15 seconds.”
“Oh, man, I am overjoyed. It was a really hard year to get here with a lot of injuries. It was all God out there,” she said after the race.
“[This feeling] is incredible. Going from gold to silver and back to gold, it definitely made me work hard over these eight years. I am ecstatic,” the gold medal winner said. “I tried to keep my cool for most of the run until the last lap when I knew I had it. I started picking out my family, my husband, my coaches, and when I went by, I gave them a little smile. Having these people here, whom I didn’t have in Tokyo, meant the world to me as I crossed the finish line. It’s incredible.”
She took home gold for the triathlon and bronze for the 400 meters in the 2016 Rio Paralympics. She earned silver in Tokyo for the triathlon as well.
Norman also celebrated on Instagram: “What an unbelievably special moment! It’s taken all I have to get here; to God be the glory! I’m beyond grateful for everyone in my life who has come alongside me and supported me.”
“Norman was born without a left foot due to a condition known as amniotic band syndrome and had her left leg below the knee, as well as her right big toe, amputated when she was young,” Sports Spectrum reported. “She played a variety of sports growing up and was drawn to the triathlon because it offered three athletic pursuits wrapped into one. Running is her specialty, and she was a four-time National Christian College Athletic Association All-American during her collegiate career at Cedarville University, a Baptist university in Norman’s home state of Ohio.”
For more inspiring sports stories, check out Sports Spectrum.
Movieguide® previously reported on Paralympian Jessica Long:
Swimmer Jessica Long is considered one of the most decorated Olympians of all time.
She holds 13 world records and numerous gold medals, but Long realizes that none of those things will bring her peace…
“I had just won five gold, life was great,” Jessica said, “I’d had a commercial with Coca-Cola. There was so many things again that were happening. But still, I just remember feeling really empty and just really just unsatisfied, which I was like, why? I mean, I’ve done everything that I’ve ever wanted to in this swimming journey, this swimming career, how do I still feel empty? How do I still feel unsatisfied?”
…In 2013, Long decided to give her life to Jesus.
“I walked up and prayed with a woman that I had known and just was like, ‘I really want to give Him my whole heart. I want to pray. I don’t want a question anymore,’” she explained. “And it was a really special moment. I really do know for a fact, like I was like I gave Him all of me and I just remember feeling so weightless and so, just a part of God’s family for the first time, like really a part of it. I feel so much gratitude and love towards just everything that God’s given me, just so thankful.”
The athlete now relies on her faith for everything.
