“Being a Woman in Sports Means Always Having to Work Twice as Hard to Achieve Something”: Voices from Brazilian Female Paralympic Athletes

Abstract

This study focuses on the experiences of female Paralympic athletes in Brazil through the lens of feminist disability studies. It is a qualitative study, grounded in the voices of disabled women, positioning them as the foundation of knowledge within a post-structuralist epistemological framework. The research involved in-depth interviews with four Brazilian Female Paralympians, conducted using a predefined interview guide, and the data were analyzed using thematic content analysis. The athletes were between 25 and 34 years of age and had experience competing in international competitions. From their narratives, two distinct yet interconnected categories emerge: (1) Being a disabled woman and (2) Like sportswomen. Disabled women have shown that they navigate an ableist and sexist society as disabled women within the context of sport; at the same time, they embody an empowered and inspirational identity as sportswomen. By exploring these perspectives, this study highlights the need to challenge and redefine societal perceptions and expectations surrounding disability. It provides insights into the experiences and agency of female Paralympic athletes.

1. Introduction

Studies on disabled women are not new in the field of disabled sports [1]. However, interest in the influence of gender within this context remains limited [2,3]. Practices and initiatives in the field of disability sports are still largely based on research that treats disability as a homogeneous identity, disregarding the specificities of men’s and women’s experiences. As a result, gendered experiences among disabled persons are reduced in sports science to empirical data primarily about male realities, used as if they represented all [1].

Studies in the social sciences recognize both gender and disability as social constructions [4], shaped by culture and reshaped over time [5]. As social constructions, gender and disability are culturally contingent, influenced by beliefs, assigned roles, material conditions, and geographic and social contexts [1]. Thus, the concept of gender as a social construct differs from biological sex, even though they are interrelated. Sex, understood as the biological differences between men and women, plays a role in the cultural and collective construction of gender, which is linked to social roles, practices, and dichotomous values of being male or female, as well as to the diverse gender manifestations currently recognized [1]. In this way, sex and gender shape bodily experience and, consequently, one’s existence.

On the other hand, disability also differs from the concept of impairment [6]. This distinction is central to feminist disability studies, which challenge essentialist views of disability and emphasize its social construction. Disability, as a social narrative, has historically been portrayed—particularly within the medical model of disability—as a limiting and disabling factor for people whose bodies are deemed non-normative [7,8]. Within this narrative, inability is assumed as an inherent feature of disability, causing society to be structured around the ableist concept of body normativity—meaning the valorization of those considered physically able [9,10]. However, recent disability studies have questioned these narratives of inability and inferiority that permeate understandings of disability, challenging the very notion of normality [6,11].

This debate is not limited to academia but is also reflected in and reproduced by social movements advocating for the rights of disabled people [12]. In this sense, power and privilege relations have been increasingly acknowledged and delineated so that the existence of disabled people may be validated through the recognition of their identities [13]. Currently, discussions on disability have repositioned this identity within social discourse. What was once seen as a disabling impairment is now regarded as part of the bodily diversity that constitutes our shared humanity [4]. Inability and inferiority are not inherent to disability but are ableist social constructions, resulting from the adaptation of systems and social structures to meet the needs of body normativity [14]. A key point is the recognition of the diversity and plurality of disabled bodies, moving away from the mistaken notion of a homogeneous identity [15].

This study focuses on these two interconnected, structuring, and delimiting social constructions that shape the realities and perspectives of disabled women in sport. As a complex interaction, the study centers on the social construction and narratives of being a woman in sport in light of the values and practices associated with being disabled. Like tributaries to a powerful river, being a woman and being disabled converge into beliefs and practices that marginalize and subordinate those identified within these categories [3]. Disabled women, identified by their gender, are often positioned as fragile and inferior in the binary comparison with men in sport. By deviating from body normativity due to disability, their gender identity is questioned, as they do not conform to the cultural expectations associated with the female body [1,3] or to the athletic identity, designed for male bodies, with or without impairments [16]. Although it may seem that gender and disability oppressions simply add up—what the literature refers to as “double vulnerability”—this simplistic view prevents a deeper understanding of these women’s realities [3]. The notion of “double vulnerability” can obscure internal differences by treating both disability and womanhood as universal identities, neglecting the influence of class, ethnicity, type of impairment, and sexuality.

Limiting and oppressive narratives about disabled women are reflected in their underrepresentation in sport at various levels. Studies indicate lower participation rates among disabled women in sport compared to disabled men, as well as a lack of representation in research on the subject [2,3]. In high-performance sport, women’s participation has increased over the years in Brazil [17], although structural and cultural challenges persist [2]. The paths into and within sport, which should embrace gender and disability diversity, in fact, reveal uncertain and discriminatory environments in terms of initiation, development, transition, and performance [18]. Disabled girls and women follow trajectories that are defined for and by men. In this setting, their engagement and continuity as athletes are frequently questioned—both due to their gender identity and alleged inability stemming from their disability [19].

The absence of disabled women in leadership roles is also notable, both in the administration of Paralympic sports and in coaching positions [3]. Furthermore, some sports, such as wheelchair rugby, retain women in tokenistic roles within their classification systems, and there are sports, such as blind football, in which women’s teams are completely absent from the Paralympic Games. Gender inequality is still widely accepted as the norm.

As in the international context, studies on Brazilian Paralympic women remain limited and scarce [20], revealing a still unknown territory within Paralympic sport in Brazil. However, disabled women have participated in the Paralympic Games since the first Stoke Mandeville Games in 1948, and their presence has grown progressively over the years [21]. In Brazil, the first Paralympic women competed in the Toronto 1976 Games: Beatriz Siqueira (swimming and boccia) and Maria Alvares (table tennis and athletics) [17].

However, a study by Kirakosyan [22] with Brazilian Paralympic women athletes confirms the issues raised in this field by revealing the oppressive reality they face. In the study, Brazilian athletes reported constant inferiority compared to male athletes, resulting from gender stereotypes that devalue women and the medical model of disability, which positions them as incapable and fragile. As they construct their athletic identities, these women challenge such preconceptions about gender and disability, promoting narratives of independence and empowerment. Gender equity among Brazilian athletes in the Paralympic Games is still not a reality in terms of participation numbers [17] and, especially, in terms of media coverage of those who already compete for Brazil [23]. Additionally, disabled Brazilian women are still rare in leadership roles, whether in administrative positions within Paralympic sports institutions or as coaches in various disciplines.

Indeed, it is not possible to erase the historical devaluation of disabled women within sport. However, understanding the significance of the sporting experience for these women allows for the reshaping of conceptions, the dissemination of new knowledge, and the construction of new narratives. As a result, opportunities and pathways are created for them. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the experiences of Brazilian Paralympic women athletes, seeking to understand how they make sense of their trajectories and identities within high-performance sport. To achieve this, a study was conducted through dialog with Brazilian Paralympic women athletes, exploring their subjective and individual experiences as high-performance athletes. The study is grounded in feminist disability studies, which aim to incorporate disability and gender discussions into a continuous process of re-signifying lived experiences [10,24]. The development of feminist disability studies, born from the collaboration between feminist theory [10] and disability studies [8], has been fundamental in expanding research and its practical applications for historically marginalized and invisible populations. By recovering these voices and challenging misconceptions, feminist disability studies disrupt and transform beliefs about disabled persons.

2. Materials and Methods

The study is grounded in the voices of disabled women, positioning them as the foundation of knowledge within a post-structuralist epistemological framework [25]. This framework recognizes that the realities attributed to disabled individuals are socially constructed and perpetuated through power relations [26]. In conducting the study, we sought to make visible these relations of power, acknowledging oppression while also creating space for the voices of disabled women to emerge as counter-narratives. Adopting a post-structuralist perspective, we aim to critically examine and challenge the structures and beliefs that constrain the lives of disabled women and, in doing so, interrogate the dynamics of dominance and privilege embedded in society [27]. All participants signed an informed consent form, and the study received ethical approval from the Ethics Committee of Universidade Estadual de Campinas.

2.1. Participants

Four Paralympic women athletes participated in this study. They are between 25 and 34 years old and have been engaged as high-performance athletes in official national and international competitions under the Brazilian Paralympic Committee for at least three years. The athletes were selected through a convenience sampling method [28], prioritizing those with a longer competitive trajectory in Paralympic sports—that is, athletes with more years of participation in national and international competitions—and a willingness to share their experiences in Paralympic sports. To ensure confidentiality, pseudonyms were assigned to the participants.

The participants are Ana, Luísa, Maria, and Bia:

• Ana is a 30-year-old woman who began her career in Paralympic sports at the age of 21. She has represented Brazil as a Paralympic table tennis athlete (Sport Class 07). Ana has a physical impairment—hemiplegia on the right side of her body—resulting from a cerebrovascular accident at the age of eight.
• Luísa, also 30 years old, competes in athletics and cross-country skiing. She began her athletics career at the age of 19 and was introduced to winter sports six years later. Luísa represented Brazil in wheelchair racing (Sport Class T54) at the Paralympic Summer Games and in cross-country skiing (Sport Class LW11) at the Paralympic Winter Games. She acquired paraplegia due to a car accident at the age of 15.
• Maria, a 34-year-old woman, had previous experience in sports before acquiring her disability. She started participating in Paralympic sports at the age of 22 after sustaining a spinal cord injury resulting in quadriplegia due to a motorcycle accident. Maria represented Brazil in the Paralympic Summer Games as a swimmer in the S3, SB3, and SM3 sport classes.
• Bia is a 25-year-old woman with a congenital physical impairment affecting her feet (congenital clubfoot) and hands (congenital malformation). Due to medical requirements, her left foot was amputated at the age of five. Although she had extensive experience in physical activity programs and sports during childhood, she only began competing professionally in wheelchair fencing at the age of 21.

2.2. Procedures

Through an open dialog, the Paralympic athletes were individually interviewed by the first author. Through a post-structuralist lens, the dialog aimed to explore beliefs and practices regarding disabled women in sports, while also fostering a closer connection between the Paralympic women and the first author [29]. The interviews followed a semi-structured script with open-ended questions, focusing on the lives, experiences, and perspectives of Paralympic women in sports. The interview script addressed topics such as: What does it mean to be a Paralympic woman? What is the significance of sports in your life? What are your perspectives on sports? The initial questions were complemented by follow-up inquiries to deepen the discussions on key themes. The interview questions were elaborated by the research team and refined during a pilot study conducted with the collaboration of a disabled female athlete who did not participate in the main study. This process allowed adjustments to the script and validated the interview structure.

Although the dialogical approach is grounded in the exchange of experiences among those involved, the interviews were developed by the researcher’s reflective listening. By engaging in critical reflection, the researcher sought to deepen the understanding of core issues, allowing for a more nuanced exploration of the participants’ perspectives and the social constructs that shape their realities in sports.

The average length of each interview was approximately one hour. The interviews were recorded through video calls to ensure accuracy in the transcription and analysis. The participants’ narratives were interpretatively analyzed based on the theoretical framework of feminist disability studies [4,10], which enabled the recognition of dominant representations and discourses about disabled women in Paralympic sports. Initially, all researchers independently analyzed the material, generating preliminary codes and categories. In a subsequent stage, the research team collectively reviewed and discussed the categories until consensus was reached. Recognizing our positionality was essential throughout the analytical process. Reflexivity played a central role as we, as a group of mostly non-disabled women, engaged in critical self-examination [30], interrogating how our identities—both as women in sport and in relation to disability—are shaped by dominant social discourses. In this sense, the analysis was conducted by a team of researchers composed entirely of women, including both non-disabled researchers and one researcher with a non-visible physical disability. For the non-disabled researchers, this meant acknowledging the privileges of not experiencing disability directly while still facing gender-based exclusion in the male-dominated field of sports. For the researcher with a non-visible disability, it involved navigating the tensions between visibility and legitimacy within ableist structures of recognition. This reflexive positioning allowed us to question our assumptions, beliefs, and values, and to approach the participants’ narratives with a commitment to challenging the social constructions that often silence or marginalize disabled women in sport.

3. Results

The life experiences of the four female Paralympic athletes reveal how gender and disability operate as powerful social markers, shaping both their individual trajectories and collective engagement in sport. During the coding stage, several recurrent meanings and expressions were identified across the narratives. For instance, codes such as “the different body,” “dependence on family,” “my body used to be a free body,” “disability as trouble,” and “use of assistive devices” captured how disability often dominated participants’ sense of self. These elements converged in the first overarching category—(1) Being a disabled woman—which encapsulates the ways in which disability was experienced as a central identity marker. This category reflects discursive representations that position disabled within narratives of limitation, dependence, and bodily difference. Conversely, another set of codes, including “when you see me wearing a sports uniform, you see me differently”, “the vision on us changes” and “I expect to show women that they can do it”, highlighted how sport reshapes both self-perception and social recognition. These meanings informed the second category—(2) Like sportswomen—which emphasizes how, through sport, being an active woman through the sport acquires a renewed sense of visibility, strength, and social value. In this space, athletic participation challenges traditional representations of femininity and disability, enabling these women to embody agency, leadership, and empowerment.

All participants shared their experiences as active women within the context of high-performance sport. However, these experiences carry different meanings that converge through multiple perspectives. On one hand, they navigate an ableist and sexist society as disabled women in sport context; on the other, they embody an empowered and inspirational identity as sportswomen. These dual and, at times, conflicting experiences accompany them in the ongoing construction and understanding of themselves as female Paralympic athletes.

• Being a disabled woman in sport

The experiences and perceptions regarding their recognition as disabled women, shed light on the prevailing understanding of disability grounded on the medical model. It portrays their impairment as a condition requiring a cure or remedy [7] and disability as an individual issue that should be denied or treated to regain the previously able-bodied state. Participants discourses fulfilled this medical model understanding. They embrace narratives that have shown how limitations and dependence on others guided their lives.

The different body, that body that was healthy has gone to a body that brings you limitations. You cannot do anything you did before. 

(Ana)

I depended on my parents, nurses, caregivers… for everything, to feed me, brush my teeth, and bathe.

(Maria)

Since acquiring a disability is considered an individual tragedy, from the medical perspective [7], disabled identity is discriminated against. Especially for those women, disability distorts their femaleness image to the extent that it is considered detrimental to the body.

My body used to be a free body. I saw [disability] as trouble in my life, something that happened only to ruin my entire life. I had a prejudice against myself.

(Ana)

I really thought my life was over, I was very young, and I had no contact with an active disabled person like I am today, so the only person in a wheelchair that I knew up until that moment was my grandfather who was super weak, very old and bedridden. He only used a wheelchair inside the house, so that was my image of a person in a wheelchair, like at the end of life like that.

(Maria)

This statement reveals how disability is often perceived in relation to a limited physical state, shaping the way athletes navigate their new realities, often permeated by ableism. Visible disability also brings to constant judgment and stare at, i.e., questioning views above them. Faced with the use of orthoses or wheelchairs by the athlete, the act of staring becomes more intense.

I used a lot of devices, a lot of orthosis. The people were staring at me; they were laughing.

(Ana)

I was ashamed to leave the house, ashamed of how people would see me.

(Luísa)

For a long time, I hid my left hand when I was going to greet people; it was very automatic for me.

(Bia)

Bia affirmed trying to omit her impairment to reduce the strangeness among people and being stared at caused discomfort of being disabled, distancing her from a disabled identity. As the only disabled woman with congenital physical impairment in this study, Bia made her perception of the impairment part of her identity during childhood. However, the constant stares emphasized her difference, leading her to internalize a sense of divergence—an image constructed and reinforced by those around her.

When I was very young, I didn’t look at it (her impairment) as a difference. I only realized this after people started pointing fingers at me.

(Bia)

Her perception of herself changed when she felt belonging to a group of disabled teenagers. Affirming her difference from non-disabled people, she assumed her identity as a disabled person while affirms how the experience of being a disabled woman is not universal but rather mediated by social perceptions and the different types of disability. In this sense, Bia points out another important aspect of life like a disabled woman: the intersection between gender and disability stereotypes. She beliefs that the double vulnerability [31] (being a woman and being disabled) makes her experience even more challenging.

Being a woman is a very complicated thing. Being a person with a disability is a very complicated thing in this country that does everything to marginalize these people. Then you put the two together [laughs], it’s a bit complicated because being a woman already has prejudices because she’s a woman.

(Bia)

By the same token, Maria and Ana highlights how challenging it is to be a woman in society when share discourses full of prejudice and stereotypes embedded in your life. Ana’s account underscored dominant discourses that frame disabled women as unhealthy and potentially asexual.

I think that just being a woman in the sexist world we live in today is already an achievement, so we see women in sports, there are fewer, fewer female athletes, women kind of have to fit into the male standard.

(Maria)

No one wanted to date me. I put it in my head that everyone who wanted to be with me was out of pity, so I ended up saying “well, the girls are beautiful, right, healthy, everything, so they’re going to want to date me just out of pity”.

(Ana)

These insights illustrate the ways they conceptualize their disability and gender at sport, negotiating between personal experiences and broader societal narratives. For this reason, certain stereotype of femaleness regarding attributes linked with body style and body type appeared at narratives to validate an image as a ‘normal’ woman. In this case, Ana pointed out how their image must express bodily social beliefs and values related to femaleness, recognized as an attribute that needs to be performed into stereotypes like feminine fashion.

I always try to empower myself in some way with similar things like style, which I also do, right? I’ve done this for my empowerment. I need to nurture that I am a woman, that I am 30 years old.

(Ana)

In the case of body type, most of the interviewed woman pointed out the female body is as inferior to the male body. The female body is affirmed as fragile and incapable of representing the identity of an athlete, as the male body does. As a result, various obstacles became intertwined with their life experiences, shaping and, at times, constraining the development of their identities as sportswomen. As Ana and Luísa point out,

As a woman, I am more fragile, right? People view us like this, don’t they? If you are going to represent your country, you must be a man who is strong and can beat you head-on. To argue with someone, ‘let him [male athlete] speak first.’ I must be aware of this kind of thing.

(Ana)

They say (society), ‘Ah, muscle is only for men. Women do not serve for high performance’. There is still this prejudice against women in sports.

(Luísa)

Subversiveness was identified as a general characteristic shared in their lives like a disabled woman. Ana recounts how participation in competitive sport was imposed and chosen by man, in position of physical education professionals and coaches. Bia articulated her dissatisfaction, noting that her motivation to engage in sport was rooted in the pursuit of enjoyment rather than a drive for competition. On the other hand, Luísa presents her subordination, showing that her decisions at sports never came from herself but from others around her.

[Ana’s Male Coach]: ‘You have to participate in something [sport]. You have the body structure of an athlete. You must be part of some modality’.

(Ana)

I was angry because I wanted to do training just to have fun. I did not want to be an athlete. I was very angry with this thought. The coach told me, ‘You have a disability, you will do physical activity, and you will go to high performance’.

(Bia)

I always accept invitations from everybody (laughs). They invited me, ‘Ah, I accept!’ even though sometimes I was not so interested, I always ended up accepting it.

(Luísa)

These women have in common a passivity that extends beyond their participation in sports. The competitive path was not a choice, but rather an imposition. Sport as a form of leisure or personal enjoyment was largely absent from their lived experiences. Their voices, desires, and interests were systematically overlooked, reinforcing a model of participation shaped more by external expectations than by individual agency. This lack of autonomy in the decision-making process reflects broader social structures that continue to marginalize disabled women, especially in domains traditionally dominated by able-bodied and male norms.

• Like a sportswoman

By challenging normative conceptions of disability, paralympic sport offered alternative meanings and perceptions of what it means to be both disabled and a woman by our interviewees. Conditions once understood primarily as illness or limitation were re-signified through sport; their bodies, impairments, and capabilities were reimagined beyond the medical model. Within the realm of high-performance sport, these women’s abilities were legitimized, allowing them to recognize themselves as athletes—no longer defined by incapacity, but by strength, discipline, and agency.

Through Paralympic Sports, participants began to accept their impairments as inherent to their identities as one of their characteristics. Which conferred the status of ‘normal’ woman distancing themselves from disabled identity attached to the medical model.

I live my normal life. I walk alone, I do what I want, I think acceptance is exactly that, it’s living normally, really, normal.

(Luísa)

Today, I respect my limitations, but before, I used to judge them as negative.

(Ana)

The participants also described a process of re-signifying the experience of being stared at—originally perceived as a negative response to their impairments and bodies. Over time, this gaze was reinterpreted as a form of recognition, transforming into a positive affirmation of their visibility and value as skilled athletes within the sporting arena.

I truly think that when people are looking at me, it is with admiration that I’m going down a ramp up there in the chair and living normally.

(Luísa)

At times, the admiration directed towards the athletes extends beyond their sporting prowess and highlights the notion of overcoming disability. In this regard, the athletes perceive themselves as socially acknowledged not solely for their disabled identity but for their ability to surpass the limitations imposed by their impairments. Even though this perspective reflects the continued influence of the medical model, perceiving disability as a tragedy to be overcome [8], this narrative works as a driving force for these athletes.

Today, they see me more as an overcoming ‘Ah, if Ana can do it, I can do it too.’ They see me as an incentive, to overcome. Every victory I win, every medal for overcoming, is vibrating.

(Ana)

The narrative of overcoming is also critiqued by one participant, who emphasizes that admiration should not be rooted in notions of overcoming, but rather in genuine recognition and respect.

I think people always end up seeing the good side, not looking at it as “the poor girl”, saying that “example of overcoming” just because she’s in a wheelchair. I don’t think so. I think they end up seeing it more as admiration.

(Maria)

The positive sporting experience further enhances the collective identity of the participants through a sense of belonging, and it does not seem to be influenced by gender.

If you take away sports, I don’t know what I would do with my life because it has always been with me. I feel lost if you take sports away from me. It [sport] was the instrument that made me more comfortable interacting with others.

(Bia)

Since I put on the athlete uniform, I must represent my country. I must show that we are better there.

(Ana)

When I was training with them [the training partners], they did not treat me differently because I am a woman. Not least because today in Brazil, few men overtake me on the track [laughs].

(Luísa)

All participants emphasized the low rates of female participation among both athletes and professionals in the sporting field. This limited presence of women appears to hinder progress in the advocacy and implementation of gender-specific rights and policies.

The girls work so hard, they must push and make things happen to even be considered. Since there are fewer women, they must fight much harder to be seen and get a chance to compete.

(Bia)

I think that stupid comment, “Oh, you’re on your period” shows that they [male coaches] don’t understand women. Because there are days when it’s difficult for us, and they don’t understand how to adapt to feel better, to perform better. I think the challenge is to stop this and think about how to do things differently. With more women, we would have more voices.

(Maria)

The underrepresentation of women at equal levels compared to men instills dissatisfaction among women while motivating them to become inspirational role models and encouraging other people, mainly women, to participate in sports.

I think Brazil should bring more cultural awareness to show girls that they can do it too, that they are capable. I must help other women. I expect to show women that they can do it.

(Ana)

Other athletes began to appear [at sport]. They began to train together with us, to evolve, to have us as a reference for them. So, this was a very good thing for us.

(Luísa)

They see us as an example, an inspiration, a kind of message that it is possible to have a normal life.

(Maria)

As they build strong networks within the sports community, these women are not only breaking barriers for themselves but also paving the way for future generations of female athletes. Their dedication ensures that sports will continue to be a context for empowerment and inclusion. The mission that Luísa and Bia demonstrate is beyond encouraging the female audience. Both are committed to the sports they practice.

I do not want to retire and imagine that the sport can end in Brazil. I want other women coming strong to represent Brazil after me.

(Luísa)

My goal as an athlete is not to focus on myself but to take the sport to other places and make it better known.

(Bia)

The image that works as a mirror for other people, appeared to be such an inspirational way for themselves. In other words, while they polish the image of sporty women to engage others, they strengthen their self-image of a real women in society.

When you see me wearing a sports uniform, you see me differently. The vision on us changes, like ‘Wow, you can do it. Wow! Go and represent us’.

(Ana)

In other words, sport plays a very powerful to empower themselves. As Luísa shared,

I fell in love with the sport because I realized that regardless of my disability, I could be good at something, I could be a successful person, whether I was in a wheelchair or not”.

(Luísa)

4. Discussion

This study aimed to explore the experiences of Brazilian Paralympic women athletes, focusing on how they understand and negotiate their identities and trajectories within high-performance sport. Navigating between identities as disabled women and sportswomen, these four women have constructed themselves as Paralympic athletes. Throughout their sporting trajectories, the women strive to distance themselves from the societal perception of being fragile, inferior, and passive. Consequently, sport serves as a platform to challenge the oppressive stereotypes imposed upon them, demonstrating their strength, capabilities, agility, independence, and, above all, normalcy. In this process, gender plays a significant role, as it disrupts and complicates their recognition as powerful athletes. The disabled female body is often perceived as fragile in comparison to the male body, leading to expectations of passivity and dependence from family members, coaches, and society at large. This understanding, strongly influenced by the medical model and Western ableist culture, constructs disability as a manifestation of disease or limitation [32]. As a result, prevailing discourses and practices surrounding disability emphasize the need for care, reinforcing notions of incapacity and dependence among disabled people [8].

In this study, Paralympic women perceived being born with or acquiring an impairment as a negative aspect. Their perspectives reflected the influence of the medical model, which portrayed impairments as objects of scrutiny. The medical model emphasizes the need for care and for measures to cure or treat impairments to minimize perceived limitations [6]. Consequently, when one athlete remarked, “Suddenly, a body that was healthy became a body that has limitations” (Ana), it highlighted a derogatory self-perception shaped by the medical model.

Moreover, these women incorporated the perceptions of others into their experiences of disability. They expressed frustration with the heightened visibility of their impairments, orthoses, wheelchairs, and other attributes that marked them as incapable women rather than athletes. In some cases, they even attempted to conceal their impairments, as illustrated by participant Bia, who admitted, “for a long time, I hid my left hand when I went to greet people.” Garland-Thompson [33] argues that staring, as an interrogative gesture directed at disabled people, magnifies their extraordinary appearance. When juxtaposed with what is considered ordinary, their differences become accentuated, reinforcing stereotypes [34]. Disabled women face intensified experiences of being stared at, as their identities intersect gender and disability, subjecting them to a double subversion within the sports context [35,36,37].

Bê’s work challenges this perspective and the prevailing tendency to prioritize independence over acknowledging interdependence in the lives of disabled people [38]. Drawing upon feminist disability studies and the experiences of disabled women, Bê [38] redirects the discourse, highlighting the interconnectedness and mutual reliance among people in society. This redefinition contests the dichotomy between dependence, imposed on disabled people, and independence, assumed by those who are non-disabled. By promoting interdependence, the disabled person is liberated from the vulnerable role typically assigned to them, enabling agency within an emancipatory framework in areas such as training, competition, and daily life.

The sports opportunities available to disabled women are contingent upon a complex network of multiple actors [39]. Disabled peers, family members, coaches, therapists, and others form a support network that contributes to the participation and advancement of sportswomen. It is not about dependence; it is about personal and financial support. This evolving narrative constructs a new way to conceptualize the disabled woman as a sportswoman. Based on the social model of disability, change becomes urgent by considering disability a collective issue rather than a personal limitation.

Engaging in sport has provided Paralympic women with a renewed sense of individual and collective identity—representing, for many, a significant turning point in their lives. They have begun to integrate their impairments as part of themselves, gaining autonomy and fostering a sense of capability. This was the case for Bia, who shared, “I had this lack of feeling like I belonged to something. Sport was my tool for interacting with others.” As Apelmo [35] states, “It is not just about meeting other disabled people, but also about gender.” (p. 124). In this way, sport contributes not only to the collective identity of an athlete but also to that of a sportswoman. We reflected on this feeling as a form of “engaged consciousness”—one that fosters a deeper understanding of who they were, who they have become as Paralympians, and who they aspire to be in order to inspire future generations of athletes. This engaged consciousness also represents a significant turning point for our interviewees, marking a moment of reflection and re-signification of their trajectories. Through it, they begin to articulate a deeper understanding of their identities not only as athletes but also as women with lived experiences that challenge normative discourses around disability and performance. Thus, these women began to recognize themselves as empowered individuals, capable of determining and achieving their goals.

With their newfound athletic identities, disabled women attract new attention. Previously, their bodies were viewed negatively—stigmatized as unproductive for not conforming to societal expectations of a “normal body” [33] or an “athletic body.” In this sense, the gaze of others and the act of being stared at transform into a positive experience. The view is now interpreted as a triumph over “adversity.” However, while women reported positive feelings about this admiration, the discourse of overcoming within the Paralympic context presents challenges. Due to the assumption that athletes have overcome their tragedies (i.e., their lives as disabled individuals) by achieving high performance [22,40], they are hailed as heroes, belonging to a category of exceptional individuals with extraordinary characteristics [41,42]. Since heroism is often associated with masculine stereotypes such as power and aggression, the heroine’s role is inconsistent with norms of womanhood based on fragility and passivity—thus rendering the female Paralympian deviant [35].

It is imperative to comprehend the problematic nature of “overcoming” as it pertains to disability, which perpetuates the notion of individual tragedy to be conquered rather than recognizing disability as an inherent aspect of identity. This type of narrative is rooted in the medical model of disability and is reflected in what is commonly referred to as “inspiration porn.” As Grue [43] explains, “Inspiration porn is the representation of disability as a desirable but undesired characteristic, usually by showing impairment as a visually or symbolically distinct biophysical deficit in one person, a deficit that can and must be overcome through the display of physical prowess.” (p. 838). When applied to female Paralympians, such representations often reduce their complex identities to simplistic stories of overcoming, emphasizing physical performance as a means of “transcending” disability. This framing risks erasing the structural barriers they face—particularly those shaped by the intersections of gender and disability. For this reason, our discussion moves beyond mere representation, seeking to critically engage with the implications of such portrayals and to highlight the lived experiences and agency of Paralympic women athletes beyond the limits of inspirational narratives.

Furthermore, portraying disabled women as heroes due to their extraordinary qualities may lead to their disconnection from conventional feminine norms, often associated with beauty and delicacy. This tension is reflected in one participant’s effort to nurture her femininity through engagement with fashion as a way of reclaiming her gender identity. For example, participant Ana consistently attempts to align her gender expression—including clothing choices and body esthetics—with the norms typically expected of a “normal” woman. Butler [44] describes this strategy as gender performativity, that is, the ability to build a certain gender identity based on material attributes.

Aligned with this strategy, Apelmo [35], Kirakosyan [23] and Blinde and McCallister [45] also found other paths for validating women’s identities in sport. In the struggle to defend their own interests, disabled women use strategies to showcase their skills and affirm their position as athletes. Many expressed pride in being compared to male athletes, underscoring how validation in sport is frequently tied to proximity to male standards and recognition. By being included and classified alongside male peers, sportswomen can distance themselves from the stereotype of fragility and vulnerability associated with the disabled female body and instead embrace a sense of belonging to a more ordinary identity [35]. Blinde and McCallister [45] have also identified that such intrinsic feelings play a crucial role in the inclusion and continuation of sports participation among disabled girls and women.

This study has some limitations that should be acknowledged. One limitation concerns the small reach of disabled women, which restricted the breadth of perspectives that could be included. Despite this, the research offers meaningful insights into experiences that remain underexplored. For future studies, it will be important to further expand the voices of disabled women and to recognize the multiple facets of intersectionality that shape their existence. Social change toward equity is only possible when we begin to recognize what still remains invisible. By engaging with a broader range of participants and contexts, future research can further illuminate how gender, disability, and sport interact in complex and diverse ways, strengthening the visibility and agency of disabled women in the sporting world.

5. Conclusions

Based on our findings and the various reflections presented throughout this discussion, it is essential to redefine the roles of disabled women and sportswomen by fostering new cultures and identities [41], while recognizing that these identities coexist and intersect. The struggle for space and equal opportunities in sport is ongoing. However, by embracing new voices and engaging with perspectives rooted in feminist disability studies, we envision a future in which the pride, growing participation, and engagement of disabled women are not merely aspirational but intentionally cultivated—where they are not only present but also recognized and valued as powerful agents of change within the sporting world.