Katherine Beattie has been actively involved in action sports such as WCMX and skateboarding for a few years now. Through WCMX, Katherine has experienced how it feels like to traverse in the air by doing backflips. Although there is much trial and error, the end result of achieving a backflip is a satisfying outcome like none other.
Watch this video to see Katherine’s attempts at learning a backflip – and of course, her incredible result:
Born with spastic cerebral palsy, she has found a double function for her wheelchair – a vehicle for mobility and for sport. Katherine has participated in several contests and world championships in both sports with Life Rolls On and Rise AdaptiveSports, even coming in as the highest ranking woman in the latter’s world championships last year, achieving an overall 8th place.
While WCMX is still a relatively young sport, it is an expanding one, finding ground in other countries such as Brazil, Australia, and Western Europe. Katherine hopes to see WCMX gain international status, and become an actual event in the Paralympics someday. An even greater objective for Katherine is to increase women’s participation in WCMX. She realizes that people are interested in finding out about the sport, and acknowledges the benefits of social media in helping to spread the word.
“I’ve connected with many of the future female competitors through Instagram and, in addition, when I ride around in a WCMX chair, it catches lots of attention and people ask about the sport before I have a chance to bring it up myself.”
However, the power of WCMX also extends beyond the scope of competitions, as Katherine has found that the skills developed from this sport benefits one’s ability to control his or her chair in daily life. The safety and protective gear afforded in skate parks enables one to build confidence in trying out different skills that can be incorporated into their lives. Katherine is now better prepared to navigate difficult terrain. “None of it is a problem when you have WCMX skills to fall back on,” Katherine explains.
If you are interested in bringing out the inner daredevil in you, or simply to learn some new chair skills, why not give extreme wheelchair sports a go?