Jaleen Roberts (born November 19, 1998) is an American track and field athlete. Born with cerebral palsy, she has won medals for Team USA at the

2017 World Para Athletics Championships The 2017 World Para Athletics Championships were a Paralympic track and field meet organized by World Para Athletics, a subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee. It was held at London Stadium in London from 14 to 23 July 2017. It wa ...

2019 Parapan American Games The 2019 Parapan American Games ( es, Juegos Parapanamericanos de 2019, links=no), officially the VI Pan American Games and commonly known as the Lima 2019 ParaPan-Am Games, was an international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities, ...

, and

2019 World Para Athletics Championships The 2019 World Para Athletics Championships was a Paralympic track and field event organised by the World Para Athletics subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee. It was held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from 7 to 15 November 2019 ...

Early life and education

Roberts was born on November 19, 1998, in

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...

. Although she was born with

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sensa ...

, Roberts competed in soccer, wrestling, gymnastics and track growing up. While attending Mill Creek Middle School and

Kent-Meridian High School Kent-Meridian High School is a high school located in Kent, Washington, United States, and part of the Kent School District. Kent-Meridian is one of four high schools in the Kent School District. It serves students in grades nine through twelve w ...

, Roberts competed in wrestling, gymnastics, basketball and track. She decided to stick with wrestling and track in high school, where she qualified for the state wrestling tournament in both her junior and senior years. By the conclusion of her high school career, Roberts was the co-recipient of Female Field Athlete of the Year with Jessica Heims.

Career

Roberts enrolled at

Eastern Washington University Eastern Washington University (EWU) is a public university in Cheney, Washington. It also offers programs at a campus in EWU Spokane at the Riverpoint Campus and other campus locations throughout the state. Founded in 1882, the university is ...

where she studied Health and Physical Education to become a physical education teacher. As a student, she competed with the United States National Team at the

. Roberts earned two bronze medals in the Women's 100 metres and Women's 200 metres, and silver in the Women's long jump. Her time of 28.28 for the 200 meters set a United States record. At the

, she again earned a silver medal in the long jump. Roberts also qualified for the

where she earned four gold medals and set two record times. As a result of her athleticism, she was named to the United States 2020 Paralympics Track and Field National Team.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Jaleen 1998 births Living people Sportspeople from Spokane, Washington Track and field athletes from Washington (state) Track and field athletes with cerebral palsy American female sprinters American female long jumpers Medalists at the World Para Athletics Championships World Para Athletics Championships winners Medalists at the 2019 Parapan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Paralympic silver medalists for the United States Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Sportspeople from Kent, Washington Eastern Washington University alumni 21st-century American women