Noelle Lambert, the former UMass Lowell lacrosse player, just made history.
Lambert, who lost her left leg in a moped accident in 2016, captured the attention of the lacrosse world when she returned to the field and scored a goal in April 2018. Just three years later, she took the Tokyo Paralympic Games by storm.
Running in the T63 category — a classification based on the athletes’ level of impairment that featured above-knee amputees — Lambert finished in sixth place Saturday morning with a time of 15.97 seconds. That set a U.S. women’s record in the 100-meter T-63.
So proud of our founder #noellelambert who just set a new U. S. record in the 100 meter in the #TokyoParalympics of 15.97 seconds #RunNoelleRun. We can’t wait to celebrate with you for your great performance in your 1st Paralympics! pic.twitter.com/KAfajWSfn7
— TheBornToRunFoundation (@TheBornToRunFo1) September 4, 2021
Noelle Lambert places 6th in the 100m at the Paralympic Games. She set a new American record in the women's 100m T63 with a time of 15.97! #AEPride #AEAlums
— America East (@AmericaEast) September 4, 2021
Congrats, Noelle! pic.twitter.com/MDqvk18nzX
She qualified for the U.S. Paralympic Track and Field team by running a 16.33 in the women’s 100-meter dash at trials June 18 in Minneapolis.
Lambert told Sheehan Stanwick Burch on “The Stick Drop” podcast that she’s come a long way since competing in her first major event — where she set a U.S. record time of 16.31 seconds at the 2019 World Para Athletics championship.
“Two years ago, it was just me and [Scout Bassett] competing for above-knee amputees,” she said. “Now, going into trials, there were five of us. I want to be running against people that will make me go faster. I’m always psyched to see new people coming in because I was that person. I was known as a lacrosse athlete going into my first event. I looked like a lacrosse athlete.”
You can listen to the full episode here.