Roberts was born on November 19, 1998, in Tacoma, Washington.[1] Although she was born with cerebral palsy, Roberts competed in soccer, wrestling, gymnastics and track growing up.[2] While attending Mill Creek Middle School and Kent-Meridian High School, Roberts competed in wrestling, gymnastics, basketball and track. She decided to stick with wrestling and track in high school, where she qualified for the state wrestling tournament in both her junior and senior years.[3] At a state-level track meet, Jaleen Roberts met her current coach David Greig, the development director and head coach for track and field at ParaSport Spokane. David Greig had been a coach for female cerebral palsy athletes for twenty years and was very impressed by Jaleen Roberts running style. [4] By the conclusion of her high school career, Roberts was the co-recipient of Female Field Athlete of the Year with Jessica Heims.[5]
After High school
After finishing high school, Jaleen Roberts moved to Spokane, Washington to continue training with David Greig. Roberts mentioned that leaving her family, including her mother and her brothers and sisters, was a very difficult decision to make. Initially, Jaleen had moved to Spokane to train with David Grieg, however, Roberts ending up attending Eastern Washington University due to its proximity to Spokane.[6] She studied Health and Physical Education to become a physical education teacher.[7] As a student, she competed with the United States National Team at the 2017 World Para Athletics Championships
At the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships, she again earned a silver medal in the long jump.[10] Roberts also qualified for the 2019 Parapan American Games where she earned four gold medals and set two record times.[11] As a result of her athleticism, she was named to the United States 2020 Paralympics Track and Field National Team.[12]
When the Coronavirus began to spread across the globe, the Japanese Prime Minister had temporarily suspended the Tokyo Olympic Games until the following year. All the training sessions and preparations that Roberts had done looked meaningless. Then, suddenly, in May of 2021, her best friend passed from suicide at the age of 23. Jaleen Roberts had checked herself into a psychiatric hospital out of fear that she would harm herself. The hospital stay was short lived and Jaleen left the hospital motivated to keep training for the Tokyo Olympic Games. [14]
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