NH native wins bronze at Paris Paralympics 

Liza Corso, a New Hampshire native, overcame odds to secure a bronze medal in the 1500-meter run at the Paris Paralympics, despite a stress fracture in her femur that sidelined her for six weeks before she got to Paris.

“I had no idea leading up to the race what my fitness was like,” she said. “But all the hard work and worries paid off.”

In the weeks leading up to the competition, Corso relied on cross-training, dedicating 90 minutes to two hours each day to biking and swimming in a bid to manage her injury and stay in peak condition.

Corso, 22, from Newmarket, is legally blind. She was born with albinism, which creates lack of pigment in hair, skin, and eyes.The lack of eye pigment creates issues with her optic nerve. Corso can’t see far away or small fonts close up. She also doesn’t have depth perception. Her eyes shake back and forth, and they’re sensitive to light, so she always runs with a hat to protect her eyes from the sun.

She competed in the T13 category at the Paralympics, along with other athletes who are visually impaired, but don’t need to run with a guide on the track. 

Corso first started running when she was about 5 years old. She ran her first 5K with her family and an event hosted by her father, a physical therapist.

“The plan was for me and my mom to walk it together. I don’t remember much, but all I wanted to do was run,” she said.

Corso continued to run 5Ks with her family as a young child. In fourth grade, she joined her elementary school cross-country team. Then in middle school, she joined her school’s track team. She continued running on track and cross-country teams in high school at Portsmouth Christian Academy in Dover, where she was team captain. Corso was also named MVP, and broke school records in the 800-, 1600-, 3200-, 1000-, 1500-, and 3000-meter races.

She always competed against able-bodied students, and didn’t learn about the Paralympics until her sophomore year in high school, when a person from the Paralympic committee saw a local news story about Corso running with a guide and asked her to try to qualify for the Tokyo Paralympics.

“That turned into a dream to qualify for Tokyo,” she said.

The Olympics got pushed back a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which worked in her favor because it gave her more time to train. Corso got a silver medal in the 1500-meter run at the Tokyo Paralympics when she was 18. 

The news story about Coros happened serendipitously. Growing up, Corso never ran with a guide. But, during a cross-country conference in high school, the course changed at the last minute and Corso didn’t have time to learn it.

“I was scared that I was going to get lost on the course,” she said, explaining that her lack of depth perception can be dangerous on a cross-country course that she doesn’t know.

Her coach got her a guide to run ahead of her, just for that race.  

Corso now competes on the cross-country team at Lipscomb College in Nashville with able-bodied athletes. She runs daily, getting 55-60 miles in a week, with a mix of speed runs, tempo workouts, and mileage days. Sometimes she does double runs, in the morning and afternoon.

“Three years of college racing under me is super beneficial,” she said. “Being on a team and feeling the support from my university and my teammates—that was super cool, feeling all their love.”

Corso got home last Monday after spending two weeks in Paris.

“There were so many people from so many different countries in one place,” she said.“It was super special.”

She’s already looking forward to competing at the 2028 games in Los Angeles.

“I think that would be super cool,” she said.