Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

U.S. Paralympian Says She Was Accused Of Not Being 'As Disabled' As Other Athletes After Silver Medal Win

Christie Raleigh Crossley
Joe Scarnici/Getty Images for USOPC

Swimmer Christie Raleigh Crossley says she's been 'verbally accosted' by other athletes as well as online bullies who question her disability after she won a silver medal in the 50-meter freestyle S9/S10 race at the 2024 Paralympics.

U.S. Paralympic swimmer Christie Raleigh Crossley won the silver medal at the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris, but their proud moment left them emotionally distressed when their physical abilities were questioned and led to bullying.

Crossley, who is married with three children and uses she/her and they/them pronouns, set a world record in the preliminary 50-meter freestyle in the S9 class after touching the wall at 27.28.


But after they medaled silver in the final, which combined swimmers in the S9 and S10 impairment classifications, Crossley said they were verbally accosted by another athlete who accused them of cheating for not being a disabled athlete.

The 37-year-old opened up about the criticism surrounding their disability, telling USA Today:

“It’s so great that I just broke a world record and won my first Paralympic medal on the same day."


Crossley added:

“But I got off a bus and got verbally accosted by another athlete from another country.”

Fighting tears, Crossley opened up about the challenges of being a disabled athlete and how it has affected their life.

“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," they said.

Crossley sustained major injuries from several accidents in the past that left them permanently impaired, including being hit by a drunk driver while crossing the street in 2007, leaving them with three herniated discs in their neck and one in their lower back.

On another occasion when they were struck by a car as a pedestrian, the blunt force trauma from the incident led to the development of a non-cancerous tumor in their brain.

Doctors discovered the blood tumor and bleeding on the brain after Crossley was accidentally struck in the head with ice while playing a snowball fight with their son in December 2018.

The bleeding on the brain, coupled with the surgical procedure to extract the tumor by removing part of the skull, caused paralysis on Crossley's left side of the body.

According to the news outlet, athlete classification in para-sport, which is governed by the IPC Athlete Classification Code and Standards, is based on "the degree of impairment as determined by a trained physician."

However, the process has long been scrutinized for being imperfect, given that the lines between classifications can be blurry.


Crossley said they met with a representative for athlete safety in the Paralympic Village following the bullying incident and online messages from trolls who accused them of not being a qualified competitor.

More from Trending

Barack Obama
Scott Olson/Getty Images

Obama Offers Iconic Reaction After He Accidentally Photobombed A Family's Photos In DC

If you try to take nice pictures in a scenic location, there will likely be people wandering through the background of your photos, because everyone else will also be enjoying the scenery.

In most cases, people try to time the shots between passersby or edit them out afterwards, but after a photoshoot in Washington D.C., one family will definitely not be editing out the accidental guest walking among the cherry blossoms and the Washington Monument.

Keep ReadingShow less
children sitting on floor in classroom
CDC on Unsplash

Historical 'Facts' People Learned In School That Are Actually Not True

The phrase "history is written by the victors" is a common saying. It's often attributed to Winston Churchill, although there's no proof he said those exact words.

It points out that those who win conflicts shape how those events are remembered, recorded, and taught to future generations, leading to biased historical accounts and warped perceptions.

Keep ReadingShow less

Modern 'Conveniences' That Actually Make Life Harder

Making life simpler...

That is always the goal, right?

Keep ReadingShow less
Person holding cigarette
Luiz Rogério Nunes/Unsplash

One Night Stands That Turned Into A Total Nightmare

Ahh, the trials and tribulations of dating life.

On the one hand, it could be exciting and very promising. On the other hand, it could be a total disaster.

Keep ReadingShow less
Person's eyes glowing in the sunlight
Photo by Marina Vitale on Unsplash

People Who Clinically Died And Came Back To Life Share Their Experiences

We've all heard the questions about what happens when we die, whether there is life after death, and whether we really will walk through a tunnel of white light or not to get there.

But people who have had a near-death experience, in that they were declared clinically dead and were then resuscitated, might have the answers we're looking for, and their answers are quite peaceful.

Keep ReadingShow less