After achieving her dream of participating in a Paralympic Games, Jessica Frotten’s individual involvement will come to a close after she hits the track on Thursday afternoon.
The Canadian will compete in the women’s T53 400 metres after some well-deserved rest following her appearances at the 800- and 1500-metre races on Sunday and Monday, where she wasn’t able to qualify for the finals after finishing in fourth and seventh place, respectively.
Despite not being able to get past the qualifying rounds, she managed to set a new season best of 1:56.79 minutes on her 800m race and hopes to have a similar effort on the last one.
“I felt powerful and felt like I had a really good race,” said the native of Whitehouse, Yukon. “I may have made some tactical mistakes in there, but it was the first race I’ve had in a fast pack in a very long time.”
Now that she’s already adapted to the conditions of the track at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium, there are plenty of reasons to expect a good performance from the 33-year-old.
During her international debut at the 2015 Parapan American Games in Toronto, she got a bronze medal in the 400 metres, and in 2018 she placed second in that same race at the Swiss Grand Prix.
The 2019 season was also a good one for her, as she set six personal bests across four different distances. Even with the pandemic restrictions, she found a way to keep training last year and during the first months of 2021.
Once Frotten’s individual races are over, she is expected to participate in the Canadian team for the universal relay taking place on Friday.