SALINARO Brianna

Classification
K44 (World Taekwondo, 05 Aug 2021)

Origin of Impairment
Congenital (teamusa.org, 10 Mar 2020)

Impairment Details
At around age one she was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, which affects her from the waist down. She had surgery to lengthen both of her Achilles tendons soon after her diagnosis and underwent physical, occupational, and speech therapy while she was growing up. "From the time I gained the ability to walk, my body has been covered in cuts, bruises and scars due to a lack of coordination and balance. [Cerebral palsy] affects people differently. Some people have it one-sided, some have double, but for me it's from the waist down." (teamusa.org, 16 May 2021; USA Taekwondo YouTube channel, 10 Apr 2020; popsugar.com, 05 Mar 2020; massapequaobserver.com, 28 Apr 2017; gofundme.com, 20 Feb 2017)

General
CLASSIFICATION CHALLENGES
She is classified in the K44 category where she competes against athletes with unilateral arm amputations, or whose impairment has affected their ability to lift their heel. "I am fighting amputees or people that have limb deficiency in the upper parts of their body. So I'm facing essentially able-bodied people from the waist down. I fight to where I can score at their weakest point. I can envision the way I want to fight, but because my legs are so tight and the way my brain tells my muscles how to move, it doesn't always click right away. I do have a limited range of motion. People don't realise the major disadvantage that I'm at. They look at me and they're like, 'What? You have a disability? I wouldn't even know'. But I get in the ring and you see it. It's harder to kick, but it's easier to block. So I focus on blocking and moving. It's definitely not fair [when she loses points from falling down], but I'm also the only one competing with cerebral palsy in my weight division [-58kg], so if I want to fight, this is what I have to fight. It's another challenge to overcome, and that definitely motivates me." (teamusa.org, 16 May 2021; USA Taekwondo YouTube channel, 10 Apr 2020; popsugar.com, 05 Mar 2020; paralympic.org, 30 Aug 2018; espn.com, 30 Mar 2018)

PARALYMPIC EXPOSURE
By competing in Para taekwondo's first appearance at the Paralympic Games at the 2020 Games in Tokyo, she hopes to bring greater attention to cerebral palsy. "I think a lot of people that know about the disability think that people who have it can't do much, or are very limited. By going out there and fighting on the world stage with people that don't have the same disability as I do, that shows that people with CP are more capable than [the doubters] think." (teamusa.org, 16 May 2021)

EARLY DAYS
She discovered Para taekwondo online, but was unsure whether her cerebral palsy would allow her to compete. "I quit many times throughout my [able-bodied] taekwondo career because I knew I was different to the other kids and did not perform as well as them. I always fell down and kicked lower than anyone else. It was my senior year of high school. I was so upset one night, and I was just Googling [taekwondo], and came across the Paralympics. On the Team USA website, they have a list of all the sports and I saw taekwondo, but it was only marked for amputees. I reached out to USA Taekwondo, and they were like, 'No, come down to the US Open. We'll check you out and classify you. If you're eligible, we'll put you in the sport'." (DCP Entertainment YouTube channel, 03 Jul 2019; backinthegame.hss.edu, 08 Nov 2017)