PARIS, France — Noah Malone has increased his career total to five medals in Paralympics track and field.
During a downpour, the 22-year-old Fishers sprinter finished second in the 400 meters Thursday in the T12 classification at the Paris Paralympics.
Mouncef Bouja, of Morocco, won the gold medal with a time of 48.62 seconds.
Malone took silver in 49.35 and Tunisia’s Rouay Jebabli bronze in 49.56.
Malone also finished second Saturday in the 100 meters but had his medal upgraded to gold when the apparent winner was disqualified. He is scheduled for one more event, the universal relay, in which heats and the final are Friday.
Malone had the fastest time from Wednesday’s heats, 48.65. As a visually impaired athlete, he said, it was difficult to warm up in the rain.
“But we all had to run in it, so it’s just another element,” Malone said. “This has been a battle mentally every race, especially in the 400, so to walk away with a fifth Paralympic medal at 22 is pretty good.”
“It has been a rollercoaster ride. A lot of ups, a lot of downs, a lot of exciting and stressful moments. I have had to regroup after each one at the Games because I have six races.
“But you have to enjoy it because not everyone can be here, and not everyone medals, so it is a win.”
Serkan Yildrim, of Turkey, edged Malone by .01 in the 100 meters. A judge granted Yildrim an injunction to compete in the race, despite the World Para Athletics’ ruling that he was ineligible to participate in the classification. The Turkish sprinter was subsequently disqualified.
After the race, Olympic 100-meter champion Noah Lyles tweeted, "Must be something in the name Noah that makes you fast."
Malone was the 2019 state champion in the 200 meters at Hamilton Southeastern High School. While at Indiana State, he twice ran in the NCAA East Regional and was on a 4x100-meter relay team winning the Missouri Valley Conference.
He won one gold medal and two silver medals at the 2021 Tokyo Paralympics, but his family could not attend because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He said he has seven members of his family in Paris.
“They help me. They’re the real winners in my eyes,” Malone said. “They’re the ones who really got me here.
“My mother was the one who got me into track back in fourth grade. I didn’t like it at first, but she had the vision and saw the goal.
“This is a full-circle moment for everyone who is here for me. But mentally it is really, really hard.”
Contact WTHR correspondent at dwoods1411@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.