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Shortly after American swimmer Christie Raleigh Crossley made her Paralympic debut on Thursday morning, setting a Paralympic Swimmer’s world record in the 50-metre freestyle-S9 preliminary heat, the 37-year-old was all smiles. “I just want to have fun and soak it all in,” she told reporters with a laugh before returning to the athlete’s village for a six-hour break before the evening final.
Paralympic Swimmer’s world record Shattered by Social Media Backlash
During her break, however, Raleigh Crossley encountered controversial social media comments questioning the legitimacy of her disability. These remarks, some from a U.S. teammate and an international competitor, led her to meet with athlete safety officials at the village to address the issue. Despite the distraction, she returned to La Defense Arena and secured a silver medal, finishing behind China’s Chen Yi, who broke the world record in the women’s 50-meter final.
“I went from celebrating a world record to feeling utterly devastated because it seemed like the whole world thought I was faking my brain injury and the cyst in my spinal cord,” she said after the final, her voice quivering and eyes brimming with tears.
Athlete Faces Accusations of Faking Disability
The controversy overshadowed a night when the U.S. team earned their first three medals in the pool at the Paralympics, where athletes compete in three categories: physical, visual, and intellectual disabilities. Raleigh Crossley, classified as S9 due to her neurological condition, competes against swimmers with similar impairments and has faced scrutiny about her disability since she began Para swimming in 2022.
A New Jersey native, Raleigh Crossley sustained neck and back injuries after being hit by a drunk driver in 2007 and suffered a brain injury in another accident the following year. In 2018, she experienced paralysis on her left side due to bleeding from 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 was cut short when the tumor was removed from her brain. Inspired by watching the Tokyo Paralympics in 2021, she began competing in Para swimming and set her first American record in 2022.
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