Eastern Washington grad Jaleen Roberts wins Paralympic silver in T37 long jump

Jaleen Roberts is showing she has quite the knack for winning Paralympic medals.

Three years after the Eastern Washington University grad won a pair of silver medals in Tokyo, Roberts added a third silver to her trophy case in Sunday’s T37 women’s long jump competition at Stade de France in Paris.

Roberts, who also took second in the long jump at the Tokyo games in 2021, set her top mark of 4.77 meters on the first of her six attempts.

China’s Xiaoyan Wen shattered her own Paralympic record and came up just short of topping her own world record with a jump of 5.44 meters to win gold. The previous Paralympic record was 5.14 meters and the world record still stands at 5.45 meters.

Roberts has one more chance to add to her medal collection with the T37 women’s 100, which has qualifying on Wednesday and finals set for Thursday.

Earlier Sunday on the track, Tekoa native Susannah Scaroni continued her impressive showing in Paris, claiming bronze in the T54 women’s 800.

Scaroni found herself near the back of the pack after the first 200 meters, but caught up to the lead group at the end of the first lap. With just 100 meters remaining, Scaroni cut through the pack to move from sixth to third at the finish line in a time of 1 minute, 43.42 seconds.

China’s Zhaoqian Zhou was second in 1:43.24, while world-record holder Manuela Schaer of Switzerland set a new Paralympic record of 1:42.36 to win gold.

Spokane’s Hannah Dederick finished seventh in 1:48.20.

Scaroni’s bronze is her second medal of these games after winning silver in the T54 5,000-meters on Saturday. It is also her fourth Paralympic medal overall.

Scaroni still has a chance to add to her medal count with the 1,500 and marathon events. Qualifying for the 1,500 is Monday with the finals set for Tuesday.

The marathon is scheduled for Saturday.