U.S. swimmer Jessica Long captured her fourth consecutive gold medal in the Paralympic games making her one of the competitors with the most gold under her name.
In addition to the four golds, Long also has 25 other Paralympic medals. She was winning in the competitions ever since she started in 2008.
Long said, āIām just so happy. To have a four-peat in the 200 IM, thatās what Iāve been dreaming of coming into these Games. Iām really proud of myself.ā
On the night she won the medal, she posted on her instagram, āThank you Jesus šā
The legendary Paralympian was born in Russia. She was abandoned by her parents at an orphanage in Siberia. She was then adopted by American parents who were from Maryland.
But due to a condition, the young Jessica had to have her legs amputated when she was two years old.
Even though she was disabled, nothing kept her from being active in sports. As a matter of fact, she astounded the world when she made her first appearance at Athens for the Paralympics in 2004. She won three gold medals in freestyle events.
āAs a little girl, itās hard to comprehend that Godās going to use you in this big way and that swimming is eventually going to come into play, and itās going to be this platform to reach other people,ā she said to a news outlet. āI definitely think thatās been one of the coolest things ā reaching other people through my story, my testimony.ā
āBut there was this moment in June of 2013 that I just felt it in my heart that I didnāt want to question if I was a believer or not. The big thing that I kept saying was, āI wanted to give God my whole heart and not just part of me.’ā
Proverbs 16:3 gives us a reminder to always trust in God in all circumstances.
Commit to the Lord whatever you do,
and he will establish your plans.