by Audrey Levine, Staff Writer
She has given new meaning to the term “hell on wheels” with her record times in the 400-meter races.
Now, Jessica Galli, 24, will attend her third Paralympic games in September, but this time she will hold the honor of having been named the 2007 U.S. Olympic Paralympian of the Year by the United States Olympic Committee.
”This is not only a reflection of my accomplishments, but of everyone who has supported me,” Ms. Galli said Jan. 17 when the award was announced. “(My past competitions) have given me the motivation and confidence to move forward to the Beijing games this year.”
Ms. Galli, a Hillsborough native currently studying for her master’s degree in community health at the University of Illinois, has been a fixture on the track since she was about 9 years old. That was when she joined the Lightening Wheels, a team at Children’s Specialized Hospital, in Mountainside, where she was treated after she broke her back in a 1991 car accident.
”I had great treatment and I came out with a very positive attitude,” said Ms. Galli, who became a paraplegic after the vehicle she was a passenger in veered off Route 206 and struck a tree. “The coach at the hospital convinced me to come to track practices and I realized I was good at the sport.”
Ms. Galli said that, while at Hillsborough High School, although she continued to compete with the Lightening Wheels, she would practice with the school’s cross country team. She said she credits teachers and coaches there with giving her the opportunities to continue her training and make lasting friendships.
”Allowing me to be on the teams in high school was great,” she said. “My teammates and I formed social ties and friendships. They got to see what I could do, and I have many friends from the sport.”
Ms. Galli’s love of sports did not begin with track as she studied gymnastics and played on a local basketball team before the accident. In the end, though, she said she realized that the single sport of track was more her style.
”I’m not really a team person,” she said. “I like to rely on me and my motivation.”
That reliance on her own skills led to her current honor as Ms. Galli prepares to make her way to Beijing for this year’s games. She said she is planning to run in the 100-, 200-, 400- and 800-meter races, in addition to possibly participating in the 1,500-meter race.
”I am going into these games with a different attitude than before,” she said. “I have more confidence in my abilities, though I know my competitors are working just as hard as I am.”
This hard work includes six days a week of training, both running and lifting, to build up strength, Ms. Galli said. Still, she said that because she is in school, it is easier to juggle her schedule than it would be if she were trying to hold down a job while preparing for the games.
As she looks forward to the upcoming competitions, Ms. Galli said she is proud of what she has already achieved with three world records under her belt in the 200-, 400- and 800-meter races, after beating times set by Tanni Grey-Thompson, who has been considered one of the most successful disabled athletes in Great Britain.
”Breaking the record was certainly not my plan,” she said during the teleconference. “It was bittersweet that Tanni’s name was wiped off the board.”
Ms. Galli said she was surprised when she set the record in the 400-meter race for the first time at the European Wheelchair Championships in Switzerland in June with a time of 55.82 seconds, beating the record of 56.5 seconds.
”I saw my time and thought it was wrong,” she said. “I had no idea I could run that fast and I had never come close (to beating the record) before. I had to shyly go over to the U.S. team and say that I broke a world record.”
Still, she came close again when she later beat her own record at the 2007 Meet in the Heat wheelchair competition in Atlanta later that month with a time of 55.42 seconds.
”I always see it as I want to run a certain time,” she said. “I train so hard and set goals. Setting a record has always been a dream of mine.”
Aside from the opportunity to compete, Ms. Galli said she enjoys having the chance to visit so many different places around the world, from Sydney, Australia, to the Netherlands and Athens, Greece.
”I don’t think I would ever have gotten to travel so much if I hadn’t participated in this sport,” she said.
In the future, Ms. Galli, who has a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology, said she is hoping to work in the health arena, although she is not sure in what direction she will look.
”If I could work with disabilities, that would be great,” she said. “A lot of times, people let themselves go because of their disabilities. I’d like to fight that.”
Despite already having several gold, silver and bronze medals under her belt, Ms. Galli said she is not yet ready to retire from the sport, and hopes to be able to participate in at least one more Paralympics games after Beijing.
”A lot of athletes in their 30s are looking to retire,” she said. “But I love the sport and I don’t want to think about giving it up.”
Also recognized during the teleconference were Sprinter Tyson Gay as Sportsman of the Year, swimmer Katie Hoff as Sportswoman of the Year and the U.S. Women’s World Championships Gymnastics Team as Team of the Year.
