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Home Sports SLCC student prepares for Paralympic Games in Tokyo
  • Sports

SLCC student prepares for Paralympic Games in Tokyo

By
Matt Grazel
-
July 26, 2021
0
Fencing between two opponents in wheelchairs
Shelby Jensen, right, participates in a wheelchair fencing match against a competitor from Great Britain. Jensen, a Salt Lake Community College student, will represent Team USA in the delayed 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo. (Courtesy of Shelby Jensen)

20-year-old Shelby Jensen, a student at Salt Lake Community College, is preparing for the Paralympic Games that begin August 24 in Tokyo, Japan.

Shelby Jensen wears a Team USA jacket
Salt Lake Community College student Shelby Jensen will compete in wheelchair fencing at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games. (Courtesy of SLCC Institutional Marketing)

At the age of seven, Jensen suffered a stroke, which required emergency surgery. She was paralyzed on her right side and spent months in rehabilitation learning how to speak, walk, swallow as well as write with her left hand.

She now wears a brace on her right leg and her right arm has become more of a “helper” or an assist due to her stroke.

Jensen received a recommendation to try wheelchair fencing and discovered she enjoyed the sport immensely.

According to The Fountain, during the competition, “the athletes sit in a wheelchair, which is then attached to a frame to keep the chair stationary during competition. Points are scored through an electronic sensor at the tip of each weapon – the saber, foil and epee.”

“Wheelchair fencing has opened more doors than I think would have if I was able-bodied. Doing a sport means everything to me, along with being with like-minded individuals with other disabilities. Being able to see what we, what they can do – it’s amazing,” Jensen told The Fountain.

She plans to graduate from SLCC in the spring of 2022 and would like to pursue a bachelor’s degree in nutrition and work as a sports nutritionist for athletes.

Jensen has an interest in working as a recreational therapist as well. She currently works in the adaptive sports program for Salt Lake County Parks & Recreation.

Jensen won the women’s epee and women’s saber competitions and placed second in women’s foil during USA Fencing’s July Challenge and Parafencing National Championships at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City over the weekend. She will compete in two individual and two team competitions each in Tokyo in August.

The delayed 2020 Paralympic Games begin August 24.

  • TAGS
  • Paralympic Games
  • Paralympics
  • Salt Lake Community College
  • Shelby Jensen
  • student profile
  • Tokyo
  • wheelchair fencing
Matt Grazel

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