[NFBC-SFV] Blind Para Olympic Athlete Won't Have Guidedog

[JOE JR OTOOLE]

Below is an article I received about a visually impaired woman who is a
guide dog user, Kym Crosby, competing in the Parra Olympics.  I don't know
how she is doing, but I thought the article was interesting.

 

Blind Paralympian won't have guide dog. By David Wharton.. The dog is part
of her warmup routine, a ritual that Kym Crosby performs before stretching
and jogging around the track. She sits on the ground and Tron, her big
yellow lab, lays his paws across her legs. They stay like that for a while,
the sprinter and the goofy, energetic animal who knows when to be still. "It
keeps me calm," she says. "In my right mind. Their bond is tight because
Crosby -- a world-class Paralympic athlete -- is legally blind and Tron is
her guide dog. She sees well enough to run on her own, barely making out the
white lane lines, but relies on him in airports and hotels. They navigate
stadiums together, and he waits near the track, often close enough to watch,
while she races. All of which makes things tougher for Crosby as she
competes at the Tokyo Paralympics, which began Tuesday and run through Sept.
5, because coronavirus restrictions and Japanese regulations forced her to
leave Tron at home. "I'm upset," she says by telephone. "But if there are
things I can't control, I try not to be too frustrated about it. This isn't
the first time the 28-year-old Californian has traveled without her dog.
Like other countries, Japan has strict rules about bringing animals -- even
service animals -- into the country. Crosby realized she could not
quarantine Tron while dealing with COVID-19 restrictions for herself. As she
prepares for the 100 and 400 meters, her predicament raises questions about
whether Paralympians are getting the support they need. In a story that made
headlines earlier this summer, deaf-blind swimmer Becca Meyers withdrew from
the competition because the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee refused to
let her mother come along as a Personal Care Assistant, or PCA. The trouble
began when Japanese officials, worried about foreigners spreading the
coronavirus, asked all national Paralympic teams to trim nonessential staff.
Meyers felt it unfair that only one PCA was assigned to 33 American
swimmers. "I'm angry, I'm disappointed, but most of all, I'm sad not to be
representing my country," she said in a statement. Critics point out that,
during the Olympics, the U.S. equestrian team brought a large contingent of
groomers and specialists for the horses. "So, in 2021, why as a disabled
person am I still fighting for my rights? Meyers wrote. "I'm speaking up for
future generations of Paralympic athletes in hope that they never have to
experience the pain I've been through. The USOPC, which added "Paralympic"
to its name two years ago, has issued a statement vowing to "engage with
disability rights advocates and experts in meaningful dialogue about athlete
support" and acknowledging "there is much work to do. Crosby does not equate
her predicament to the one Meyers faced. She will get help from sighted
teammates, coaches and her husband, wheelchair racer Erik Hightower, when he
is not competing. But 38 of the 240 athletes on the U.S. Paralympic team
have visual impairment and she wonders whether more can be done. The
equestrian horses, for example, were allowed to quarantine for a week before
traveling to Japan. An accommodation for guide dogs, she says, "would be
something that would help the athletes tremendously. It might be hard for
people with sight to appreciate the situation. The blind put immense trust
in guide dogs, so many hours spent side by side, navigating tricky
situations. Crossing the street can be a life-or-death situation. "The bond
you have is unlike any other bond you'll have with another animal or even a
human," Crosby says. "You go through happy moments and difficult moments,
the dog licking you in the face, and you know they've got your back. Born
with albinism, which can hamper development of the optic nerve, Crosby had
her first guide dog, Keystone, for nearly a decade. When it came time to
find a new one last winter, she turned to Guide Dogs for the Blind. The
Northern California nonprofit raises and trains dogs through a network of
foster homes, then matches them with clients. Paolo Pompanin, a master guide
dog mobility instructor, says: "It depends on the person's personality a
little bit and their pace. Given that Crosby spends much of her time
churning down the track, it should be no surprise that she walks fast. Tron
fit the bill, spirited and gangly with a natural gait that borders on
galloping. They were introduced at the organization's headquarters where
Pompanin could see that Crosby immediately fell in love, even if the feeling
wasn't entirely mutual. At least not at first. "The person knows they are
getting a dog and they're excited," he says. "The dog finds themselves in a
room with a person they've never met. They're like, what am I here for? The
relationship deepened over two weeks of training that started with basic
handling and shifted to more personalized drills at a nearby track where
Tron sat in the stands as Crosby worked out. "That dog never took his eyes
off her. He was whining, and I thought, oh, you really like her," Pompanin
recalls. "Eventually, he understood that she would come back to him. Now the
reddish-coated dog and the sprinter who often dyes her pale hair in
outlandish colors have a routine. When she trains, he finds a shady spot to
watch. On some days, Crosby's husband finishes his workout early and comes
over to play. "Tron loves Erik so much," she says. "I almost feel like I get
left out of their relationship sometimes. For track meets in other parts of
the country, Tron accompanies Crosby on the plane, laying at her feet,
taking up all the legroom. And those few minutes they spend together before
races? The calming effect of his presence has science behind it -- numerous
studies over the last 20 years have documented that exposure to dogs can
lower heart rate, blood pressure and anxiety in research subjects. When it
comes time for Crosby to warm up, she leaves Tron with a teammate or race
worker. Guide dogs usually don't mind being around strangers because, during
that puppy training, they shift from one volunteer family to another,
acclimating to new faces. Anyway, Crosby says, "he gets spoiled rotten by
everyone. Her condition is such that when she crosses the finish line,
breathing hard, less oxygen goes to the optic nerve and her vision
temporarily worsens. Whoever is minding Tron will sometimes bring him to the
edge of the track so he can lead her away and offer a bit of comfort,
especially after a hard race. "When I finally do get back to him," she says,
"he gets so excited. Crosby insists she won't let his absence affect her
performance in Tokyo. The track has always been a place where her vision
impairment doesn't seem to matter so much. A powerful stride and churning
arms earned her a nickname, "The Flash. Hard work has translated into a
bronze at the 2016 Paralympics and six world championship medals. Now she
has a chance to reach the podium again, especially in the 100 meters, in
which she is ranked third in the world. The toughest competition figures to
come from Spain, Azerbaijan and Brazil. "I try to set things up ahead of
time as best I can," she says of competing without a guide dog. "I focus on
what I have to do. But that doesn't mean Tron is far from her thoughts. The
U.S. team spent a week or so before the Paralympics at a U.S. Air Force base
in Western Tokyo. Though focused on training, she couldn't help checking
with the people taking care of her dog back home. "They raised him as a
puppy," she says. It turns out Tron had spent the day swimming and playing
with other dogs. When Crosby called, he was curled up asleep, snoring. 

 

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