West Leyden Sophomore Brings Home Gold

Caitlyn White & Alex Risolvo

On Monday, March 17 Brody Roybal, who is only fifteen years and already a gold medalist, returned home from the paralympics in Sochi to a large crowd on his front lawn eager to congratulate him.

Robal, who is only a sophomore at West Leyden High School, competed as a part of the U.S. Paralympics Sled Hockey team.

The Northlake Police Department escorted Roybal all the way from O’Hare International Airport back to his home in Northlake.

When he arrived, Roybal was greeted by the channel two, CBS, and seven ABC news teams, along with the large crowd of family, friends, and classmates all eager to welcome home their local gold medalist.

He proceeded to sign autographs and take pictures with the many excited fans and held up his gold medal for the crowd.

Despite the dropping temperature, Roybal continued to greet fans and take pictures.

He remarked how he was looking forward to heading back to his classes at West the following day.

Roybal, along with the rest of his team, made history by winning back-to-back gold medals.

In addition, Roybal himself made history as the youngest player ever in the paralympics. The team applied for and received a special waiver allowing him to compete as a fifteen year old as competitors must be 16 to compete.