A Paralympian admitted to being devastated while claiming she was “verbally accosted” and bullied by another athlete after winning her silver medal last week.
While speaking to USA Today, U.S. Paralympic swimmer Christie Raleigh Crossley stated people were questioning her disability following her silver medal win during the women’s 50-meter freestyle S9 final.
“It’s so great that I just broke a world record and won my first Paralympic medal on the same day,” the Paralympian stated about her silver medal. “But I got off a bus and got verbally accosted by another athlete from another country.”
She continued by stating, “To be told online by all of these bullies that I’m somehow not as disabled as I appear just because I can swim faster than them is pretty devastating.”
During the race, Raleigh Crossley set a world record in a heat of the 50-meter freestyle S9 race with a time of 27:28. In the final combined both S9 and S10 classifications.
Crossley scored the silver medal while China Paralympian Yi Chen, who finished at 27:10, took home the gold.
Unfortunately, Crossley’s silver medal performance was heavily criticized on social media, with some people doubting her disability. Among the critics were several athletes.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee stated the organization was looking into the situation immediately. Crossley further pointed out that she had met with athlete safety officials in the Paralympic Village.
The Paralympian Endured a Series of Injuries That Caused Her Disability
Raleigh Crossley, who swam for Florida State University and was dreaming of competing in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
However, she was in a car accident caused by a drunk driver in 2007. The crash left her with spinal injuries.
In 2008, she sustained brain injuries after she was hit by a car as a pedestrian. A decade later, she was hit in the head with ice during a snowball fight with her son. While treating the injury, her doctors discovered a tumor in her brain.
She was paralyzed on her left side due to multiple accidents.
The swimmer previously spoke to TODAY about her tough journey to the 2024 Paralympics in Paris. “I’ve dealt with bullying because I’m not missing limbs,” she explained. “Or because people think I don’t look disabled.’”
Raleigh Crossley also stated she hopes to help raise awareness to redefine what a Paralympian looks like.
“I want to show that Paralympians are more than athletes who are missing limbs,” she said We are not just people in wheelchairs. We are not all blind. There is a spectrum of what makes someone eligible and there are many athletes who are missing out because they just don’t know.”
She then added, “I want to help kids, the next generation of Paralympians, to embrace their sport.”