Upper Arlington’s Blake Haxton hopes to change perception of Paralympians

COLUMBUS, Ohio ( WCMH ) — As the competition at the Paralympics concludes, the athletes are hoping to change the way the public sees them on the world stage. And that includes an Upper Arlington native who hopes to do more than win a medal in Paris.

The Paralympics, meant to literally be “parallel” to the Olympics, are at a pivotal point in the history of the movement that dates back to 1948. While both events are bouncing back from the COVID-era which had no spectators, Paralympic athletes like Blake Haxton are still trying to get the same respect that their Olympic counterparts get every four years.

“This is my tenth year on a national team and I’ve noticed things have changed a lot since I started,” Haxton said.

Haxton remembers what it was like when he made his first Paralympic team for the Rio Games in 2016.

“I would get Special Olympian, more than I got Paralympian or Olympian,” Haxton said. “Which 99 percent of that is people just not knowing the vocabulary and knowing what to say.”

Now you can say he’s a Paralympic medalist after the para canoe athlete won silver in Tokyo three years ago. But Haxton understands if this is the first time you’ve ever heard of him.

“I think by the end of the summer, people have had two weeks of tuning into sports that they watch once every four years. They get to see someone win a gold medal every night and then it’s football season,” Haxton said. “And I’m guilty of that for sure. Speaking from my own experience, that’s how it feels.”

The Upper Arlington native and Ohio State graduate hopes that perception changes and general awareness grows this weekend as he competes in his third Paralympics . Haxton placed second in his heat of the men’s Va’a canoe single 200m – VL2 competition on Friday and will race in the semifinals of the event on Sunday, the final day of the Paris Games. The final will take place less than an hour and a half after his semifinal heat.

“There are a lot of people that are going to watch the Paralympics this year that don’t have a disability yet but will. Sadly that’s how life goes,” Haxton said. “And that’s a big part of the Paralympics is understanding how you’re going to compete and where you might have the best chance. So hopefully that puts a goal out in front of people.”

And more broadly, Haxton wants people to know that he’s just like everyone else, even if he looks a bit different. The double amputee lost his legs following medical complications from a flesh-eating disease when he was a senior in high school. And while that’s certainly part of his story, Hax

“I feel like the closer people get to me and understanding, maybe the less remarkable things are, if that makes sense,” Haxton said. “The more normal it gets.”

No matter what happens on Sunday, Haxton aims to continue competing with sights set on a home Paralympics in Los Angeles in 2028.

“Anytime you get to represent Team USA, it just never gets old. It never loses its luster,” Haxton said. “Every time you get to put on red, white and blue, who remember why there’s a red, white and blue to represent.”

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