Atlanta woman secures Team USA’s first gold at the Paralympic Games in Paris

PARIS, France — An Atlanta woman made history at the U.S. Paralympic Games on Friday.

Gia Pergolini, 20, brought Team USA’s first gold medal of the Paralympic Games. She’s the first U.S. woman to win back-to-back Paralympic golds in the 100m backstroke.

Currently, the U.S. has brought home 10 medals, and Pergolini’s is the only gold.

[LIST: 2024 Paralympians with ties to the Peach State]

The world record holder competed in her second event in Paris, opening her signature race fast and fought off fatigue over the final 15 meters to finish in a time of 1 minute, 04.93 seconds.

Pergolini graduated from St. Francis High School, a private school just outside of Alpharetta city limits.

She was diagnosed with Stargardt’s disease, which, according to the National Eye Institute, is a rare genetic eye disease that can lead to a slow loss of central vision in both eyes.

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She’s not the only Paralympic medalist with a tie to Georgia.

Susannah Scaroni, who has won the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race for the last three years, brought home a silver medal in the women’s 5000m T54 race. She won gold in the same event in the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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