Kym Crosby is heading back to the Paralympic Games. After winning the 100- and 400-meter races at the U.S. Paralympic Team Trials for Track & Field over the weekend, the Chico State track and field alumnae nicknamed "The Flash," is actually hoping things will slow down just a bit over the next two months. Not her, so much. Just the clock and the calendar.
Crosby, who won a bronze medal in the 100 meters and finished fourth in the 400 in the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games, plans to vie for medals in both events in Tokyo. The 100-meter prelims and final are tentatively scheduled for August 31, which is almost exactly two months from now. The 400 meter prelims are tentatively set for September 2 and the finals for September 4.
"It feels like everything is going by so fast. I kind of want it to slow down a little bit," said Crosby Tuesday from her hometown of Yuba City. "Just to give myself more time to enjoy the journey."
She was confident her performances were good enough to get her to Tokyo. She ran 12.21 in the 100 meters (just off her 12.18 personal record set at the 2017 World Championships in London) and 58.12 in the 400. Her PR in that event, set at the 2016 Olympics, is 57.26.
The official announcement was surprisingly special though.
"Actually, hearing my name get called, I was so happy and relieved," Crosby said.
Her husband's name, Erik Hightower, was called as well. Hightower will be competing in his third Paralympics as a T54 Wheelchair racer.
"To be able to travel together to the games is so awesome," she said.
Crosby was born with albinism and has no pigment in her hair, skin or eyes. She is legally blind with 20/400 vision. She competes in the T13 classification and can make out the white lines contrasted against dark-colored tracks, allowing her to run within them.
She started running in high school and competed at Chico State from 2013–15 before transitioning to train at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista.
Since then, she's become one of the best in the world in the T13 classification. Her performances last weekend, in just her second event since recovering from a hamstring injury, put her among the favorites to medal in both events in Tokyo.
"I thought I did well, but of course, I always want better," Crosby said. "I'm happy but I'm not satisfied. I know what I need to work on and gotta keep grinding and go towards that gold."
For these next two months, which Crosby hopes will go by much more slowly than the last few days have, she plans to get better.
"I'm just super-focused," she explained. "Even more focused than before because I know exactly where I am at and what I need to work on now. I'm really trying to use everything I do, even in warmup, to make myself better so I can get to where I want to be."
