Now that the 2020 Olympics are behind us, the world’s attention turns to the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo, which will host 539 events across 22 sports contested at 21 venues. The games begin with the opening ceremony on Aug. 24 and end Sept. 5, with a day of competitions and the Closing Ceremony.
Sydney Barta (Alexandria, Virginia) — Track and Field
Barta, a former Miracle League of Alexandria athlete, will be competing in the games. Mac Slover, MLA Chair and retired from the Recreation Department, stated “Sydney was a youth participant in the Alexandria Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities Sports Program for many years playing basketball, softball, volleyball and track & field. She was a very gifted athlete that never let her disability phase her. Sydney played in the Miracle League of Alexandria’s baseball from 2013 – 2015. Barta and her family contributed to the Miracle League of Alexandria in 2013 and have a donor homeplate on the league’s Donor’s Wall. Sydney is one special athlete and will always be one of our Miracles from Alexandria! We wish her the best in Tokyo and hopefully bring home the gold.”
At just 17 years old and entering her senior year at National Cathedral School, Barta will compete in her first Paralympics as one of the youngest track and field athletes for Team USA. She took home gold in the 100- and 200-meter at the 2019 World Para Athletics Junior Championships and is currently ranked fifth in the world in the 100-meter. Barta, who lost her left leg in a scaffolding accident when she was 6 years old, was named U.S. Paralympics Track & Field High School Female Field Athlete of the Year in 2019 and is a two-time U.S. Paralympics Track & Field High School All-American.
Barta competes in the women’s 200-meter dash T44/64 Ambulatory T64 finals during the Desert Challenge Games at Westwood High School on May 30, 2021, in Mesa, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Sydney Barta – Miracle League of Alexandria 2013
Sydney is on 1st row of standing players – 4th from the left in Nationals uniform with black glove in hand
