Team USA Wins Four Medals on the Final Night of Paris 2024

PARIS – Paris 2024 swimming competition came to a roaring end on Saturday at the Paris La Defense Arena as Team USA won four medals on the night to bring the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games total to 30. Paralympic veteran and newly announced Closing Ceremony flag bearer Elizabeth Marks (Colorado Springs, Colorado) closed her Paralympic Games with a silver medal win in the women’s 100-meter backstroke S6. Mallory Weggemann (Eagan, Minnesota) also scored hardware in the women’s 50-meter butterfly S7 with a top-two finish. The mixed 4 x 100-meter freestyle relay – 34 points squad of Christie Raleigh Crossley (Toms River, New Jersey), Matthew Torres (Ansonia, Connecticut), Natalie Sims (Edina, Minnesota), and Noah Jaffe (Carlsbad, California) added one more medal for Team USA, taking bronze in the last swimming event of Paris 2024. For six-time Paralympian Jessica Long (Baltimore, Maryland), it was yet another gold to her ever-rising medal total, winning the women’s 100-meter butterfly S8.

Marks opened the Paralympic Games with a silver medal on the first day of competition and completed her Paris 2024 run in the same way. The three-time Paralympian earned five silver medals in Paris and she couldn’t have been happier following Saturday’s final. China’s Yuyan Jiang broke Marks’ world record to win gold. Marks, always one to celebrate others appreciated being in the pool with Jiang when she swam the new world record time.

“I've told everybody, I've always just wanted to be in the pool when someone breaks my world record, and she did. And she let me know when it happened and gave me a big hug. It was a very special moment,” Marks said.

Marks competed from the first day to the last day of Paris 2024 and it was a grind for her, but she was happy to close out the Paralympic Games in the way she did. 

“I think it went as well as it could. I am exhausted. It's been a long week. We swam in seven races, so fourteen races total, which has been a lot of fun. It felt like a really special and beautiful way to end my racing this week,” Marks said.

Marks will serve as a flag bearer for Team USA on Sunday at the Closing Ceremony.

Weggemann competed in her fourth Paralympic Games in Paris, but her first as a mom, which has made Paris 2024 especially special for her. She claimed her seventh overall Paralympic medal on Saturday in the 50-meter butterfly.

“These are my fourth Games. They're my first Games as a mom. And having this final race here in Paris is just so meaningful and so special sit behind those starting blocks before the race started and take it all in. And to come away with a silver tonight - it's everything. I started these Games on top of the Paralympic podium with a gold medal, and this race is one that I've always loved so to be on the podium tonight again is it's an honor. I get to do that, look into the stands and see my husband, daughter, coach, parents, sister and our community and do so representing Team USA,” Weggemann said.

Weggemann loved joining her fellow mom Giulia Terzi of Italy on the medal stand on Saturday. “I think it's also important to show that motherhood is a comma and not a period. And I think far too often, athletic careers seem to have this misconception that they come to an end when motherhood enters that phase of your life, and it's just so not true. We had two mamas on that podium tonight,” she said.

The last swimming event of Paris 2024 featured the mixed 4 x 100-meter freestyle relay – 34 points. The squad of Torres, Jaffe, Sims and Crossley brought home the 30th medal for the U.S. team with a late surge, bringing Paris 2024 to a perfect end.

“Going into the last couple legs we knew where they were and what they had left and what we had left. I think we knew we were in a pretty good position, but it was fun out there racing,” Crossley said. “We knew going in we had a great squad and I think we executed the race pretty well.”

“All of us just wanted to put on our best show for our country and and for all of our supporters, and I'm glad that we were able to execute our game plan and bring home some more hardware,” Torres said.

“It's the last event of the whole Games so I think we were all pumped up and ready to go and same with all the other countries. So it was great,” Jaffe added.

“I think this decision was really hard in terms of what combination were we going to do. We did what we came here to do, which was get on that podium,” said Sims.

Earlier in the day, Jaffe returned to the pool after his silver medal win on Thursday to compete in the men’s 100-meter butterfly S8. Jaffe finished sixth in the event final with a time of 1:05.26 before returning for the team relay later in the night.  

Four-time Paralympian Evan Austin (Terre Haute, Indiana) competed in his third and final event of Paris 2024, the men’s 50-meter butterfly S7. He placed just two-tenths of a second off the podium with a time of 29.89 for a fourth-place finish.   

Taylor Winnett (Hershey, Pennsylvania) swam in four individual events in the last half of Paris 2024 swimming competition and she completed her final race on Saturday. She finished eleventh in the women’s 200-meter individual medley SM10 with a 2:46.42 time, wrapping up her first Paralympic Games.

McKenzie Coan (Clarkesville, Georgia) finished her fourth Paralympic Games on Friday morning, finishing thirteenth in the women’s 50-meter butterfly S7 with a 40:03 time. She earned her seventh Paralympic medal in Paris, winning silver in the 400-meter Freestyle S7.

Evan Wilkerson (Rolesville, North Carolina) swam in his final of four events of Paris 2024 on Saturday and placed 15th in the men’s 100-meter butterfly S12 to conclude his first Paralympic Games.

Team USA Medals:

Jessica Long, gold, women’s 100-meter butterfly S8

Elizabeth Marks, silver, women’s 100-meter backstroke S6

Mallory Weggemann, women’s 50-meter butterfly S7

Matthew Torres, Noah Jaffe, Natalie Sims, Christie Raleigh Crossley, bronze, mixed 4 x 100-meter freestyle relay – 34 points

Other Team USA Results:

Taylor Winnett, 11th, women’s 200-meter individual medley S10

McKenzie Coan, 13th, women’s 50-meter butterfly S7

Evan Wilkerson, 15th, men’s 100-meter butterfly S12

Evan Austin, 4th, men’s 50-meter butterfly S7

Julia Gaffney, 6th, women’s 50-meter butterfly S7

Anastasia Pagonis, 7th, women’s 100-meter freestyle S11