Olympians and Traumatic Brain Injury
By Christina Eichelkraut
When watching Paralympians and Olympians perform majestic athletic achievements it’s easy to assume these athletic demi-gods are immune from injury. It definitely doesn’t make one think of a survivor of brain injury.
Yet nothing is further from the truth. There is a long history of Paralympic and Olympic athletes who are brain injury survivors and thrivers. Some competitors even won their medals in the aftermath of a brain injury.
There is a long history of Paralympic and Olympic athletes who are brain injury survivors and thrivers. Some competitors even won their medals in the aftermath of a brain injury.
Olympians and Traumatic Brain Injury
By Christina Eichelkraut
When watching Paralympians and Olympians perform majestic athletic achievements it’s easy to assume these athletic demi-gods are immune from injury. It definitely doesn’t make one think of a survivor of brain injury.
Yet nothing is further from the truth. There is a long history of Paralympic and Olympic athletes who are brain injury survivors and thrivers. Some competitors even won their medals in the aftermath of a brain injury.
There is a long history of Paralympic and Olympic athletes who are brain injury survivors and thrivers. Some competitors even won their medals in the aftermath of a brain injury.
Not everyone recovering from brain injury is going to go on to be a powerlifter or crash through world records. That doesn’t make their own physical feats of recovery any less extraordinary. Whether it’s standing up and taking a single step or saying a few words out loud for the first time in years, BIAAZ understand the strength, courage and resilience required for each recovery feat a person with a brain injury performs.
Still, there’s a place for inspiration in recovery, too. And who doesn’t get caught up in the excitement, drama, and refreshing spirit of global unity of Paralympic and Olympic games?
In this spirit BIAAZ offers this very short list of three Paralympic and Olympic athletes who are also members of the brain injury community. We’re aware these stories are, in many cases, the exceptions to the hard, proven rules of brain injury recovery. And, these athletes’ outcomes may have been more likely due to financial, emotional and medical support available to the person who survived the injury.
All the same, these three survivors of brain injury are also living, breathing proof that anything is possible. We hope you find encouragement for your own story in theirs – especially if you’re currently training for Run, Walk & Roll 2025!
BMX rider Saya Sakakibara has been doubly touched by brain injury. Saya prepared for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with her brother, Kai. The two siblings are close and Saya relied heavily on Kai for support and guidance when competing.
Then Kai sustained a severe TBI while competing in the World Cup. The injury was severe enough that Kai was put into a medically induced coma. When he awoke, he had to start learning all basic life skills, from talking to walking, all over again.
Saya, meanwhile, went on to compete in Tokyo. But she was a bit lost without her closest friend and BMX training partner. She had a wobbly start in Tokyo and, although she did come back from the shaky beginning to qualify for the finals, a crash during the finals race left her concussed and unable to compete.
A year later, Saya sustained a second concussion that left her contemplating leaving the sport altogether. Then she realized it was her mindset that needed recalibrating. Her body was in great shape, and she was performing well. She seems to have miraculously evaded post concussion syndrome. She wasn’t done yet, and something in her knew that.
Just a few weeks ago, Saya showed the world – and herself – just how far she has come by winning the gold in Paris this year.
And her brother, Kai? He’s training to compete as a rower in the 2028 Paralympic Games.
Soccer Goalie Briana Scurry Few athletes who are survivors of traumatic brain injury are more relatable to members of this community that Brianna Scurry, a successful Olympic soccer athlete. Not because of her athletic achievements, but the battles she fought off the field post-injury.
Scurry had won two Olympics and was a World Cup champion when she sustained a concussion in 2010. Like many people with post-concussion syndrome, she didn’t initially realize how bad the injury was until it became totally debilitating.
Despite relentless, pervasive physical symptoms, Scurry had to fight to see doctors. Then she has to convince doctors she did see to take her symptoms and struggles seriously. All the while, Scurry had to battle insurers for coverage she was entitled to. She had to fight for worker’s compensation. At one point, she was forced to sell her Olympic medals for a meager $18,000 to stave off medical debt. All while dealing with the emotional and psychological toll of having her own physicality, cognition and body feeling foreign and hostile.
Finally, a one-hour outpatient procedure (that took years of battling the insurance company to cover) ended the nonstop headaches she’s suffered from immediately.
As a member of this community, you may not relate to Scurry’s experience winning two Olympic medals. But so many of us – caregivers, too – can relate to her off-field battle to get recognition from medical practitioners, insurers, and administrative agencies.
Scurry didn’t give up, however. And neither should you. She received the help she needed and went on to write a book and have her story featured in a documentary. Remember, BIAAZ is here to help you find the resources you need. We know you deserve a medal for everything you’ve been through.
Paralympian Runner Nate Reich Reich is running specifically to inspire other athletes who are TBI survivors. Reich was struck by a golf ball when he was 10-years-old, an injury that impacted his coordination on the right side of his body.
That did nothing to stop him from becoming a running phenom as a T38 Paralympian competitor.
He went on to become a phenomenal runner, setting two T38 world records, one in the men’s 800-meter and another in 1,500-meter events at the Berlin World Para Athletes Grand Prix in 2018.
The following year, he beat the 1,500-meter record and again in 2021. While he was at it, Reich also set the 5,000-meter world record in 2021.
We can’t say it any better than Reich said it himself to CBS Sports last year:
“For me growing up, I didn’t really see any traumatic brain injury athletes,” Riech told CBC Sports. “I looked up to a lot of big athletes like Kobe, but part of my motivation was that I want to be that athlete that when kids have TBI or have CP [cerebral palsy]. It’s like wow, look what Nate did for his own career. That was my first goal when getting into Paralympic sport, to motivate and inspire the next generation.”
Christina Eichelkraut is a recovering print journalist who founded Christina Copy Co. in 2011. When her keyboard isn’t clacking, she bakes complex artisan bread, nerds out on political science, uses her fountain pens to write to pen pals the world over, and reads long past her bedtime in a joyful disregard of her alleged adulthood. Christina earned her B.A. in Mass Communications with an emphasis in print journalism in 2006 from Franklin Pierce University.
ABOUT BRAIN INJURY ASSOCIATION OF ARIZONA
The Brain Injury Association of Arizona (BIAAZ) is the only statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of adults and children with all types of brain injuries through prevention, advocacy, awareness and education. BIAAZ also houses the Arizona Brain Health Resource Center, a collection of educational information and neuro-specific resources for brain injury survivors, caregivers, family members and professionals.
What began in 1983 as a grassroots effort has grown into a strong statewide presence, providing valuable life-long resources and community support for individuals with all types of brain trauma at no charge.