BUY THIS PRODUCTS FROM AMAZON.COM HERE
ANDIEZ Classic Racing Television Poster
✅ Printed in the USA
✅ High-quality
✅ Order at amazon.com
ANDIEZ Classic Racing Television Poster
Females with upper-limb disabilities aren’t currently allowed to compete in snowboarding events at the 2022 Winter Paralympics in Beijing. The Colorado athlete started a petition to change that.
Morgan Tilton • March 10, 2021
In 2017, Kiana Clay’s world fell apart. At the time, she was living in Texas, launching a photography business. “In a three-month span, my parents divorced, my fiancé and I broke up, all my camera equipment was stolen, and I wrecked my truck,” she says. “I was homeless and depressed.” ANDIEZ Classic Racing Television Poster
In the year prior, Clay, who has complete paralysis in her upper right arm, traveled to Copper Mountain to try out snowboarding at Adaptive Action Sports (AAS). There she had met three-time Paralympic medalist Amy Purdy and her husband Daniel Gale. “Amy and Daniel told me, ‘You could be the first female with an upper-limb disability to represent the United States in this category and make this pathway for future athletes,’” says Clay. With little else going her way, she decided to return to AAS, take them up on that offer, and throw herself into snowboarding full-time.
Four years later, Clay has proven capable of completing the vision Purdy and Gale laid out in her first visit to AAS. She is even trying to make it happen sooner than originally planned. While females with upper-limb disabilities will be allowed to compete in the 2026 Winter Paralympics, they are not currently permitted to take part in the 2022 version of the event. She launched a petition this week, though, asking the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) to reconsider that decision.
Clay grew up in San Diego, California, where she and her parents dabbled in snowboarding at Big Bear Mountain Resort in the San Bernardino Mountains. Her childhood dream, though, was to be a professional motocross rider. She wanted to compete at the AMA/WMA Women’s National Motocross Championship, the world’s largest women’s motocross event.
But during a muddy motocross competition at the Freestone Raceway in Wortham, Texas, Clay’s back tire slid out as she landed a jump. A rider behind her landed on her neck, knocking her unconscious for several minutes. The then 12-year-old survived but she was diagnosed with a brachial plexus injury: the nerves connecting her spinal cord to her shoulder, arm, and hand were torn. Clay had complete paralysis of her dominant right arm. A month later, a drunk driver hit her dad’s truck while she was riding with him, cementing her arm’s disability.
Visit our Social Network: Pinterest, Blogger, and see more at our collection.
