From Disability Scoop:
“Paralympic Gold Medalist
Withdraws From Tokyo Games After Being Denied Aide”
A two-time Paralympic swimmer who
is deaf and blind is withdrawing from the Tokyo games, saying that she had “no
choice” after being told she couldn’t have a personal care assistant accompany
her. Becca Meyers, 26, said in a statement this week that she made the
“gut-wrenching decision” because the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee
“denied a reasonable & essential accommodation for me, as a deaf-blind
athlete, to be able to compete in Tokyo.” Since 2017, Meyers said that the
committee has approved her mother to serve as her personal care assistant at
all international meets, but because of COVID-19 restrictions that
accommodation was denied this time around.
Meyers said that she was
repeatedly told by the committee that she did not need a personal care
assistant who she trusts. Rather, there would be one assistant on staff to help
her and 33 other Paralympic swimmers including nine who are visually impaired
like her, she said. According to her Team USA profile, Meyers, who is from
Baltimore, has Usher syndrome and has been deaf since birth. She has used a
cochlear implant since she was young.
Meyers won silver and bronze at
the 2012 Paralympic Games in London and took home three gold medals and one
silver at the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro. She was also named Best Female
Athlete with a Disability at the 2015 ESPY Awards. “I’m angry, I’m
disappointed, but most of all, I’m sad not be representing my country,” Meyers
said. “I’m speaking up for future generations of Paralympic athletes in hope
that they never have to experience the pain I’ve been through. Enough is
enough.”
The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic
Committee did not respond to a request for comment. The Paralympic Games will
be held in Tokyo from Aug. 24 through Sept. 5.
^ This is very disheartening and
discriminatory. She should be allowed to compete and have an aide to help her.
^
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