| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | August 5, 2005 Adamstown, Maryland, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||
| Education | Wake Forest University | |||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Para-athletics | |||||||||||||||||
| Disability | Constricted band syndrome | |||||||||||||||||
| Disability class | F64 | |||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | discus throw shot put | |||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Samantha Heyison (born August 5, 2005), is an American Paralympic athlete specializing in throwing events. She will represent the United States at the 2024 Summer Paralympics.
Heyison played soccer, softball and basketball growing up, before focusing on track and field. [1] She attended Urbana High School in Ijamsville, Maryland. During the 2021 Maryland 4A state championship she finished in second place in discus and fifth in shot put. [2] She was the 2022 Maryland 4A state champion in discus and the 2023 Maryland 4A state champion in both discus and shot put. [3] [4] She was named a two-time U.S. Paralympics track and field high school Athlete of the Year. [5] [6]
She attends Wake Forest University and is a member of their track and field team. [7]
Heyison made her international debut for the United States at the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships and won bronze medals in the discus throw and shot put events. [8]
In July 2024, during the U.S. Paralympic team trials, she qualified to represent the United States at the 2024 Summer Paralympics in discus throw and shot put. [9] [10]
Heyison was born five and a half weeks premature and diagnosed with Constricted band syndrome, which resulted in a clubbed left foot with all five toes being partially amputated, a right foot with three toes fused together and a right hand missing two fingers. Her mother, Tanya, played volleyball at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, while her father, Marc, was a baseball player and drafted in the ninth round of the 1983 MLB draft by the Baltimore Orioles. [3]
Lillian Copeland was an American track and field Olympic champion athlete, who excelled in discus, javelin throwing, and shot put, setting multiple world records. She has been called "the most successful female discus thrower in U.S. history". She also held multiple titles in shot put and javelin throwing. She won a silver medal in discus at the 1928 Summer Olympics, a gold medal in discus at the 1932 Summer Olympics, and gold medals in discus, javelin, and shot put at the 1935 Maccabiah Games in Mandatory Palestine.
Urbana High School is a secondary public school in Ijamsville, Maryland, United States. It serves grades 9-12 and is a part of the Frederick County Public Schools.
Vikas Shive Gowda is an Indian discus thrower and shot putter. Born in Mysore, he grew up in Frederick, Maryland in the United States. His father, Shive Gowda, coached the 1988 Indian Olympic track team. Vikas Gowda is a Padma Shri awardee in 2017.
Thomas Alan "Ferocious" Brosius was a track and field athlete. He was declared an "All-American" at Kansas State University in the shot put and discus events for the 1972 season, and as of his death in 2019, still holds the Maryland all class high school state record in the shot put at 64' 6 1/2" set May 25, 1968. He also held the state discus record at 184' 10" for 31 years until it was broken in 1999.
Brydee Moore is an Australian athlete with cerebral palsy that competes in the shot put, discus and javelin. She won a silver medal at the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships. She represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics in athletics.
Gemma Louise Prescott is a British Paralympian track and field athlete competing in F32 throwing events. Prescott represented England in the 2010 Commonwealth Games, taking the bronze medal in the SP shot put. She has represented the Great Britain team twice in the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing and the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London.
Guy Nicholas Henly is an Australian Paralympic athlete. He currently competes in discus and shot put and has won medals at the 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2023 World Para Athletics Championships. He represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics, 2020 Tokyo Paralympics and the 2024 Paris Paralympics.
Alexander Melei Rose is a Samoan and American athlete, competing primarily in the discus throw and occasionally in the shot put and the hammer throw. He represented Samoa at the 2016 Olympics, and 2020 Summer Olympics, as well as the Commonwealth Games and Pacific Games.
Claire Harvey is a British Paralympic sportsperson. She began as a sitting volleyball player, before switching to track and field athletics where she competes in F55 classification throwing events.
Ivanka Koleva is a Paralympian track and field athlete from Bulgaria competing mainly in throwing events in the T57 classification. Koleva has represented Bulgaria at four Summer Paralympics from 2000 to 2012, winning gold in the shot put in the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney. She was also world champion in the discus in 1994, and competed once as a powerlifter in the 2008 Summer Paralympics at Beijing.
Diāna Krumina née Dadzīte is a Latvian Paralympic track and field athlete competing in shot put, discus and javelin throw, and is twice Paralympic javelin champion.
Chioma Chukwujindu "CiCi" Onyekwere is a track and field athlete specializing in the discus throw. Born in the United States, she represents Nigeria. She has competed in the shotput and discus throw both on the collegiate and international levels. She holds the African and Nigerian record for the discus throw. Her personal best of 64.96 meters for the discus throw was achieved in 2023.
Sarah Edmiston is an Australian Paralympic athlete who specialises in the discus and shot put. At her first major international competition, she won the bronze medal in the Women's Discus F44 at the 2017 World Para Athletics Championships and followed this up with a silver medal in the same event at the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships. She also won the bronze medal in the Women's Discus F64 at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics and competed at the 2024 Paris Paralympics.
Margaret Catherine "Rena" MacDonald was an American athlete. She was born in Nova Scotia, Canada. Her family moved to Massachusetts in 1910 and lived in Dedham. MacDonald became a naturalized US citizen in 1925. She joined the Boston Swimming Association. A versatile athlete, MacDonald competed in swimming and track and field events.
Chase Foster Jackson is an American track and field athlete who competes in shot put and discus throw. She won the gold medal at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in women's shot put, which made her the first American woman to win a shot put world title at the World Athletics Championships. She won on the first attempt which, according to Olympic historian Bill Mallon, made her the first woman's shot put world champion to win on the first attempt.
Renee Danielle Foessel is a Canadian Paralympic athlete who specializes in throwing events in international level events.
Samantha Schmidt is an Australian Paralympic athlete. She represented Australia at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics and the 2024 Paris Paralympics.
Noelle Malkamaki is an American track and field athlete competing in shot put. She represented the United States at the 2024 Summer Paralympics, winning a gold medal in shot put and setting a new world record.
Arelle Middleton is an American para track and field athlete who competes in shot put and discus throw. She was a silver medalist in shot put at the 2024 Paralympics in Paris, throwing a distance of 12.19 m. She also plays wheelchair basketball.
Charlotte Bolton is a Canadian para-athletics athlete who competes in F41 throwing events. She has won a total of 29 medals at the World Dwarf Games and won bronze in discus at the 2023 Parapan American Games.
