A Paralympic snowboarder who won gold at the 2018 Winter Paralympics is fighting for the chance to compete in Beijing this year after her disability class was cut.
Brenna Huckaby, 25, earned two gold medals in PyeongChang, for snowboard cross and banked slalom, and she was training to defend her titles in Beijing this March — until the Paralympic committee announced that there weren’t enough women with her level of disability participating and axed her events altogether.
Yet Huckaby was told that she could still compete in a different class, so she trained even harder to make the cut against women who are less disabled than she — and did so with flying colors.
Huckaby now claims that she’s ineligible for that competition due to recently released rules. She is using social media to advocate her inclusion.
Paralympic snowboarder, who took gold at 2018 Winter Paralympics, is hoping to be able to compete in Beijing after her disability class was removed
Brenna Huckaby (25), won two gold medals for PyeongChang in snowboard cross and banked ski slalom. She was also training to defend her title in Beijing in March.
Huckaby, who was also the first Paralympian to appear in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, shared her story on Instagram on Saturday.
Just a few days after winning her fourth World title, she claimed that it was overshadowed by negative news regarding the Paralympics.
‘As I woke up today, I couldn’t help but think of this win as bittersweet since I currently do not have the opportunity to defend my Paralympic Gold Medals or this World Title at the 2022 Beijing Paralympics,’ she wrote.
The reason her events were cut was because she didn’t have enough people with the same disability as her.
‘Paralympic sports are separated into classes based on the severity of impairment, which helps to ensure that more impaired athletes aren’t unfairly competing against less impaired athletes,’ she said.
“As an amputee above the knee, I am in the most handicapped class of Parasnowboarding.
She stated that the International Paralympic Committee had removed all medal events from Beijing because my class didn’t have sufficient participation.
Paralympic committee declared that not enough women of her disability could participate in Paralympic events and cancelled hers altogether
She was however told she could compete in a class with less disability. After training she became qualified and beat out all other competitors.
She said that the Beijing rulebook was not a way to be competitive and, as such, it did not allow her to do so.
Brenna was a member of the SB-LL1 classification in 2018, which covers athletes with a significant impairment to one leg’ (amputation above the knee) or competitors with a significant combined impairment in both legs’.
This category was previously included at the Winter Paralympics. However, the 2022 Games have removed it due to insufficient athletes who plan to compete.
Brenna thought there might be another way: Competing against athletes with less impairment. This would prove to be more difficult but at least would give Brenna a chance.
‘Not all hope was lost as I was told that my class could compete in the less impaired class’ events at the Games aka “competing up,”’ she explained.
‘I was excited for this opportunity, and when I participated within the harder class, I earned podium finishes — proving I was more than capable despite my disability.’
But when the formal rulebook for Beijing was released, ‘I was not given the option to participate up.
“This shocking news surprised everyone. What was the reason for this decision? That’s a great question, and I still haven’t been given a lucid answer — or any answer at all,’ she said.
“This shocking news surprised everyone. What was the reason for this decision? That’s a great question, and I still haven’t been given a lucid answer,’ she said
Huckaby said she has long been a ‘proud advocate for the Paralympic Movement, which is supposed to be the leader of diversity & inclusion’
“Despite everything, it is still my dream to compete at the Paralympics for @teamusa,” she stated.
Huckaby said she has long been a ‘proud advocate for the Paralympic Movement, which is supposed to be the leader of diversity & inclusion’ — but this year, they don’t appear to be advocating for her.
‘When it comes to its flagship event, the @Paralympics, my disability is the reason I’m excluded,’ she said.
“I did everything possible to prove my eligibility to Beijing. I have fought with petitions, submissions & legal action. In the tougher class, I earned podium finishes. I fought by winning a World Title, proving I deserve the opportunity to compete on the world’s biggest stage. Now I’m fighting through speaking out.
“Despite all the obstacles, I dream to compete for @teamusa in Paralympics. I hope that in speaking out, my story can pave the way for an even more inclusive and representative Paralympic Games, & society, moving forward.’
Brenna, in a follow up video, expressed her frustration at being denied entry to the Winter Games. She said: “I am not permitted to compete in Paralympics, because I’m too disabled so that’s really great.
Huckaby has attracted the attention of many other athletes, who showed their support.
Jessie Diggins, an American cross-country skier who won gold at Pyeongchang in 2018, wrote: ‘This isn’t right.’
She said she has ‘fought with petitions, submissions & legal action’ and is now hoping social media attention will make a difference
Volleyball player Katie Holloway Bridge, who won gold at the Tokyo Paralympics, chimed in: Super support this post! Use your voice, use your platform. It is only through bringing the issue to the attention of the media that change can occur. The system we have is still not working and I wish it will soon.
Paralympic skiier Tyler TC Carter added: ‘While we have made progress with the Paralympics there’s still a lot left to do. Bravo!
Amy Purdy from Snowboard, who was awarded bronze and silver at the Paralympics has shared her lengthy support post.
Purdy is in the same class as Huckaby — LL1 (Lower Limb Impairment) — and was disappointed to see it eliminated this year.
“Paralympic Games have provided some of the most memorable moments in my life. It was an honor to have been part of Para Snowboarding’s entry into the 2014 Games. She said that we competed in the sport for many years, even though nobody was paying attention to us.
However, because of a dearth of participants, my class of females LL1 (“Lower Limb Impairment”) has been dropped from the Beijing Paralympic Games. This is deeply disappointing for me as someone who has fought to ensure women participated in the sport.
Amy Purdy from Snowboarding, who was awarded bronze and silver at the Paralympics has shared her lengthy support post.
Purdy was in Huckaby’s same class – LL1 (Lower Limb Impairment) – and was disappointed when it was eliminated. This picture is from a 2013 training session.
‘There are two women in my class who have continued to compete at the highest level, Brenna Huckaby and Cecile Hernandez, who deserve to compete & defend their medals in the upcoming Games,’ she went on.
‘However they currently do not have a competition class,’ she explained, urging IPC officials to grant them the opportunity to compete with LL2 ‘lesser disabled women’.
She said, “This is the way I competed at the 2014 Games (the classes were mixed), it worked wonderfully but has so far been rejected,”
‘I am a huge supporter of the Paralympic movement, inclusion & Women in Sport and believe this ruling needs to be updated in order to promote more representation & participation in the Paralympic Games.’
Kiana Clay, an American snowboarder, saw her event be cut again this year. She is now fighting for inclusion.
Clay competes in the SB-UL — or female snowboarders with an upper-limb impairment — class, which was also cut due to lack of participation.
Kiana Clay from America, a snowboarder, also had her event cut and she is trying to get included
Clay participates in the SBUL – or female snowboarders who have an upper-limb impairment – class. Unfortunately, Clay was not able to compete due to a lack of participation.
She has since started a petition to have her class included.
“I’m proud to say that I’m one of the many Paralympic Games women who have given so much in order to fulfill my dream,” she said.
I believe that we can receive enough attention and support women with all kinds of disabilities so they are able to reverse this decision. Diversity is a key ingredient in ensuring that the next generation will be interested in being a part.
Speaking to Forbes, she added: ‘I’m really just trying to be the voice of adding this new category and creating more opportunities not only for upper-limb women, but adaptive sports in general.
‘I just remember being that little girl with an upper-limb disability wondering if certain things were possible, and I don’t want a little girl watching the Paralympics and not seeing her category represented and making her feel that she doesn’t have a place in this world or have her feel that she’s not capable of doing something because she has an upper-limb disability. That’s kind of my main goal,’ she said.