World-Class Para Athlete to Compete at 2022 State Games of America

Born with a rare condition called amniotic band syndrome, Jessica Heims started life with a much shorter right leg and a non-functional right foot. For the first year of her life, her doctors and parents tried to decide the best course of action for her: treat the foot or amputate? At about one year old, Jessica’s parents made the difficult decision to have their daughter’s foot amputated; however, this decision has helped Jessica to thrive. Her story is that of an Iowa-native success.

Jessica is classified as a below-the-knee amputee and competes in adaptive sports events around the world, including the Paralympics. She competed in her first international competition in 2013, when she was in middle school. Since then, she has competed in two junior international competitions, one world’s game in 2015, and two Paralympic Games (2016 Rio de Genaro and 2021 Tokyo). She also won a gold medal in the Lima 2019 Parapan American Games, setting the world and American discus records for her classification in 2019 and again in 2022.

Although Jessica uses prosthetics to navigate her life and to compete in sports, she got started in track and field as most kids do: to be like her older sister. As soon as Jessica started running, she fell in love with the sport. Her family started looking into different opportunities for her and found an adaptive track meet down in Oklahoma. Knowing nothing about adaptive sports going into the meet, the Heims family was blown away by the disability community, and Jessica immediately felt right at home. “I took off my leg and put it back on for races and so did the kid right next to me. I never really had that before,” Jessica stated. From that moment on, Jessica knew she would be involved in track forever. She started as a self-proclaimed “horrible, nonathletic athlete”, but her passion for the sport fueled her forward more than any natural talent could have. Starting as a long-distance runner, she continued to compete and excelled as a 400 runner and discus thrower in middle school, high school, college and beyond.

Having reached high levels of the sport in high school, Jessica made it clear that she has only made it to this point with the help of her whole village. Her family, friends, teachers, coaches and community have been extremely supportive of her this whole time. Her parents and siblings especially have given her confidence as an athlete and have given her the freedom to choose to compete for herself and no one else. She told one of her favorite memories with a huge smile on her face. When she was a senior in high school, Jessica competed in the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Genaro and her family was fortunate enough to be able to travel to watch. “I don’t think everything had dawned on me quite until I saw my family there. I still remember my sisters going down the stairs and we made eye contact. Then we were slow-motion running like it was a movie,” Jessica recalled. This moment had a profound impact on her as she had the humbling realization that it wasn’t just her competing out there. “I didn’t do all this on my own. All the people that supported me since day one were there… I will never forget that amazing security and support I felt in that moment.”

This Sunday morning, Jessica will be competing in the discus event at the 2022 State Games of America track and field meet at the Cyclone Sports Complex at Iowa State University. Having competed in so many national and international events, Jessica said she jumps on the opportunity when she finds a solid, local meet to compete against so many wonderful athletes. She has competed in the Iowa Games track and field meets multiple times and loves the track culture in Iowa and the surrounding states. The Iowa track people encourage and support one another, which she says is a unique environment to compete in. While Jessica loves getting to transcend language and other barriers through the athletes’ uniting passion for track and field in international events, there is just something special about competing back home.

Good luck, Jessica, and all other States Games of America athletes! We can’t wait to watch you all compete this week and weekend!