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Former Gunn High School track and field athlete Amy Watt competed in the 2016 Paralympic Games for Team USA. Now she’s preparing to make her second appearance as a Paralympian, this time representing Canada in the 2020 Games, which begin the last week of August in Tokyo.
She has dual citizenship as her father was born in Canada and she competed with the Canadian team at the 2019 Pan-Am championships.
Watt didn’t take part in the Canadian Paralympic trials due to border restrictions, but received a spot on the team on the basis of her world ranking.
In 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Watt placed sixth in both the 400 and the long jump.
This time in Japan she will take part only in the long jump.
Her sixth-place distance in the long jump at Rio was 5.15 meters, or 16 feet, 9 inches. Recently she had a 5.58 wind-aided mark (18-3) and jumped a wind-legal 5.36 (17-7).
“I’m always looking to do better than ever before,” Watt said.. “I’m a very different athlete than I was five years ago. In the long jump I focused on a lot of technique work as well as building speed and strength.”
At the 2016 Paralympics Watt didn’t get to see a lot of Rio, as athletes were given strict instructions on staying close to the Olympic Village. Still, it was an experience never to be forgotten.
“Being in the Olympic Village in Brazil was such a special experience with such special people,” Watt said.
Her roommate was Scout Bassett, a Paralympian with an incredible background who has become known as a mentor and activist for people with disabilities. Bassett was abandoned as an infant in China after losing her leg in a chemical fire, and spent the first seven years of her life in an orphanage before being adopted by a couple from Michigan.
As a high school track and field athlete, Watt, who was born without her lower left arm and hand, was a key member of a strong team at Gunn coached by PattiSue Plumer. As a senior she placed eighth in the long jump at the Central Coast Section finals, helping the Titans to a fourth-place finish in the girls team standings.
“It was a great experience,” Watt said. “Having such a positive experience at Gunn made me want to compete in college.”.
Watt went to college at Pomona-Pitzer and graduated with a double major in mathematics and molecular biology. She has begun her work career as a data analyst with Facebook in Seattle.
Whether or not she continues to compete in track and field after the upcoming Paralympics is still to be determined.
“I think that is up in the air,” Watt said. “I would need to find a coach and training partner.
“My focus is on Tokyo.”
