{"676527":{"#nid":"676527","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Cassie Mitchell Pursues a 4th Paralympic Medal at Her 4th Straight Games","body":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt\u2019s tough to say what keeps pushing Cassie Mitchell to compete in the Paralympics.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMaybe it\u2019s stubbornness, a refusal to let the degenerative neurological condition that has paralyzed much of her body control what she does.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMaybe it\u2019s 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\u2019t have an elusive gold medal.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMaybe it\u2019s simply that she\u2019s been an athlete her entire life and thrives by pushing herself.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhatever the motivation, Mitchell has qualified for \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.teamusa.com\/profiles\/cassie-mitchell-849540\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003Eher fourth straight Paralympic Games\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E and will compete in the discus throw in Paris when \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.teamusa.com\/paris-2024\/paralympics\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003Ethe events get underway Aug. 28 \u2013 Sept. 8\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cMy 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,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bme.gatech.edu\/bme\/faculty\/Cassie-S.-Mitchell\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMitchell\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, an associate professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bme.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E at Georgia Tech and Emory University. \u201cThat just keeps me coming back. It\u2019s like this sign I keep on my shelf: \u2018Never, never, never give up.\u2019 As long as I am able to go out, be competitive, and have a chance, then I want to keep going.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDiscus has been one of Mitchell\u2019s signature events for multiple Paralympic cycles. She won silver in 2016 and just missed the medal stand at the Covid-delayed 2021 Games.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETwo of her nine American Paralympic track and field records are in discus, and she currently holds the world record for athletes with her level of physical disability.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003EImage\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cimg src=\u0022https:\/\/coe.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/gtcoe_wide\/public\/2024-08\/Cassie-Mitchell-US-Para-Trials-rev.jpg?itok=YqBofvOJ\u0022 alt=\u0022Cassie Mitchell throws the discus\u0022 width=\u00221075\u0022 height=\u00221354\u0022\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMitchell at the Paralympic Team Trials. (Photo: Joe Kusumoto, U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EStill, Mitchell said she\u2019ll likely need to best her own record to have a chance at a medal.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat\u2019s because the discus event will combine athletes with different levels of capability. Mitchell is classified as a 51 athlete, those with the most physical impairment. She will compete against women in the 52 and 53 classes, which have significantly more function in their limbs.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhen you start to mix classes, a paraplegic is going to throw farther than a quadriplegic. I can train to the ends of the Earth, and there\u2019s only a certain amount I\u2019m going to be able to overcome based upon the degree of paralysis in my upper body,\u201d Mitchell said. \u201cI\u2019m doing my best to find what that limit is.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003EImage\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cimg src=\u0022https:\/\/coe.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/gtcoe_wide\/public\/2024-08\/Cassie-Mitchell-US-Para-Trials-qualified.jpg?itok=O8Gv-z2s\u0022 alt=\u0022Cassie Mitchell holds an oversized ticket as a qualifier for the Paralympic Games\u0022 width=\u00221200\u0022 height=\u0022960\u0022\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMitchell at the naming ceremony for the 2024 Paralympic Games after the track and field trials. (Photo: Joe Kusumoto, U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn fact, she said she\u2019s training harder now than she ever has. Partly, that\u2019s a result of focusing her training on this discus rather than the club throw, an event where she has won Paralympic silver and bronze but that\u2019s not on the event schedule for these Games.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThough she\u2019s always competed in both events, she always felt she had a better shot at a medal with the club, so she focused on cardio and speed training. Now she\u2019s dialing in on power and strength so she can compete with the athletes she\u2019ll face in Paris.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s going to take a world record to get on the medal stand, and even then, it may not happen. But that\u2019s all I can control. If I can go and break my own world record as a 51, what more can you do?\u201d Mitchell said. \u201cI\u2019ll know I left everything out there.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMitchell has been training in Atlanta and Oklahoma, where her coach is based. Throughout, Mitchell has continued to teach classes and conduct research focused on harnessing the power of big data and machine learning to forecast disease, identify new therapeutics, and optimize treatments.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHer engineering mindset is part of her athletic endeavors, too, helping her train smarter rather than just harder, she said: \u201cI\u2019ve always done a biomechanical breakdown in my throw. I also am coming in with a different throwing chair setup to try to get better balance. Discus is heavier, so I\u2019m trying to get a little bit more balanced and see if that helps me go farther.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EStill, stubbornness sometimes wins out, which is when it\u2019s nice to have her coach also happen to be her mom \u2014 the first time that\u2019s officially been the case prior to a Paralympic Games.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe nice thing about having my mom as coach is she can control that knob a little better than some people,\u201d Mitchell said. \u201cShe probably lets me throw more than what most coaches would. She\u2019s also still mom. She will still put her foot down and say, \u2018Enough.\u2019\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt 43, Mitchell doesn\u2019t think she\u2019s hit her ceiling yet. She\u2019s really drawn to the idea of competing on home turf at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles. She\u2019s picked up another sport called \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.lakeshore.org\/activity\/boccia-united-states\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003Eboccia\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E to increase her chances of making those Games. It\u2019s somewhat similar to bocce, where players have to throw balls as close to a target ball as possible. She has teamed with former wheelchair tennis player \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.teamusa.com\/profiles\/nick-taylor\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ENick Taylor\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E, and they\u2019ve already medaled in an international competition.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI\u2019m a very patriotic person,\u201d she said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t say Mitchell on my uniform, it says USA. And I think to compete on home soil would be really special.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIt may be harder than ever to medal this time, but the BME faculty member is also working harder than ever to make it happen.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"It may be harder than ever to medal this time, but the BME faculty member is also working harder than ever to make it happen."}],"uid":"36454","created_gmt":"2024-09-04 17:41:34","changed_gmt":"2024-09-06 18:13:59","author":"swilliamson40","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2024-08-26T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2024-08-26T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"674863":{"id":"674863","type":"image","title":"Cassie-Mitchell-US-Para-Trials-rev.png","body":null,"created":"1725646417","gmt_created":"2024-09-06 18:13:37","changed":"1725646417","gmt_changed":"2024-09-06 18:13:37","alt":"Cassie Mitchell","file":{"fid":"258428","name":"Cassie-Mitchell-US-Para-Trials-rev.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/09\/06\/Cassie-Mitchell-US-Para-Trials-rev.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/09\/06\/Cassie-Mitchell-US-Para-Trials-rev.png","mime":"image\/png","size":2098601,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/09\/06\/Cassie-Mitchell-US-Para-Trials-rev.png?itok=uk8Mzj9m"}}},"media_ids":["674863"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/coe.gatech.edu\/news\/2024\/08\/cassie-mitchell-pursues-4th-paralympic-medal-her-4th-straight-games?utm_source=newsletter\u0026utm_medium=email\u0026utm_content=Full%20Story%0A\u0026utm_campaign=Daily%20Digest%20-%20Aug.%2027%2C%202024","title":""}],"groups":[{"id":"1292","name":"Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB)"}],"categories":[{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187423","name":"go-bio"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJoshua Stewart\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jstewart@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}