Jessica Long Wins 25th Paralympic Medal With 4-Peat in SM8 200 IM

American Paralympic swimmer Jessica Long secured her 25th career medal after winning gold in the 200-meter individual medley SM8 at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.

Long is the most decorated active athlete at the Paralympics, and she is a five-time competitor at the Games. The gold marks her fourth straight win in the SM8 200 IM and her second medal in Tokyo. Earlier in the games, she won the bronze in the 100-meter backstroke S8.

“I’m over the moon. I’m just so happy. To have a four-peat in the 200 IM, that’s what I’ve been dreaming of coming into these Games. I’m really proud of myself,” Long said in a news release. 

Long has won 14 gold medals, six silver medals, and five bronze medals. She is the second-most decorated U.S. Paralympian in history after swimmer Trischa Zorn, who won 55 medals over seven games.

Long, from Baltimore, Maryland, has been involved with several other sports over her lifetime, including gymnastics, basketball, cheerleading and rock climbing. But she learned to swim in her grandparents’ pool and joined her first competitive swim team at 10 years old. 

At 12, she was the youngest athlete on the Paralympic team in Athens. She’s been named to Sports Illustrated’s World Best Female Athletes and has been the recipient of the ESPN Best Female Athlete with a Disability award.

“I moved out to the United States Olympic & Paralympic Training Center about a year ago,” Long said. “I made that very big sacrifice to be away from my family and my husband just to have this type of performance and I think it’s paid off. To be able to train at altitude, swim long course and to be around an amazing group of people, I’m just really thankful.”

Jessica Long‘s Career Paralympic Medals

Games Medal
2004 Athens
Gold – 100m free S8
2004 Athens
Gold – 400m free S8
2004 Athens
Gold – 4×100 free relay 34 points
2008 Beijing
Gold – 100m free S8
2008 Beijing
Gold – 400m free S8
2008 Beijing
Gold – 100m fly S8
2008 Beijing
Gold – 200m IM SM8
2008 Beijing
Silver – 100m backstroke S8
2008 Beijing
Bronze – 100m breast SB7
2012 London
Gold – 100m free S8
2012 London
Gold – 400m free S8
2012 London
Gold – 100m breast SB7
2012 London
Gold – 100m fly S8
2012 London
Gold – 200m IM SM8
2012 London
Silver – 100m backstroke S8
2012 London
Silver – 4×100 free relay 34 points
2012 London
Bronze – 4×100 medley relay 34 points
2016 Rio
Gold – 200m IM SM8
2016 Rio
Silver – 400m free S8
2016 Rio
Silver – 100m breast SB7
2016 Rio
Silver – 4×100 free relay 34 points
2016 Rio
Bronze – 100m back S8
2016 Rio
Bronze – 100m fly S8
2020 Tokyo
Gold – 200m IM SM8
2020 Tokyo
Bronze – 100m back S8

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cynthia curran
3 years ago

I liked the ad on her life during the Olympics. She is something else with almost no kick. In fact I found out on my swim pro that butterfly is harder without a kick than breastroke since this guy did some laps and have no legs.