Arelle Middleton (born February 9, 2008) is an American para track and field athlete who competes in

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

and

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field sport in which the participant athlete throws an oblate spheroid weight (object), weight called a discus in an attempt to mark a further distance than other competitors. It is a ...

. She was a silver medalist in shot put at the 2024 Paralympics in Paris, throwing a distance of . She also plays

wheelchair basketball Wheelchair basketball is a style of basketball played using a sports wheelchair. The International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) is the governing body for this sport. It is recognized by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) as ...

Early life and education

Middleton is from

Rancho Cucamonga Rancho Cucamonga was a Ranchos of California, Mexican land grant in present-day San Bernardino County, California, given in 1839 to the dedicated soldier, smuggler and politician Tiburcio Tapia by Mexican governor Juan Bautista Alvarado. The gra ...

, California. Her mother, Sandra Van Embricqs, was born in

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

and is a former professional basketball player who has coached girls basketball at

Chino High School Chino High School (CHS), located in Chino, California is one of the four regular high schools in the Chino Valley Unified School District. The school was established in 1897, making it one of the oldest schools in Southern California. Chino Hig ...

. Middleton was born with

congenital femoral deficiency Proximal femoral focal deficiency (PFFD), also known as congenital femoral deficiency (CFD), is a rare, non-hereditary birth defect that affects the pelvis, particularly the hip bone, and the proximal femur. The disorder may affect one side or bo ...

, resulting in a left leg that is six inches shorter than her right leg, and a left hip that is underdeveloped. The difference has varied as she has grown and had several surgeries to incrementally lengthen her leg. Middleton has been involved in sports since she was five years old, playing water polo, volleyball, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair tennis, and doing shot put and discus. , she attends

Los Osos High School Los Osos High School is a public high school located in the city of Rancho Cucamonga in Southern California's Inland Empire in the United States. It operates as part of the Chaffey Joint Union High School District. The school was named a Cali ...

Rancho Cucamonga, California Rancho Cucamonga ( ) is a city located just south of the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains and Angeles National Forest in San Bernardino County, California, United States. About east of Downtown Los Angeles, Rancho Cucamonga is the List ...

, where she competes in track and field.

Career

Shot put and discus

During her freshman year at Los Osos High School in 2023, Middleton competed in the para division at the CIF State Track & Field Championships and won the ambulatory shot put title with a state record–breaking throw of . She was subsequently named a 2023 U.S. Paralympics Track and Field High School All-American. In 2024, Middleton missed the state championships, instead making her international debut for the United States at the

2024 World Para Athletics Championships The 2024 World Para Athletics Championships was a para-athletics meet organized by the World Para Athletics, the respective sport branch of the International Paralympic Committee. This was the 11th edition of the event and was held at Kobe Univ ...

, where she was the youngest member of the team at age 16. She won a silver medal in shot put F64 with a throw of and placed 6th in discus F64 with a throw of . At the 2024 U.S. Paralympic Trials, she threw in shot put F64 and

qualified Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

to represent the United States at the

2024 Summer Paralympics The 2024 Summer Paralympics (), also known as the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games (), and branded as Paris 2024, were the 17th Summer Paralympic Games, an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event governed by the International P ...

. Middleton won a silver medal in shot put F64 at the 2024 Paralympics with a throw of and placed 10th in discus F64 with a throw of . She was not only the youngest on the U.S. team, but also the youngest U.S. medalist.

Wheelchair basketball

Middleton plays

for the Rancho Halos in the junior division of the

National Wheelchair Basketball Association National Wheelchair Basketball Association (NWBA) is composed of 181 wheelchair basketball teams within twenty-two conferences. Founded in 1949 by Timothy Nugent, the NWBA today consists of men's, women's, intercollegiate, and youth teams throug ...

. During the 2023–24 season she was named to the second team all-tournament and the female all-tournament teams.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Middleton, Arelle Living people 2008 births American female shot putters American women's wheelchair basketball players Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Paralympic silver medalists for the United States Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Medalists at the World Para Athletics Championships Sportspeople from Rancho Cucamonga, California Track and field athletes from California Paralympic track and field athletes for the United States 21st-century American sportswomen