It’s tough to say what keeps pushing Cassie Mitchell to compete in the Paralympics.
Maybe it’s stubbornness, a refusal to let the degenerative neurological condition that has paralyzed much of her body control what she does.
Maybe it’s the fact that, despite three trips to the Paralympic Games going back to London in 2012 and despite medaling in 2016 and 2021, she still doesn’t have an elusive gold medal.
Maybe it’s simply that she’s been an athlete her entire life and thrives by pushing herself.
Whatever the motivation, Mitchell has qualified for her fourth straight Paralympic Games and will compete in the discus throw in Paris when the events get underway Aug. 28 – Sept. 8.
“My goal has been to be on the top of the podium, to see the flag come up, to hear the national anthem at a Paralympic Games. I have been blessed to get that at World Championships and some other events, but not at a Paralympic Games,” said Mitchell, an associate professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University. “That just keeps me coming back. It’s like this sign I keep on my shelf: ‘Never, never, never give up.’ As long as I am able to go out, be competitive, and have a chance, then I want to keep going.”
Joshua Stewart
College of Engineering