A deaf-blind Paralympian has quit Team USA after she was denied essential accommodation for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic games.
Becca Meyers, 26, a three-time gold medalist, revealed on Tuesday, July 20, that she is dropping out of the games because the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee denied her request to bring her personal care assistant, CBS News reports.
"I'm angry, I'm disappointed, but most of all, I'm sad to not be representing my country," she said in a statement on social media.
"The USOPC has denied a reasonable & essential accommodation for me, as a deaf-blind athlete, to be able to compete in Tokyo, telling me repeatedly that I do not need a Personal Care Assistant (PCA) 'who I trust' because there will be a single PCA on staff that is available to assist me and 33 other Paralympic swimmers, 9 of whom are also visually impaired," Meyers wrote.
Meyers explained that she was previously allowed to bring her assistant, who is also her mother, to all of the international meets that she has competed in since 2017.
While the athlete acknowledges that new protective measures had to be put in place because of the ongoing pandemic, she said that the presence of a trusted assistant is "essential" for her to compete.
"So, in 2021, why as a disabled person am I still fighting for my rights?" she added. "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 swimmer has a rare condition known as Usher syndrome that causes sufferers to experience hearing loss and visual impairment.
The Daily Mail reports that as a result of her condition, Meyers finds it difficult to lip-read and make her way around new surroundings, which is why her mother's role as her care assistant was so essential to her participation in the games.
Meyers is a two-time Paralympian who has three gold medals and multiple world championships to her name.
The committee said in a statement to The Washington Post that they are dealing with "unprecedented restrictions around what is possible on the ground in Tokyo."
