Team USA x NCAA fast facts: Noelle Lambert

Noelle Lambert, who will compete in Paris in her second Paralympic Games this week, considers the accident that resulted in her leg amputation to be one of the best things that happened to her. She wrote on her website that it has allowed her to help others by sharing her experience and spreading a message of hope, determination and perseverance. 

Here are five facts about former UMass Lowell lacrosse player Noelle Lambert, who will compete in the T63 long jump event Thursday and the T63 100-meter sprint Saturday.

1. After her accident, Lambert's first question to her coach was "Am I still on the team?"

Lambert lost her leg in a moped accident after her freshman year of college at UMass Lowell, where she was a lacrosse player. 

As she accepted her new life as an amputee, Lambert focused on still being alive. She made the decision that she refused to let becoming an amputee stop her from living the life she wanted to live. Determined to rejoin her team, she spent months rehabbing — learning to walk and finally to run with her prosthetic leg.

2. Lambert returned to the lacrosse field two years after losing her leg.

In her first competition back, she became one of the few amputees to compete in an NCAA team sport. If logging playing time was not enough, Lambert scored a goal in her first game back. The video of the goal shows her team rushing to her side, the fans erupting in applause and a smiling Lambert in the center of it all.

She graduated from UMass Lowell in 2019 with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice.

3. In her first para track race, Lambert finished first.

After graduation, Lambert knew she wanted to continue her athletics career. She signed up for a 100-meter para track race and won her classification group. In 2019, shortly after taking up the sport, Lambert broke the U.S. women's record in her classification group in the 100 meters at the World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai. 

The next year, Lambert competed in the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games. She placed sixth in the 100 meters and broke her own American record.

4. Lambert conquered "Survivor."

After the Tokyo Games, Lambert competed on the popular television show, "Survivor." In Fuji, she earned eighth place and became the first above-the-knee amputee to be on the show. The show taught her more mental fortitude than she had ever known. She told Women's Sports Exchange, "Every time I have a tough day of practice, I try to go back to those moments when I'm sitting on the island and just thinking, 'Oh my God, I feel like I'm gonna die 'cause I need to eat something.'" 

5. Lambert uses her platform to empower others.

Lambert founded the Born to Run Foundation, which provides specialized prosthetics to young adults and children, showing amputees that having a disability does not mean they are incapable of playing sports and being active. Additionally, the foundation aims to show them that being different is something to embrace.

Lambert inspires others through motivational speaking based on her experiences.