Noelle Lambert, the former UMass Lowell women’s lacrosse player who lost her left leg in a moped accident in 2016, is back to setting records as a track and field athlete.
Lambert, who will compete in the Paris Paralympic Games when they kick off on Wednesday, also competed in the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo, where she placed sixth in the 100-meter T63 with a time of 15.97 — setting a new American record.
Athletes who compete with a lower limb prosthesis are classified as T61-64.
Lambert’s aiming for more record-setting showings in Paris. In July, Lambert became the first American T63 woman to jump over five meters at a major para competition (the U.S. Paralympic Team Trials).
Her jump of 5.06 meters (on just her second attempt) shattered the Americas record at a competition of that level.
According to paralympic.org, the overall Americas record is also held by Lambert, a 5.23-meter long jump she made in June in Chula Vista, Calif.
The T63 world record, which Lambert aims to clear in Paris, is 5.46 meters, set by Italy’s Martina Caironi in June 2022 — also in Paris.
In a bid for her second Paralympic Games, Lambert made the switch from sprinting to jumping — and she’s broken national and Americas records multiple times since making the switch.
The 2024 Paralympic Game track and field competitions are scheduled to take place at Stade de France — France’s largest stadium — from Aug. 30 to Sept. 8. Lambert will compete in the long jump event on Sept. 5 and the 100-meter sprint on Sept. 7.
