Jessica Long, Anastasia Pagonis, Gia Pergolini, and Julia Gaffney were barred from the 2024 Paralympic closing ceremony after being admonished for social media behavior earlier in the Games.
“We can confirm that sanctions have been imposed on several athletes due to unacceptable behavior,” a USPOPC spokesperson said in a statement to the Washington Post. “It is important to uphold the standards expected of Team USA athletes, and we remain committed to addressing any actions that undermine our values.”
These disciplinary actions come after Erin Popovich, the Director of U.S. Paralympic swimming, sent an email addressing the social media posts targeting other members of the U.S. Paralympic team. “I want to express my deep disappointment regarding the recent conduct observed on social media, which blatantly disregards the message we previously communicated as the Team USA delegation terms,” Popovich wrote before adding the athletes had been reported to the governing board and that “a disciplinary action will follow shortly.”
While neither the USOPC spokesperson nor Popovich detailed the behavior in question, it is likely related to social media posts where the four swimmers appeared to question the disability classification of their teammate Christie Raleigh Crossley, who has a neurological condition that has been classed as S9. Crossley has been public about dealing with bullying before the Games, including accusations that she is faking her disability.
The 37-year-old Crossley earned five medals at their Paralympic debut in Paris, including gold in the 100 backstroke S9 and 100 butterfly S9. She is classified as an S9 swimmer but raced in the 50 freestyle S10 as there was no S9-only event and won silver. This was one of many instances of swimmers racing up a classification and Crossley was not the only swimmer racing up to medal.
In prelims of the 50 freestyle, Crossley set a world record—her first—in her classification. On a social media post by World Para Swimming celebrating the achievement, Spanish S9 swimmer Sarai Gascon Moreno commented “S9? It’s a joke?”
Long replied to Moreno, writing “I stand with you!”
Long, one of the most decorated Paralympians in history, did not deny responding to Gascon Moreno when asked about it in Paris. “For me, I’ve seen the Paralympic movement for so long, I think we have intentional misrepresentation [rules] for a reason. And I think we are not using it. I think we really should, right?” She continued, “I want to see Paralympics with integrity. I want to see it better. And that’s what I will always stand for.”
These comments are in line with what Long told The Washington Post in an article that appeared at the start of the Games. “I’m just really frustrated because we’re so afraid to call people out almost in that disabled space, where it’s like ‘no, you can’t ask me those types of questions.’ But I think we need to take it up a notch.”
In a separate, now deleted post about Raleigh Crossley, Gaffney wrote “Not a positive impact. Intentional misrepresentation is never cute.” Pagonis replied “this” with a hands-raising emoji and Pergolini echoed the sentiment, commenting “well said.”
Raleigh Crossley responded to the reinvigorated comments about their disability and classification by telling The Washington Post, “I went from enjoying a world record to being utterly devastated that the entire world seems to think I was a cheater and that I was somehow faking the hole in my brain and the cyst in my spinal cord. To be told online by all of these bullies that I am not somehow disabled as I appear, just because I can swim faster than them, it’s pretty devastating.”
The closing ceremony ban may not be the end of the discipline for the four swimmers. The Washington Post reports they could also face suspensions—barring them from competing for the national team—and a loss of stipends.
Why don’t you separate the neurological swimmers from the amputees? It would make an equal playing field. Make another classification field.
Jessica Long has responded to the latest drama on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DAJYDwEp6pR/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
This is interesting. A Christie Crossley from NJ was denied her appeal to become a Fire Fighter in New Jersey in 2018, not because of a physical disability but because of her failed background check. Is this the same Crossley? On first glance, the life details seem to align with those mentioned in various stories about her, but can anyone confirm that it’s the same? https://www.nj.gov/csc/about/meetings/decisions/pdf/2018/6-6-18/B-015%2006-06-18.pdf
This article discusses how she trains with only one arm, yet it would appear that she swims fine with both in competition? https://www.midfloridanewspapers.com/highlands_news-sun/sports/paralympic-swimmer-christie-raleigh-crossley-achieves-longtime-athletic-dream/article_eb9c2234-3942-11ef-9a47-6b361604a156.html
Yes it is, Christie herself addressed it in an old article. This as well as the classification concerns have been voiced for about 2 years now. You can read here: https://swimswam.com/ncaa-d3-national-champion-raleigh-crossley-breaks-american-record-at-us-nationals/
One of her comments, “I appreciate all the concern that is being focused on in regards to incidents in my past. I do not say that in a sarcastic way either. As a mother, I can understand reading horrific things in a person’s past and wanting to know more. This document gives a mere snippet into the events that occured in my life and admittedly stacked up, it can seem quite jarring.
Yes I made some terrible mistakes when I was a adolescent. Yes I made… Read more »
I believe in grace and giving others the benefit of doubt. However, I can say Christie is not to be trusted. She is good with manipulation. She is being deceptive about her impairments. And sadly, there are athletes in the S9 category that have worked hard to get to an elite level only to lose to someone who shouldn’t be on the Para team because she doesn’t have impairments that qualify her for the team. She is making up her symptoms, and it is evident because her medical devices have been added and her medical story changes. Read the comments, physicians who saw her swim in Paris with a brief medical history knew right away she was not being truthful.
Yes, I can confirm it is the same Crossley.
Yes, it is the same Christie Crossley.
Wow!
I agreed with the USOPC and Crossby because she qualified being disabled like a veteran with those same disability..
How dare those Americans criticize another person’s disability when all disabilities had to be proven, even theirs…
Poor sportsmanship to the S9 Spanish seimmer who LOST to the American athlete, and lack of being a American teammate to the others who are not specialists nor professional doctors to diagnose anybody’s conditions…
They were disrespectful and disgruntled too..
Everything has consequences for one’s actions and judgement is upon them for getting involved with jealousy of a poor sportsmanship individual!!!
There is fundamentally a flaw in your logic though. Classification in swimming is extremely easy to game/cheat. Athletes can submit falsified data or doctor shop to find a doctor who is unethical to fill out fake paperwork. The classifiers ask for medical documentation that can be altered. There has been suspicion in the past of certain athletes meeting with only certain doctors to put down what the athlete knew they needed to be classified down. I know of an athlete who went to a doctor to say that their hip dysplasia is worse than it really is in order for them to move down a class in breastroke. Athletes with certain conditions have to submit MRI transcripts, but not the… Read more »
I am a ex Neuro Athlete that has been a victim of Jessica Long and her father and has been for years. When this first started on me I couldn’t understand why it was happening. I was true to my Disability and both her and her father believed I was faking my disability. I’ve had this disability since I was born over 20 years ago. But now I think I have figured it out. I believe it is because of how high profile athlete she is and she was worried about her reputation and still is now. She was at the top of her game for years and when new athletes start coming through and beat her she doesn’t like… Read more »
Can you elaborate on what they did to “victimize” you? This is quite a serious accusation which could have a wide range of interpretations. And given the context in which terms like “bullying” have been misappropriated in the discourse surrounding this story, there is a need for some clarity before you can expect people to accept that accusation without examples.
The bigger question here is why is everyone just believing what this woman says at face value when she most certainly hasn’t earned that trust? Outside the accusations at hand, people NEED to know that Christie is not a nice human. Why is no one looking into her LONG, VARIED history of abuse of others, dating back to her college days? She has a history of attacking people, not just verbally, but also physically, which can be established by her history of arrests, crimes and court-mandated anger-management classes (which obviously weren’t effective). Wanna talk about Safe Sport? She should never have been allowed to be on the pool deck at all with her arrest record! SOMEONE needs to be asking… Read more »
Well said!!! Until someone with authority at the USOPC actually investigates this situation, then she will continue to villainize her teammates, soak up the media coverage and make money all under the guise of “being the victim with a disability.” Has anyone asked the question, do neurological disorders improve? The answer is yes. For example, stroke patients with one sided hemiparesis can make significant improvements after rehab. While the original injury might be real, her so-called symptoms are not consistent. Her inconsistent times, the equipment she says she needs but doesn’t add up should be a red flag to anyone who has minimal medical knowledge. It’s unfortunate. And the other athletes on the team are paying the price.
This issue foregrounds the inconsistency inherent in the Paralympics as an overall event. The Paralympics, as I understand it, is supposed to be equivalent to the Olympics. But what does it mean when swimmers who as able-bodied athletes never came close to qualifying for NCAAs easily qualify for, and win medals at, the Paralympics once disabled? What does it mean when the longevity and competitiveness of Paralympic swimmers routinely outlast those of able-bodied swimmers?
I don’t think the issues you bring up matter.
More people run than swim, it doesn’t make swimming inherently lesser because other sports are more popular.
Intentional misrepresentation does though.
So sad to see the comments. Bullying is unacceptable no matter the case, and the people running this website should make that clear.
No one should have posted a negative comment on CRC’s page. Then again, all of these swimmers were bullied growing up so it’s no surprise to see the bullied turn into the bully.
Jessica Long, with over 30 medals, has a responsibly to protect her teammates, not call them out on social media. Even worse, it shows how broken the American Paralympic swim team is. Everyone seems more concerned about social media than their performances.
Well at least the last sentence you wrote was spot on. Washington Post writes multiple articles about social media drama and zero about swimming performances. The broader coverage beyond NBC’s is pathetic. They are only willing to run contrived sob stories and do no homework on the real issues in the sport or give a damn about the athletic performances.