Katie Holloway Bridge has come a long way from trying to hide her prosthetic leg in her 20s as a standout basketball player at California State University, Northridge.
Competing in her fifth Paralympic Games for Team USA in sitting volleyball, Holloway Bridge has done more than just win a medal at every Paralympics at which she has competed. She also has become a powerful advocate for Paralympic athletes.
"Every day I spend a lot of time educating people about my sport and what it is," Holloway Bridge told Harper's Bazaar. "And I ask people to not say Olympics but Paralympics, and truly call me a Paralympian. It's not an insult, it's not lesser than — Paralympics literally means 'parallel to the Olympics.' That's what I am, and I'm proud of it."
At CSUN, Holloway Bridge initially tried to blend in, wearing long socks to hide her prosthetic leg — a result of an amputation before she was 2. She resisted the idea of being perceived as different, wanting to be seen as an equal among her able-bodied peers. In time, her view of what equal looked like would shift.
Her time at CSUN, where she played basketball from 2004-08 and graduated with a degree in sociology, jump-started that transformation. Her coaches, during the recruiting process, promised to treat her no differently than her teammates, a commitment that resonated with her deeply. This environment allowed Holloway Bridge to gradually embrace her disability as part of her identity, not something to conceal.
"Being a college athlete really gave me a foundation of values that I hold today and what I believe has really helped me become a Paralympic gold medalist," Holloway Bridge, the first female amputee to play Division I basketball, said to the NCAA in 2021.
Among these values was the lesson she learned at CSUN: the importance of showing up as her authentic self.
"As an athlete with a disability who was trying to hide it from everyone and try to basically prove myself, I really felt like Northridge was the place where they helped show me that I could be my whole self," she said. "And becoming a Paralympian, I was finally able to do that. I was able to be an athlete and an athlete with a disability, and Northridge started me on that path."
Holloway Bridge embraces her role as a Paralympian, working to change the narrative around athletes with disabilities. She has won four Paralympic medals for Team USA, two of them gold. (Photo by Theo Wargo / Getty Images for Women's Sports Foundation)
This shift in self-perception was accelerated by a chance encounter with members of Team USA's Paralympic volleyball team, who were training at CSUN in 2006. The experience was a turning point, leading Holloway Bridge to become more open about her disability and, ultimately, to join the world of sitting volleyball. Despite initial fears and the challenge of adapting to a new sport, she soon found herself splitting her time between CSUN and Team USA, leading to her debut at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing.
"I started to become more open about sharing my disability. I never took my leg off in front of the girls (before). I actually showed them my leg my senior year," she said. "Almost immediately, that transformation happened where I was actually able to look outside myself and say, 'I am doing something incredible. I don't want to just be forcing everybody to not talk about it and not be open about it.' I did a whole 180."
Holloway Bridge made another amazing 180-degree turn to her life since winning gold with Team USA in Tokyo: motherhood. She gave birth to her daughter, Claire, about 18 months ago. While physically returning from the experience — which included an emergency C-section — was "one of the toughest challenges" she's ever gone through, she said it's been worth it. As a veteran of a team looking to win its third straight gold medal, Holloway Bridge continues to bring a stronger perspective to each Paralympics.
"I've changed a lot. I've grown to love myself more as a person with a disability," Holloway Bridge said to Harper's Bazaar, adding how motherhood has shaped her mindset. "I've also become much more firm in my boundaries. And I've always been very direct, but I've been able to soften, to be way more vulnerable and enjoy everything more."
Holloway Bridge, No. 5, celebrates during Team USA's run to winning the silver medal in Beijing in 2008. It marked her first Paralympics after being introduced to the sport while a basketball player at CSUN. (Photo by Adam Pretty / Getty Images)
