Decatur native Noelle Malkamaki ready to represent USA at Paralympics

DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) -- Noelle Malkamaki was born with Amniotic Band Syndrome causing her to lose part of her right arm and hand.

But that didn't slow her down, competing in track and field when she attended St. Teresa High School.

"I knew for sure I didn't want to be a runner. So I started the throwing events and I'm really glad that I tried those because I think from that moment I felt like I found a sport that my body was built for and that has made all the difference," Malkamaki said. "It's a big advantage to be strong and taller especially for women and to find something that seems to fit with who I am so well."

After high school Noelle went on to compete at the collegiate level at Depaul University where she got the opportunity to compete for the United State of America.

"I just never thought it would be possible for me until I discovered Paralympic athletes. So it's even more exciting that this opportunity is just kind of landed in my lap to, you know, wear the team USA gear and wear red, white and blue to throw, as well as just having the opportunity to continue doing the sport I love even pas the collegiate level it's just such an honor and I really appreciate having every opportunity to keep competing," Malkamaki said. 

Now her focus is on the Paralympics in Paris this summer. Noelle and her coach are working on becoming stronger both physically and mentally to prepare for the trials.

"Throughout my entire career I've dealt a lot with competition anxiety and that's something that I've tried to overcome throughout college and especially going into being a professional athlete, the world stage is definitely very intimidating," Malkamaki said. "So a big focus focus for us over the summer is working with a sports psychologist and doing a lot of journaling and visualization exercises to build up my ability to stay calm in a meet day situation."

Noelle said being able to represent the United States and show kids even if you're from small town you can still make dreams happen with hard work.

"I was fortunate enough that with my disability, I was able to throw with other kids for my entire life and I was able to throw against able bodied athletes up into college, but that opportunity isn't there for all kinds of disabilities," Malkamaki said. "So having adaptive athletics and giving more people more opportunities to do things they're good at is obviously a win for everybody. And it's been amazing to finally kind of dive into that side of my identity and be able to come to terms more with being I am a disabled athlete, even if it didn't seem that way for a long time."