Singleton Jr. is competing for Paralympic gold

Michael Phelps' mom became a prime-time TV star last month during the Olympics as her son swam his way to eight gold medals.

Debbie Phelps has nothing on Jerome and Jacqueline Singleton. Whether Jerome Singleton Jr. wins two gold medals in Beijing next week or just tries hard at the 2008 Paralympic Games, he already has earned parental pride worthy of a Mrs. Phelps-type sit down with Bob Costas and Oprah.

'He's a very good kid and he's always been one,' said Jerome Singleton Sr., a Lowcountry native and commissioner of the South Carolina High School League. 'He's always done well in school and he's never allowed his prosthesis to inhibit him in playing sports.'

Jerome Jr., 22, was born without a fibula and had his right foot amputated as an infant. He will compete in the 100-meter sprint and 4x100 relay at the international event for athletes with physical disabilities to be held this weekend through Sept. 17 at many of Beijing's Olympic venues.

Mom and dad left Columbia for China on Saturday.

The elder Singleton is looking forward to the thrill of his lifetime in sports, a mouthful for a 49-year-old Baptist Hill High School graduate who coached football, track and junior varsity basketball at Burke High School on his way to presiding over the state's ruling body of public school athletics.

Excitement, yes.

Surprise, no.

Football, too

Treated no different by his parents than his brother or sister, Jerome Jr. was a very good outside linebacker at Irmo's Dutch Fork High School. He considered playing football at Atlanta's Morehouse College, but ran track instead while earning degrees in math and physics.

'He never knew he had limitations and we never treated it as such,' Jerome Singleton Sr. said. 'He actually learned to walk with a prosthesis. Fortunately, he's always been able to perform in sports at the level he participated against. In fact, I forget about it a lot of the time.'

Like the time Jerome Jr. came home from a high school football practice and told his father his left ankle was sore.

'Is it swollen?' dad asked.

'I don't know.'

'Well, just look at your right ankle. If your left ankle is better than your right ankle, than it's swollen.'

'But dad, I don't have a right ankle.'

The next stop for Jerome Singleton Jr. is the University of Michigan, where he will study engineering. The eventual goal is a doctoral degree.

'He's balanced,' Jerome Sr. said. 'He doesn't just think 'I need to be an athlete.' He's always been a studious kid. He was in the top 25 in his class in high school. Both his mother and I are in education but academics wasn't anything we pushed on him. He just liked school, and school liked him.'

Just like Phelps

Typical of the studious nature, Jerome Jr. initially came across a paralympic Web site while doing biomedical engineering research at Morehouse.

He learned he could participate in the T-44 division, for athletes who have limited use of one leg because of a below-the-knee challenge. Jerome Jr. qualified in June at the U.S. Paralympic Trials in Mesa, Ariz., and trained in Colorado and Japan.

His stated purpose: 'I am grateful that I have been blessed in other aspects of my life and hope through my activities I can inspire others to push themselves to greater heights. I may not have a foot but I do have a desire to succeed and help as many people as I can in the process.'

See the father glow, just like Debbie Phelps.

'I'm proud of all our kids,' Jerome Singleton Sr. said. 'Of course, I'm proud of Jerome. I'm proud that he continues to push himself. That's what I'm most proud about.'

Reach Gene Sapakoff at gsapakoff@postandcourier.com.