| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | July 13, 1998 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home town | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Paralympic athletics | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disability class | T64 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | High jump Long jump Javelin | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Derek Loccident (born July 13, 1998) is an American T64 Paralympic athlete. [1]
Loccident attended Westmoore High School where he played American football. During his senior year he recorded 53 tackles with one interception and earned All-Conference, All-District and Class 6A All-Star honors. [2] He then played college football at Central Oklahoma. On September 9, 2018, he was crawling under a stopped train when it started moving and severed his left foot. He underwent several surgeries when doctors became concerned about infection in his leg, resulting in the amputation of his leg. [3] Prior to the accident, during his redshirt sophomore year, he led the team in tackles with 15 in the team's first two games of the season. [4] [5] He missed the remainder of the 2018 season, the 2019 season, and the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He returned to play during the 2021 season as a below-the-knee amputee. [6] [7]
After his collegiate football career ended in 2021, Loccident was recruited by U.S. Para track and field coach Joaquim Cruz, to try track and field as a Para athlete. By the end of 2022, he graduated and moved to California so he could train full time at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center as part of the sport's development program. [8]
On May 25, 2023, he was selected to represent the United States at the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships, where he made his international debut. [9] He won a silver medal in the long jump T64 event with a distance of 7.39 meters. [10]
On March 18, 2024, he was selected to represent the United States at the 2024 World Para Athletics Championships. [11] He will participate in the 100 meter dash, high jump, long jump and javelin. [12] He won a silver medal in the high jump T64 event with a personal-best 2.04 meters in his first-ever international high jump competition. His jump was the first time a T64 athlete had ever surpassed two meters at a World Para Athletics Championships. [13]
OKCThunder Films released a short film titled Steps that premiered at the DeadCENTER Film Festival on June 10, 2023, that documents Loccident's story. [14] [15]
John Fitzgerald is a former college American football player. He played offensive guard for the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, Oklahoma from 1997-2000. During his career, Fitzgerald was named an NCAA All-American following his sophomore, junior and senior seasons. He was also named Daktronics All-West Region all three seasons and All–Lone Star Conference each season. Fitzgerald was also the Lone Star Conference Offensive Lineman of The Year in 1998. Injury prevented a career in the National Football League.
The Central Oklahoma Bronchos, are the intercollegiate athletic teams representing University of Central Oklahoma, located in Edmond, Oklahoma. The five men's and nine women's varsity teams are called the "Bronchos". The school's identification as Bronchos dates back to 1922, when the wife of football coach Charles W. Wantland suggested it for the school's mascot. The official colors of the teams are bronze and blue, which the institution adopted in 1895. The Bronchos compete in the NCAA's Division II and in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association in all sports except women's rowing, which competes in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. The Bronchos have won 22 national championships, with the most recent coming in 2024 as the wrestling program won the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships. The university's current athletic director is Stan Wagnon, who has served in the position since 2020.
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