Deaf-blind US Paralympian withdraws from Tokyo Games after request to bring her mother is denied
CNN
Becca Meyers, a deaf and blind American swimmer, has withdrawn from the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games after she said the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) denied her request to bring her mother to serve as her Personal Care Assistant.
"I've had to make the gut-wrenching decision to withdraw from the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics," Meyers wrote in a statement. "I'm angry, I'm disappointed, but most of all, I'm sad to not be representing my country." Meyers wrote that her mother has acted as her Personal Care Assistant (PCA) at all her international meets since 2017, but due to Covid-19 restrictions the USOPC refused her request for her mother to serve in that capacity in Tokyo. She said that the USOPC is providing a single PCA to assist the 33 American Paralympic swimmers, including nine who are visually impaired.
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