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Local Paralympian finishes 4th in race, returns home

Liz Baker, a U.S. Paralympian from Signal Mountain, Tenn.,embraces her father-in-law, Dan Baker, at the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport on Wednesday after returning from competition in Rio de Janerio. Baker finished fourth in the women's triathlon. Chattanooga Track Club member Taylor Milliron, back right, looks on. (Tim Barber/Chattanooga Times Free Press via AP)
Liz Baker, a U.S. Paralympian from Signal Mountain, Tenn.,embraces her father-in-law, Dan Baker, at the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport on Wednesday after returning from competition in Rio de Janerio. Baker finished fourth in the women's triathlon. Chattanooga Track Club member Taylor Milliron, back right, looks on. (Tim Barber/Chattanooga Times Free Press via AP)

By Associated Press 4 min read

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) – A medal was so close that Elizabeth “Liz” Baker said it felt like she could nearly touch it.

In the end, a bout with dizziness took her down and ended her chances of a medal during the home stretch of the inaugural Paralympic women’s triathlon on Sept. 11 in Rio de Janeiro.

But even a fourth-place finish for the 42-year-old Signal Mountain woman was a feat, considering she was battling a severe case of strep throat for 10 days leading up to the race.

Baker, who raced against other athletes with visual disabilities, was a relatively unknown competitor in the triathlon. That changed when she positioned herself to contend for a medal.

“I raced with everything that I had,” she said Sept. 14 at the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport, a few minutes after stepping off her return flight. “I would never go back and say I could change what I did. It was so close that it was dangling out there in front of me. But I am proud of myself.”