In Beijing, a St. Louis Paralympian Rolls Into Fifth Place
St. Louis Paralympian Kerri Morgan today took fifth place in the women’s 200-meter wheelchair track race at the Beijing Paralympic Games.
The world record holder, Canadian Michelle Stilwell, earned the gold medal with a time of 36.18 seconds. (These photos show Stilwell finishing; in the second shot, see Kerri Morgan, in red bandanna, to the right behind Stilwell.) Although Morgan missed the medals podium, she placed first among the U.S. competitors in the race, posting a time of 40.82 seconds.
This is Morgan’s first trip to the Paralympics.
"It’s incredible… this experience has been more than I thought it would be," Morgan told a spokeswoman for the U.S. Olympic Committee. "Entering the stadium today and hearing the loud cheering – it was overwhelming. The volunteers and all of the support – it’s been amazing."
Morgan’s second and final Paralympic event takes place on Monday, September 15. We’ll have more updates before then. Meantime, read three blog posts about Morgan’s experiences in Beijing (1, 2, 3).
Morgan is also a quad rugby player (featured in this January, 2007, RFT feature story, "Ready to Rumble").
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