Paralympic Jessica Long is Russian Adoptee

After swimming competitively for only 18 months Jessica Long already held five national records. In 2007 she became the first Paralympic Athlete to win the Sullivan Award, an award given to the best American athlete in amateur sports. And, as she prepares for the 2008 Olympics she trains with and beats the best American swimmers who have full use of their legs.

Jessica was born in Russia in  1992 without the fibula bones in her lower legs. She was adopted from Irkutsk, Russia at 13 months. her parents realized that her legs would have to be removed below the knees (because there were misshapen feel protruding from the small portion of the leg below the knee).

“Doctors put casts over the surgical areas and inserted poles with little feet into the casts,” Beth (mom) said. “Jessica started walking almost immediately and was so active that she didn’t need physical therapy.”
“She was fitted for her first prosthetic legs about three months later and never looked back.

The word “can’t” doesn’t exist in Jessica’s vocabulary. She’s extremely competitive and tackles everything she tries head-on.

Currently, Jessica is gearing up for the Paralympics and competing in the Can-Am Championships. Jessica set a new World Record in the S8 100m butterfly, which also earned her “Swim of the Meet” honors and the meet’s “Swim of the Day” on Friday and Saturday.