SWISHER — Jessica Heims wanted to be a track and field athlete because her older sister had been running in track and cross country through the school program. As the younger sibling, she wanted to do everything her sister did because Heims wanted to be like her.
The sisters begged their mom to sign them up for a track club when Heims was ten years old, and she has been hooked on track and field ever since.
“There’s no other sport for me. Track and field, that’s all she wrote,” said Heims.
Scout Basset, USA Paralympian, played a major role in introducing Heims to para track. As an established para track athlete, she reached out to many younger para-athletes to give advice and guide them through being a para-athlete. Heims said, “We were her little ducklings. She made sure we were taken care of at competitions and that we had all the opportunities opened up to us. She would forward us grant opportunities and let us know how to get financial resources for prosthetics.”
Throughout high school at Cedar Rapids Prairie and college at the University of Northern Iowa, Heims dabbled in both throwing and running. An unusual combination for athletes. After her first Paralympic games at the 2016 Rio games, Heims decided to focus on one event. She wanted to be as healthy as possible to do as well as she could at that single event.
The postponement of the Tokyo games due to COVID allowed her extra time to prepare and decide what event to focus on. So Heims picked the discus. Heims said, “I have a huge passion for throwing. It’s a fun community, a fun event, and not one that is the most common. You don’t see throwers every day, so I love that community.”
The first time she made the Paralympics in 2016 she had to keep reminding herself she was actually a Paralympian. At her first Paralympics, reality did not set in for Heims until the first time she saw her family at the track stadium in Rio. To Heims, the Paralympics were always a dream, but it was never one she thought would come true, much less during her senior year of high school. Heims said, “It was strange to go from one of the largest sports events in the world and then go home a do English homework.”
Eight years later, Heims has two Paralympics under her belt. She now has the experience to know what to expect at the Paralympic level of competition. She uses this knowledge to mentally prepare herself with visualization of competing at the games and try to help her Team USA teammates as best she can. The experience gives her added confidence compared to the Tokyo and Rio Paralympics. Heims said, “I know that I can enjoy these games more than I did the other two. Which I still enjoyed a ton, but there were a lot more nerves those times. Now I can really just experience it.”
Heim’s is a big believer in visualization of her competitions. She has been training with loud noise in the background sometimes to help prepare her for the loudness and many distractions while competing at the Paralympics.
She will be throwing with a full crew of three people on Team USA. This will be the first time she has the luxury of competing like this. The three trained separately before the trip to Paris, but they will train and compete together in Paris. Heim’s is excited to compete with her discus crew because it always helps her compete when she has people that care about her nearby. Heims said, “It will be even more fun because of the fact it will be their first games. I will have the honor of seeing the little version of me through their eyes and seeing them experience the games for the first time. I think it will help me bring in some more of that excitement.”
Heims will throw the discus Sunday, September 1 during the morning session. She will throw a guaranteed three times and if she makes the final, she will throw three more times during the same session. This session will be streamed on NBC’s streaming service, Peacock.