Shortly after American swimmer Christie Raleigh Crossley set a world record in her Paralympic debut on Thursday morning, dominating the 50-meter freestyle-S9 preliminary heat, the 37-year-old couldn’t stop smiling. “I just want to have fun and take it all in,” she told reporters with a laugh before heading back to the athlete’s village, where she had a six-hour break before the evening final.
However, during her break, Raleigh Crossley came across controversial comments on social media questioning her disability. These comments, including those from a U.S. teammate and a competitor from another country, prompted her to meet with officials in charge of athlete safety at the village to discuss the issue. She later returned to La Defense Arena to compete, ultimately winning a silver medal behind China’s Chen Yi, who broke the world record for the women’s 50-meter freestyle S10.
IN THEIR PARALYMPIC DEBUT ‼️
Christie Raleigh Crossley breaks the world record in the women’s 50m freestyle S9 at the #ParisParalympics. pic.twitter.com/GC1SZoZdu9
— Team USA (@TeamUSA) August 29, 2024
“I went from celebrating a world record to feeling completely devastated because the whole world seemed to think I was a fraud, faking my brain injury and the cyst in my spinal cord,” she said after the final, her voice trembling and eyes filled with tears.
The controversy overshadowed a night where the U.S. team earned their first three medals of the Paralympics in the pool, where athletes are classified into three categories: physical, visual, and intellectual disabilities. Raleigh Crossley, whose neurological condition is classified as S9, competes against other swimmers with similar impairments and has faced scrutiny regarding her disability since she began Para swimming in 2022.
A native of New Jersey, Raleigh Crossley sustained neck and back injuries after being hit by a drunk driver in 2007 and suffered a brain injury following another accident the next year. In 2018, she experienced paralysis on her left side due to the bleeding of an undiagnosed blood tumor in her brain, according to her Team USA profile.
Despite her injuries, she pursued her dream of becoming an Olympic swimmer for years, a dream that ended when the tumor was removed from her brain. After watching the Tokyo Paralympics in 2021, she was inspired to start competing in Para swimming and set her first American record in the sport in 2022.
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