Roderick Townsend-Roberts (born July 1, 1992) is an American Paralympic athlete. At the

2020 Summer Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, was an international multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the International Paralym ...

he set a high jump world record (2.15 m) and won gold in high jump, silver in long jump.

Career

He won the long jump and high jump events at the 2016 Rio Paralympics and 2015 Parapan American Games. In 2015 he set two world records (2.07 and 2.12 m) and won the world title in the high jump in his disability class. Townsend-Roberts cleared at the 2019 Mt. SAC Relays to take his world record over 7 feet. Roderick Townsend-Roberts sustained permanent nerve damage to his right arm and shoulder at birth. His parents are Jason and Mary Holloway. He has four younger siblings, Edell Storey, Jason Holloway, Amaury Holloway, and Farrah Washington. He played American football for two years at the

Lincoln High School (Stockton, California) Lincoln High School, founded in 1954, is Lincoln Unified School District's only comprehensive high school. The school serves approximately 3,500 students from ethnically and socio-economically diverse populations. Facilities * Alex G. Spanos S ...

and served as the team captain in 2009. He has a degree in communications from

Boise State University Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It became a publ ...

and used to work as an athletics coach at

Northern Arizona University Northern Arizona University (NAU) is a public research university based in Flagstaff, Arizona. It was founded in 1899 as the final public university established in the Arizona Territory, 13 years before Arizona was admitted as the 48th state. ...

. He currently lives in

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

at the moment with his wife Tynita Butts.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Townsend-Roberts, Roderick 1992 births Living people Sportspeople from Stockton, California American male sprinters American male long jumpers American male high jumpers Paralympic track and field athletes for the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for the United States World Para Athletics Championships winners Medalists at the World Para Athletics Championships Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Track and field athletes from California Boise State Broncos men's track and field athletes Northern Arizona Lumberjacks coaches