By Maggie Brown, WRAL Multiplatform Producer

Hannah Aspden, originally from Raleigh, was born legless. But that didn’t stop her from becoming a decorated athlete.

“I really found my home in the water and found it to be more of a level playing field,” she told WRAL News in an interview in early August.

Aspden, 21, captured her first gold medal winning the S9 100-meter backstroke at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. She took the lead in the final 25 meters, beating Nuria Marques Soto of Spain and Sophie Pascoe, from New Zealand.

The senior from Queen’s University won bronze at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games when she was just 16 years old. The university said she was the first athlete from Queens University to win gold at the Olympics or Paralympics.

She also won silver in the 4×100 medley relay while representing the United States at the 2018 Pan-Pacific Para Swimming Championships and won two gold and two silver at the world championships in 2015 and 2017. .

“It really means a lot after these five years of preparation to come here and do something like this. I’m really grateful for this, ”she said in Tokyo.

Aspden was born with a leg and congenital hip disarticulation, but that didn’t slow her down. She was already swimming at 4 years old and at 8 years old she competed all year round.