During the 2024 Paris Paralympics, Calahan Young hopes to make a statement by showing what athletes with disabilities are capable of doing.
He’s also pretty set on bringing home a gold medal.
The 6-foot-7 United States goalball captain made his debut at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics but came home empty-handed.
Despite his rookie status, Young made a pivotal impact during the quarterfinals in Tokyo, where his four goals rallied the U.S. from a 4-1 deficit against Ukraine, propelling the Americans into the medal round. However, despite a strong start in the semifinals with an initial lead, the U.S. lost 7-1, ending their quest for gold.
Now, Young is poised to make his mark and achieve his goal of standing atop the podium in Paris.
“It was rough because we had a major win in the quarterfinals and we came back from a pretty good deficit, but someone has to lose the semifinals and someone has to lose the bronze; so we kind of took that route and that really stung,” Young said. ‘Going into Paris, I think that we have really taken it upon ourselves to look at the past and say, ‘These are the biggest areas that we needed to work on.’ We have been drilling like crazy for the past three years trying to make sure that we are where we need to be to get that gold medal in Paris.”
The U.S. men only have won one Paralympic gold medal in goalball, earned in 1984.
With only eight teams in the field, Young anticipates a tough tournament in Paris but also maintains a sense of confidence. He views Brazil as the strongest contender standing between the U.S. and the gold medal.
“Our biggest rival is always staying within the Americas,” Young said. “Brazil is and has been one of the best teams for the past 15 years … We can beat them, it's just trying to make sure that we play our best game.”
Young recognizes that winning a gold medal could significantly boost awareness for goalball, which he describes as a “cool sport you might not have heard of.”
Goalball is not derived from any other sport; in fact, it is the only Paralympic sport entirely designed for individuals who are blind or visually impaired.
Young has retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic condition where a person’s retinas don’t fully develop, limiting their peripheral vision and causing night blindness. People with this condition lose their vision as they age.
As a kid, Young started playing football, baseball and basketball. However, those sports became more difficult as his vision changed.
At age 13, Young went to a program for blind and visually impaired kids and witnessed a goalball demonstration.
“I was like, ‘Wow, that seems awesome.’ I had never been introduced to a sport where I could excel and be competitive with my peers. Because in football, I'd get destroyed … I could see what was straight in front of me, but as soon as someone came from the right or left, I would just get annihilated,” Young said with a laugh. “So I found goalball and just fell in love with the team sport aspect of it.”
In goalball, teams of three face off in front of goals that stretch across the width of the court. The objective is to score by throwing the ball past the opposing team. To assist players in tracking the ball's movement, it contains a bell that helps them follow its path as it speeds across the court at speeds exceeding 40 mph.
Since blindness encompasses a wide spectrum, all players wear blacked-out goggles to create a level playing field.
That element of equality, which gives Young the opportunity to participate in a high-level sport on a fair playing field, is what he values most about goalball.
“It's the only thing I've really ever been able to do that was just equal from point A to point Z,” Young said.
The U.S. men will kick off their competition in Paris on August 30 against Brazil. While securing gold is the ultimate goal for Young and his teammates, he hopes viewers will take away something more from the Games.
“People with disabilities are able to compete and do things more than just stay in the house and not do anything,” Young said with a laugh. “We're not fragile. I work full time and I train full time and I hope that they can take a look and say, ‘Wow. That's a lot more than I ever thought someone with a disability could do.'"