Paralympic champion and soon-to-be mother of twins: Jessica Long's road to LA28
The Team USA athlete Jessica Long is expecting twins. For the18-time Paralympic champion, motherhood is just the next challenge 02 Jul 2026
Team USA Para swimmer Jessica Long prepares to add the newest accolade to her name: mother of twins.
One of the greats in Para swimming history, Long has amassed 31 medals across six Paralympic Games, and plans to compete at the LA28 Paralympic Games with her children in the stands.
“I'm so excited to look up in the stands and see my whole family. I'm having two boys, so they're going to be two, that's going to be wild. That's been my dream. I wanted to end my career having kids in the stands,” she said.
“Oh, now I really can't retire 'til 2028”
Long jokes that Los Angeles winning the bid to host the 2028 Games means she has to keep competing so she can compete at a home Games.
Debuting at the Athens 2004 Paralymic Games, Long captured her first gold medal at just 12 years old. Since that first taste of glory, she has gone on to win 17 Paralympic titles.
“I truthfully don't need to win another medal, right?” she shared. “I have done it all, I'm very proud of myself, but it's important to keep showing up and to keep showing up for the movement even when it's tough.
“LA is going to come whether I like it or not, and I want to be there.”
Due to give birth in August 2026, Long made the decision to continue swimming and training throughout her pregnancy.
“I’ve given myself grace, like ‘You’re growing two babies, it’s OK’,” she said. “I'm swimming with an extra 30 pounds, I've got a weight around my stomach... it's definitely different, but also at the same time it just feels good to stretch out in the cold water. Keeping up with my exercise is the best thing for my mental health.”
Long has been training doing pilates and cardio in addition to swimming, despite feeling morning sickness up until 19 weeks. With her cravings, it changes every week, saying that right now it’s ‘frozen mangos, caesar salad and a ton of Coca-Cola, and one week I was eating ice cream’.
Following the example of other athlete mothers
She faces this latest feat of motherhood with confidence, saying, “I don't know motherhood, but I know how to push through even when things are tough. That gives me some confidence.
“It's going to challenge me in different ways, but like every challenge I've ever come across you learn to face it and overcome it,” she said.
“Even my doctors have said this, but most women they’re teaching to endure the pain and discomfort of pregnancy. I’m telling you, I think being an athlete and an amputee, I almost don’t notice it extra. I walk in pain every day with my legs anyway.”
Looking ahead to competing at LA28 only two years post-partum, Long turns to the example of other women in sport who have already shown what is possible.
“I see other women doing it, and if they can do it, I can do it. Most women that I talk to are like, ‘I came back stronger after pregnancy or giving birth’. Mallory Weggemann literally won a gold after giving birth to her daughter.”
Knowing it was going to be twins
Long was born in Russia and was adopted when she was a baby. Since she learnt that her birth mother had delivered twins after her, Long felt she always ‘knew’ she was going to have twins.
“For 10 years of my life, I've been like, I'm going to have twins, I just know it,” she shared.
“I had nothing to compare it to, but I would call my mom up and be like, ‘I just feel like there's two in there, like I feel too big’, and she was like ‘Jess, you’re OK’. At 10 weeks, we went for an early scan and they found the first heartbeat, and they were like, ‘no, highly unlikely that it's twins’.
“My next appointment was three weeks later, and this was where we got to see them on the sonogram. It was the same kind of thing, they didn't believe it, but I asked them to move it (the wand) over, and there was the second heartbeat, and I was like, ‘I told you so’.”
Will they love swimming or soccer?
Long’s husband Lucas Winters is a football coach, and was a football player himself, playing for Crystal Palace early in his career before retiring due to a heart condition.
With the final weeks of pregnancy coming up, the whole family has been leaning into the FIFA World Cup hosting watch parties and wearing jerseys. The USA will face Belgium in the round of 16 on 6 July at the World Cup, which is being hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States.
“I love all of those fun moments,” said Long, adding she is excited to share these moments with the twins. “I’m really just looking forward to these everyday, little moments. Driving to church, getting some coffee. I’m really looking forward to family walks.
“Right now, the big decision is soccer or swimming. We’ve already gotten little soccer balls for the boys.”
