DeafBlind swimmer withdraws from Tokyo 2020 Paralympics
A DeafBlind swimmer, Rebecca “Becca” Meyers, announced on her social media accounts that she is withdrawing from the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic games because the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is not allowing her to bring a Personal Care Assistant (PCA).
Meyers wrote an opinion article on USA Today with the headline, “I don’t want to pull out of Tokyo Games, but I’ve been given no choice.”
She explained that she was born with Usher syndrome and has used a PCA since 2017 to help her be able to navigate and trust her surroundings in new and unfamiliar environments. But she was told by the USOPC that can’t have a PCA — who is her mother — to go with her to the Tokyo Paralympics. She said she can’t feel safe without a PCA that she trusts.
Meyers explained that because of the coronavirus pandemic, there are new safety measures and limits of non-essential staff, and the USOPC said there can be only a single PCA to assist her and 33 other Paralympic swimmers, nine of whom are also “visually impaired.”
Meyers said the USOPC make it seem like the Japanese government’s rules and restrictions is the reason why she can’t bring a PCA, but she doesn’t trust that this is the truth. She is pointing the finger directly at the USOPC, saying they are letting her down.
Meyers pointed out the irony that the Paralympic Games, which is all about giving disabled athletes access and opportunities, is now a barrier to her dreams. She said she is now speaking up for future generations of Paralympic athletes in hope that they never have to experience the pain that she has been through.
Meyers is able to speak with her voice, wears cochlear implants, and is able to lipread. Here is a clip of a video she did for USA Today.
[Video clip from USAToday]
“I’m completely isolated. I’m very heartbroken. I haven’t been sleeping well. I haven’t been eating. My stress levels are through the roof. I’m just torn over this. This is my dream. I love competing. Swimming, being a part of the Paralympic movement, gave me a purpose to be who I am as a deaf blind person. So this is really, really hard for me to kind of say, no, I can’t do this. I can’t put myself in this situation. Enough is enough. I have to stand up and say no, because I can’t let this happen to future generations. I can’t.”
[Sponsored Video from Convo: https://www.convorelay.com/download ]
[Sponsored Video from The Learning Center: https://www.tlcdeaf.org/careers ]
Meyers has a total of six Paralympic medals from 2016 and 2012, three of them gold, and she also won a bronze medal in the 2009 Taipei Deaflympics.
Howard Gorrell, a former Deaflympian and a deaf activist for equal rights in sports, wrote in an opinion piece for Maryland Matters in 2019 titled “Maryland Deaf Athletes Need Equality” that Meyers won four gold medals at the 2011 World Deaf Swimming Championships in Portugal and then declined to participate in the 2013 and 2017 Deaflympics. Gorrell said the reason was because “the USA Deaf Sports Federation did not receive the development fund from the U.S. Olympic Committee.” Paralympic athletes receive funding from the USOPC, which means they have less burdens to fundraise to compete compared with Deaflympic athletes.
Today at least two lawmakers spoke out in support of Meyers — U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) and U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH). Cardin said it is disgraceful she was denied essential and reasonable accommodations, while Hassan said Meyers is facing dangerous inequities and that she is calling on the USOPC to ensure all athletes receive the accommodation and support they need to compete.
So, we see that the coronavirus pandemic continues to have a significant impact on DeafBlind individuals with mask wearing, social distancing, and limits on personnel. Meyers tweeted today, “Let’s make change happen.”
https://www.facebook.com/beccameyers12/posts/237403838207833
https://www.marylandmatters.org/2019/07/16/opinion-maryland-deaf-athletes-need-equality/