PARIS: American Paralympic swimming great Jessica Long has come a long way since being adopted from Russia as a baby.
On Saturday, she secured an 18th Paralympic gold medal, and 31st overall, as she won the 100m butterfly in the S8 category for athletes with amputations.
The 32-year-old ended her sixth Games with victory, adding to her gold in the 400m freestyle S8 from a week ago in the French capital.
"Oh goodness, this is so sweet," Long told AFP.
"When I finished the wall, I looked all around and I was like, oh my God, I won!
"I didn't think I'd get another (medal), so I just soaked it all in," she added.
When Long was just 13 months old an American family adopted her from Siberia and five months later she had both her lower legs amputated due to a congenital absence of the fibula.
Aged just 12, she made her Paralympics debut at Athens 2004, a matter of months shy of the record set by Poland's then 11-year-old Natalia Partyka in Sydney 2000.
Since Long's first Games she has gone on to become a Paralympic great, with only five other athletes having won more gold medals than her.
Compatriot Trischa Horn is the sole Paralympian with more overall medals than Long, with 55.
"In Athens, I was the underdog," Long said.
"Now I'm kind of the veteran, you know, the one with the experience.
"I try to do the hunting. I always try to find an extra gear, which is kind of what I did in the 400m and the butterfly," she added.
At the La Defense Arena, Long, who walks with prosthetic legs, was roared on by thousands of fans, unlike at the empty Covid-affected Tokyo Games, where she claimed three gold medals.
After winning her second gold in France, the Parisian crowd followed her lead with a thunder clap, made famous by the Iceland football team in 2016, as she left the pool.
"I think more than anything just the crowd has been so amazing," Long said.
"The way that everyone here in Paris has showed up for the Paralympic Games means the world to me," she added.
With her competition over, she will be able to celebrate in Paris with her partner, before they mark their fifth wedding anniversary next month.
"I'm staying two extra days with my husband.
"So that should be really fun. He's got a dinner planned for me," she added.
By the time the Los Angeles Games begin, Long will be 36 and ready to call it a day.
"That's the farewell," she said with a smile. --AFP