Even in the weeks leading up to his fourth appearance in the upcoming Paralympics as a member of the USA Men’s Wheelchair Basketball Team heading to Paris as two-time defending gold medal champions, Huntingtown High School graduate Trevon Jenifer can still recall the lessons he learned from the first three games.
Jenifer, a 2006 Huntingtown and 2010 Edinboro College graduate who was born in La Plata, is typically among the first people to arrive at The St. James, an indoor sports complex in Springfield, Va., where he climbs into his wheelchair and heads onto the basketball court for a session of shooting various shots in his quest to honing his skills for the Paralympics.
“Every morning starts with seeing my kids,” said Jenifer, whose wife, Laura, and two kids often join him at the complex. “Then before my work day starts I head to the gym to get in some practice. There’s usually nobody here when I get here, so it gives me a chance to get in a good workout before going to work. I love it here.”
Jenifer, who was born without legs and is less than 3 feet tall, has never viewed his birth defect as a handicap. In fact, Jenifer wrestled for two years at Huntingtown and finished third in the Maryland State Tournament as a senior. He also began playing wheelchair basketball and initially played for the U-23 team which won gold in Paris in 2009 and then earned a spot in the national team.
In his first Paralympics with Team USA in 2012, Jenifer and the American squad settled for the bronze medal. But that served as genuine motivation for himself and his teammates and four years later they garnered the gold medal in Rio and then five years later — the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics in Japan were postponed one year due to the pandemic — Jenifer and the American team garnered another gold.
Those who have remained closest to him over the years, including his former wrestling coach at Huntingtown, Terry Green, who taught for 30 years before retiring after the 2022-23 school year. Green recalled watching Jenifer continue to improve throughout his junior and senior years at the school and eventually work his way into the state semifinals.
“First of, just to be able to meet Trevon was incredible for me,” said Green, who had previously taught at Lackey for nine years and Northern for two more before transferring to Huntingtown. “He was always upbeat and positive and just so determined to handle any task put in front of him. He only wrestled for two years and by his senior year he was among the best wrestlers in the state.”
Although Jenifer has been able to celebrate Olympic gold medals in each of his last two trips to the Paralympics, his first two trips offered dramatically different results. In 2012 in London, Jenifer and Team USA settled for the bronze medal after losing to Australia in the semifinals. Four years later, after being cut in the 2013 tryouts, Jenifer and Team USA claimed gold in Brazil in 2016.
“After we lost in 2012, I think everyone knew that we had to get better,” Jenifer said. “Then a year later at tryouts, I got cut. But that was the best thing for me. I got my master’s and I worked on my game and I came back with a purpose in 2014. When we won gold in 2016 in Rio [de Jenairo], that was the most amazing feeling.”
As is the case with the Olympics, when a team is honored during the medal ceremony at the Paralympics, that country’s National Anthem is played while the athletes don their medals. Having overcome numerous obstacles throughout his life prior to making TEAM USA, including a brief foray when he was not a member, heaing the National Anthem was an emotional, special moment.
“When the gave us our medals during the ceremony and then you see the American flag get unfurled and you hear the National Anthem being played, no matter how many times you’ve heard it before, it really hits you when you realize that you’ve had the chance to accomplish something for your country,” Jenifer said. “I mean, I’ll never forget that moment. It brought tears to my eyes then and it’s still something that gets me emotional.”
Huntingtown athletic director Vashawne Gross has welcomed Jenifer back to the school for various presentations at the school during his 13 years as the AD. Jenifer is one of the eight members for the school’s athletic Hall of Fame, a group is set for expansion in the near future after temporarily being hindered by the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The first time I met him he basically told me not to feel sorry for him,” Gross said. “When we went into the school, he climbed the stairs faster that I could take the elevator. He’s been able to overcome so much and achieve so much and he’s never sought anyone’s sympathy. A lot of high schools can say they have had an Olympic athlete come through their school but I always tell people that we have Trevon Jenifer.”
Although they will head into the 2024 Paralympics in Paris as the two-time defending champions, Team USA had to earn a berth in the main event by capturing the Pan-Am games in Chile last fall. They also recently spent one week in Spain competing in a “friendly” tournament that consisted of eight games and will leave next week for France for the Paralympics slated for August 28- September 8.
“I know this is my fourth time in the Paralympics, but I think this one is going to special for a lot of reasons,” Jenifer said. “This time my whole family will be there and there will be crowds in the arena. In 2021 in Japan, even a year after the pandemic, they still were not allowing spectators. You were playing inside a huge, empty gymnasium. When you hear fans cheering for you, it gets you pumped up.”
With his two children, a daughter, 8 and a son, 4, becoming more involved in various extracurricular events, Jenifer suspects that his appearance in the 2024 games in Paris will likely be his last. Although the 2028 Summer Olympics are slated for Los Angeles, as will be the accompanying Paralympics, Jenifer doubts he will continue his playing days behind France.
“It’s not that I’m getting older,” said Jenifer, who will turn 38 in the fall. “But my kids are growing and they’re getting more involved in a lot of things and I want to be there for them. By 2028 they’ll be 8 and 12 and then not long after that they’ll be in high school. I don’t want to miss those moments. You know, I’ve had an enjoyable experience with Team USA, but at some point I know I will have to give it up and spend more time with my family.”
Green admits that he has never seen Jenifer and Team USA compete in person, although he has seen plenty of games on television or streamed live. Green, however, recalls one day five years ago when he had the chance to see Jenifer train with the team in Colorado Springs well in advance of the 2020 games which eventually got postponed by a year.
“I was in Colorado with my daughter back in 2019 and I took her to the Olympic training center in Colorado Springs because I knew Trevon was going to be there,” Green said. “When I got there they had this big mural on the wall and on it was a picture of Bruce Baumgartner, who is probably the greatest American wrestler in history, and also a picture of Trevon. I mean, it was incredible.”
Jenifer and Team USA will officially begin their quest for a Paralympic three-peat when they face Spain in a Group B game on Thursday, August 29 at 4 p.m. Then two days later in another Group B pool play contest on August 31, Team USA will face the Netherlands at 4 p.m. then the following morning on Sunday, September 1 it will play Australia at 10:30 am. The top two teams from Group A and Group B will advance to the quarterfinals on Tuesday, Sep. 3.
“We’re in a very tough bracket,” Jenifer said. “Australia is always very good and so is the Netherlands and Spain. But I think we’re focused on what we have to accomplish in France. When we first got there in 2012 I think we didn’t realize how big the stage was being at the Paralympics. Everything is magnified. But when we went back in 2016 and again in 2020 I think we were ready for the moment.”
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