“Don’t feel bad for me. I can do everything you can do.”
That’s the mindset Paralympian Beatriz Hatz has carried throughout her life—and now she’s bringing it to one of television’s biggest stages as the first disabled contestant on Love Island USA.
Many viewers are meeting Hatz for the first time in the Fiji villa. But the 26-year-old athlete has already represented Team USA at two Paralympic Games and earned a bronze medal in the long jump at the 2024 Paralympics in Paris.
Born with fibular hemimelia, a rare congenital condition that left her without a fibula in her right leg, Hatz underwent a below-knee amputation when she was 10 months old. She grew up playing multiple sports before finding success in track and field, eventually becoming one of the world’s top Paralympic long jumpers.
Before entering the villa, Hatz introduced herself to viewers with the same confidence that has defined her athletic career.
“I am a professional athlete,” she said.
But Hatz’s impact extends beyond competition.
In a 2024 interview with Amplitude, she spoke about her determination to challenge assumptions about disability and reject the pity often directed toward people with disabilities.
“I really don’t like pity and I’ve seen people say, ‘Oh I feel so bad for you.’ Don’t feel bad for me. I can do everything you can do,” Hatz said. “I just like proving them wrong.”
That perspective has also fueled her work as an advocate. In an interview with Interview Magazine, Hatz described approaching children who use prosthetics whenever she sees them in public.
“When I was little, I definitely felt like the only one,” she said. “I love that I can be a help and an advocate.”
For many viewers, Hatz’s appearance on Love Island USA represents something bigger than reality television. While disabled athletes have gained increasing visibility through the Paralympic movement, disability representation in dating and relationship-focused media remains rare.
On Love Island, Hatz isn’t being introduced as an inspirational story. She’s there for the same reason as everyone else: to make connections, find romance, and compete for the show’s $100,000 prize.
For amputees and others in the disability community, that visibility matters.
Seeing an amputee woman enter the villa as a confident competitor, elite athlete, advocate, and potential romantic partner may be just as meaningful as any medal she’s won.
Whether Hatz finds love remains to be seen. But her presence on one of reality television’s biggest platforms is already expanding what representation can look like.
Sources: Today, Peacock, Cosmopolitan, Interview Magazine, Team USA
