To Tokyo and back, with a bronze medal.

Athlete Ali Ibanez, who was born with a disabling condition, greeted people in Murray Park on Friday. She spoke about how wheelchair basketball bounced into her life and what she sees as a primary misconception of the Paralympics.

Before the USA women’s wheelchair basketball team’s bronze run in Tokyo, before high school and collegiate ball at the University of Illinois, there was a phone call eight years ago from an older sister — babysitting at the time — who saw something remarkable out the window.

“She called my mom and said, ‘Hey, something’s going down here. You need to bring Ali,’” Ibanez recalled. “We get over there, and there’s a wheelchair basketball team practicing on the outdoor courts."

Ibanez ably picked up the game.

“I was like, okay, that’s something I would be into,” she said. “That looks gritty, rough, just competitive overall."

Now, she has the bronze medal, a $15,000 Paralympic award, recognition from her high school, Cottonwood High, and congratulations from her hometown of Murray.

“Do you think there are any misconceptions about the Paralympics?“ 2News asked.

“I would say that a lot of people think it’s kind of a participatory event where people who are disabled or have some kind of physical challenge” are recognized for simply being in the game, Ibanez said.

“But it’s an extremely high level of competition,” she added. Ibanez is planning to be back on the court for Paris in 2024 and Los Angeles in 2028.