Jessica Long Among Four Paralympians Disciplined for Social Media Disparagement
Jessica Long and three other stars of the U.S. Paralympic swimming program were disciplined for their use of social media during the Paris Paralympics.
Long, Gia Pergolini, Julia Gaffney and Anastasia Pagonis were punished for online comments that appeared to question the disability of teammate Christie Raleigh Crossley during the Games. The discipline was first reported by The Washington Post on Tuesday and confirmed to the outlet by the United States Olympics and Paralympic Committee.
The punishment, handed down by the USOPC’s Rules Application Panel, found them violating conduct requirements to “respect members of Team USA.” The sanction is pending appeal.
Among the penalties was the quartet not being able to attend the Closing Ceremonies at the Stade de France on Sept. 8. The Post report indicates that the swimmers could see stipends withheld and not be able to compete with the national team for a period as well as attend a celebratory trip to Washington D.C. late this year.
All four swimmers either made or responded to comments online about the classification of Raleigh Crossley, an S9 swimmer who was forced to defend the severity of their injuries and their aftereffects. The 37-year-old, swimming in their first Olympics, won two gold and five total medals.
“I immediately got back to the Village and met with athlete safety, in order to protect myself from this ongoing harassment that I’ve been enduring for the past two years, since I’ve entered para swimming,” Raleigh Crossley said during the Games. “So I went from enjoying a world record (set in the morning heats) to being utterly devastated that the entire world seemed to think I was a cheater and that I was somehow faking my hole in my brain and the cyst in my spinal cord.
“What other S9s require usage of catheters and a bowel program? So, 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, it’s pretty devastating, because my family witnesses my disability every day, and what it takes away from us and our family life, what it takes away from me as a human, as a woman.”
Long has been a longtime fixture of the program, swimming at her sixth Paralympics. The S8 swimmer has won 18 Paralympic golds and 31 total medals. Pagonis was gold medalist in Tokyo in the S11 classification but didn’t win a medal in Paris. Pergolini won gold in the S13 100 back and silver in the S13 50 free in Paris. Gaffney swims in the S7 category; she won a bronze in the SM7 200 IM in Paris, her third career bronze.