On an empty track tucked past the cornfields of Goshen, Indiana, Sam Grewe trains for the high jump at the upcoming Paralympic Games in Tokyo.
"I'm really looking forward to seeing my teammates, as well as just all the incredible performances that take place at the Games," said Grewe, a 2021 Notre Dame graduate and current medical student at Michigan. "I'm really excited to be a part of all that."
Tokyo is not Grewe's first jump in international competition, though.
Grewe won a silver medal at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, just a year after making his debut in international competition. (Photo by Alexandre Loureiro / Getty Images)
The veteran high jumper began his international appearances in 2015, first with the Parapan American Games in Toronto. That same year, he won his first world title at the International Paralympic Committee Athletics World Championships in Qatar. The following year, Grewe went on to win a silver medal at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Despite the marked success Grewe has had on the world stage, becoming a Paralympian was not always an ambition of his.
After he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma at age 13 and lost his right leg to the disease, he knew he still wanted to be an athlete, no matter what.
"Sports were my life. So when I lost my leg to cancer, I found myself lost. I didn't know what direction to take," Grewe said.
As he fought to reenter the world of sports, Grewe stumbled into adaptive sports. A multisport athlete throughout his youth, he discovered his natural skill set allowed him to succeed as a Paralympic athlete, specifically a high jumper.
Not long after Grewe began high jumping in 2014, he walked on to the Notre Dame track and field team as a sophomore. Striking the right balance between academics and athletics as a student-athlete came through a lot of trial and error, he said, but it taught him how to perform in high-stakes situations.
"The Paralympic stage is a lot bigger than taking an exam, but I think the same sort of vibe applies," Grewe said. "You've got to be able to perform. I definitely think I took a lot of lessons away from being a student-athlete and brought them onto the track."
While a student-athlete at Notre Dame, Grewe loved showing competitors and spectators alike what U.S. Paralympic athletes are capable of. (Photo by Barbara Johnston / Notre Dame)
Although his atypical collegiate athletics career was stunted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Grewe fondly remembers his few competitions, as he was the only athlete on the track with a disability.
"I felt like it was a really great opportunity to show athletes around me, their families and anyone that was watching what U.S. Paralympic athletes are all about."
Grewe has been training for Tokyo for more than five years, but he was nervous as the trials approached. He felt well-equipped to jump what he needed to jump to qualify for the team; he just wanted to make sure he did that.
"In any event in track and field — especially high jump — any sort of small mistake can really have a huge impact on, you know, how you do," Grewe said. "I just wanted to go out there, do what I've been doing, not make mistakes, stick with the fundamentals and jump."
After he qualified for the team, a weight was off his shoulders. He was in the clear, and relieved. His ticket to Tokyo had been punched.
In Tokyo, Grewe hopes to inspire future Paralympians to look at his story and see all the trials he's overcome to get to where he is.
"I just would hope to encourage future Paralympians to stay true to their plan, hold yourself accountable, go out there, set yourself up to succeed, and keep chasing your dreams because hard work will get you a lot of places," Grewe said. "I definitely wouldn't change it for anything. I'm so glad to be a Paralympic athlete. It has been the most incredible experience of my life."
