By Rory Carroll
LOS ANGELES, Aug 18 (Reuters) - With two years until the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympics, U.S. swimmer Ali Truwit said home support could help the Americans challenge China's long-standing dominance while reshaping public perceptions of disability.
Truwit, who won two silver medals in Paris a year after losing her lower left leg in a shark attack, saw firsthand how French fans lifted local athletes to new heights.
And while China has topped the medal table at every Summer Paralympics since
2004, including in Paris, where the U.S. finished third behind Great Britain, Truwit said competing in California could help challenge that order.
"The excitement around a home Games is going to propel a lot of us to perform at a level higher than maybe we even know we have within us," Truwit told Reuters.
"I am an advocate for the power of support in sport and in life. It's enough to really move the dial."
Competing with heavily state-subsidized global sports programs like China's requires direct investment, and while there has been progress in the U.S. on that front in recent years, 57% of Team USA athletes still earn less than $50,000 annually, with many working multiple jobs to sustain their athletic careers.
Paralympians meanwhile often face larger medical costs outside of their sport and see less prize money relative to Olympians and other professional sports leagues.
To combat this, Truwit's foundation, Stronger Than You Think, is launching a first-of-its-kind Performance Incentive Fund. Debuting at the August 28-30 Para Pan Pacific Championships in Walnut, California, the fund will offer financial rewards to U.S. swimmers who reach the podium, including a $10,000 bonus for breaking a world record.
CHANGING PERCEPTIONS
Truwit, who recently joined the LA28 Athletes' Commission, sees the Games as a vital tool for social change.
"The Paralympics are so powerful as a vehicle to change perception of disability," said Truwit, who now swims faster with one leg than she did as a Division I collegiate athlete with two.
"When you watch the elite athleticism at this level, it massively changes your mind on what you think about when you see someone with a disability."
People with disabilities account for about 15% of the global population, or 1.3 billion people, according to an International Paralympic Committee (IPC) estimate.
IPC President Andrew Parsons said that seeing visually impaired sprinters, wheelchair rugby players or wheelchair basketball players compete at the highest level can help audiences recognize the broader potential of people with disabilities if barriers are removed in education, employment and public life.
"The ultimate message that we want to send is: if you give a person with a disability the opportunity, he or she can do whatever they want to the highest possible level," he said.
With the 2028 Paralympics expected to host a record 4,480 Para athletes across 23 sports, including the debut of para-climbing, the Games will be the world's third-largest sporting event behind the Olympics and FIFA World Cup.
The level of competition is likely to be higher than ever, Truwit said, and she is training up to five hours a day to remain in medal contention.
"LA28 holds massive potential," she said.
"It's a really exciting time to continue growing this movement."
(Reporting by Rory Carroll; Editing by Sonali Paul)
