Inspired by song and dance, swimmer wins USA’s first Paralympic gold

NANTERRE, France — The para swimming ready room ahead of Friday night’s 100-meter backstroke S13 was tense. Then, there were American swimmers Gia Pergolini and Grace Nuhfer. 
Pergolini and Nuhfer spent their pre-race time singing and dancing, keeping the energy high and trying to loosen the tension in the air. 
“I feel like the girls in the ready room hate us,” Pergolini joked after her race. 
The light-hearted pre-race singing and dancing worked out for Pergolini, who earned the first American gold medal of the 2024 Paralympics with a time of 1:04.93 — just short of her world record of 1:04.64. 
The Atlanta, Georgia, native brought home her second-straight gold medal after setting her world record in Tokyo. 
2024 Paris Olympics: Follow USA TODAY’s coverage of the biggest names and stories of the Games.
“I’m just so happy to be here and representing one of the greatest countries in the world and getting its first gold medal Paralympics,” Pergolini said. “It’s just unreal, especially after watching the Olympians dominate the Olympics, I wanted to do that here and I’m so glad I got to do that and end up achieving my goal.”
Nuhfer followed up her silver-medal 100 fly S13 performance from Thursday with an eighth-place finish. Nuhfer has referred to the 100 backstroke as her “fun” event, clocking in at 1:13.35. She has three more events beginning on Sept. 2. 
“Never going to take for granted a chance to swim in a Paralympic final,” Nuhfer said. “That was a fun race. Gia and I always have a blast back in the ready room, just dancing around. So, definitely a good day after the 100 fly, just wrapping up a good first half of my events.”
Like she did the night before, Elizabeth Marks picked up the first American medal of the day. Swimming in the 200 individual medley SM6, she finished in 3:02.50, coming in behind world-record holder Maisie Summers-Newton of Great Britain. 
“It feels great,” Marks said after the race. “I swim with amazing women so it’s a lot of fun. It’s a fun race.” 
The finish is an improvement for Marks, an active-duty member of the U.S. Army, from her Tokyo performance. There, the three-time Paralympian came in fourth with a 3:02.43. 
Whether second or fourth, Marks is pleased with her performance in the competitive 200 individual medley division. 
“I was very proud of that fourth-place finish, I’m very proud of this second-place finish. Last time, it was the best time in the morning for me — I’m notorious for adding time at night. I’m just fortunate that that was OK.”
It looked as if Marks was going to repeat her Tokyo finish heading down the final 50 meters of the race. 
After falling into fourth position during the breaststroke leg, Marks kicked into another gear, passing two opponents and securing her second silver medal in Paris. 
“Maisie has a wonderful kick,” Marks said. “It sounds like a train, so it gives you a little boost of energy to go faster.”
The team of Leanne Smith, Abbas Karimi, Zach Shattuck and Ellie Marks brought home silver for the U.S. with a time of 2:18.99. The win was a little more special for Karimi. 
Karimi, born in Kabul, Afghanistan, participated on the Refugee Paralympic Team and was one of the flag bearers. In 2021, he was awarded American citizenship and began competing as a part of Team USA — earning his first Paralympic medal as a part of the 4x50m freestyle relay, 20 points. 
“I wouldn’t be able to do it without these people, amazing people, amazing teammates,” Karimi said. “It’s an honor for me to represent the United States of America and it means everything, especially for my legacy, just everything for me.”
The group had the opportunity to train together at team camp and also at other staggered times heading into the Paralympics. 
The team said they enjoyed being a veteran group — boasting an average age of 31.25. Their experience came in handy once the race began.
“We just went out and had some fun and trusted each other,” Shattuck said. “That’s all you can do in this kind of situation is go swim your own race and know that your teammates got your back.”
Anastasia Pagonis came in fourth in the 400 free S11 finals, pacing just under five seconds behind Netherlands’ gold medalist Lisette Bruinsma, who came in at 5:00.42. The two-time Paralympian’s world record set in Tokyo stayed safe at 4:54.49.
Pagonis will be back in the water on Saturday for the prelims of the women’s 50 freestyle S11. She will also be competing in the women’s 100 freestyle S11 on Sept. 7.