A World Record Has Already Fallen At Paralympics. Watch It!

American swimmer Christie Raleigh Crossley started her Paralympics career with a bang on Thursday, breaking a world record in a heat.

Raleigh Crossley, a former Florida State University All-American from Toms River, New Jersey, churned to a record time of 27.28 seconds in the 50-meter freestyle for the S9 class, which includes athletes with weakness, limb loss or coordination difficulties.

“Welcome to the show!” the broadcaster said as the Paris Games began the first full day of competition after the opening ceremony.

The Associated Press previously reported that Raleigh Crossley experienced partial paralysis from a brain tumor in 2018 but still attempted a comeback to prepare for the Tokyo Olympics. When she began to train for the trials, however, she discovered she had no control over her left arm.

In 2022, she began training for the Paralympics.

“There’s muscle memory, that left arm will do whatever,” Raleigh Crossley, a 37-year-old mother of three, told AP. “But if I focus on my right [arm], then I know that that side at least is where my power is.”

Raleigh Crossley, who says she’s been bullied for her skill level, won a gold medal in the 2023 championships in the S9 backstroke.