After Overcoming Another Obstacle Before Trials, Kate Brim Is Set To Make Her Paralympic Debut

The fact that Kate Brim is participating in the Paralympic Games Paris 2024 is a testament to her hard work and dedication she’s showcased throughout her Para-cycling career.

However, the 26-year-old from Lowell, Michigan, needed a bit of good fortune in order to even compete at the PossAbilities U.S. Paralympics Cycling Time Trial in Loma Linda, California, in early July.

That is because her bike had a huge crack in the back of it and nearly derailed her from the trials. She spent several weeks looking for a fix that would allow her to compete for a shot at Paris.

“There were a couple points where we didn’t know if I was going to be able to race at the trials,” Brim said.

She did race and easily won the women’s H2 class, finishing in 27 minutes, 6.97 seconds, more than 2 minutes ahead of runner-up Jenna Rollman. Now she has a shot at a Paralympic gold medal after winning a pair at the 2022 world championships (time trial and road race) in Quebec City, Quebec.

Brim, one of a record eight women from the U.S. set to compete at the Paralympics, also has more time to get her bike in better condition.

“We have a little bit of time and just some (financial) numbers that we’re trying to shuffle around and stuff,” Brim said. “So, it’s just continuing to get that. I will be ready race day and that’s what matters most to me.”

The bike has just been one obstacle Brim has had to deal with in the past 15 months. First came a one-year suspension for a banned substance from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency after the World Anti-Doping Agency denied her a retroactive therapeutic use exemption. The positive test for Humalog, a fast-acting insulin to treat diabetes, came less than three weeks after she had been put into the testing pool and before she applied for a therapeutic use exemption. While USADA defended Brim’s position, it had to abide by WADA’s denial. Brim later applied for and was approved for a therapeutic use exemption.

The second came last fall just prior to the 2023 Parapan American Games in Santiago, Chile. During a training ride, she sustained a significant elbow injury “that created quite the recovery process for me,” Brim said. Still, she won gold in the H1-5 individual time trial and silver in the H2-5 road race.

“It’s added a bit of stress to the getting ready for the Games,” Brim said. “In a picture-perfect world, all of us athletes want to be able to just get on the bike day in and day out and do our prescribed programs and be able to show up on race day where we’re ready to perform. But we all overcome these challenges and stuff. Both the injury, the health and stuff. So, for me, just between the elbow, managing my spinal cord injury, managing my Type 1 diabetes through it all it’s made things interesting. But I’ve gotten here to this stage, thankfully with the help of the team around me that has allowed me to be able to put on my best.”

That made the phone call she got the night after her win at the time trials in Loma Linda even more special.

“We were actually driving when the call came through,” Brim said of being notified she had been picked for Paris. “My mom like ripped it over to the side of the road. I answered the call and I was very honored. All of us were a little teary in the moment and stuff. I’m so happy that it’s here. I’m very excited to be able to bring it to the big stage as far as my whole mission. I’m even showing both myself and others what is possible. That’s been my whole drive behind racing.”

That motivation has been at the forefront since she had complications from surgery as a 19-year-old and developed a spinal cord injury. She slowly lost strength and function, but never desire. That is what earned her a trip to Paris, where she is going to soak in as much culturally as she is from her fellow Paralympians while being a medal favorite in the time trial and road race.

“I think just being around the environment of every single one of us are here to show the world what our best looks like and what the best can look like. I’m really looking forward to that,” Brim said. “My whole drive around racing has been showing both myself and others what is possible despite unfortunate circumstances and being able to showcase that. Every single one of us will be in that space doing exactly that.”

Steve Drumwright is a journalist based in Murrieta, California. He is a freelance contributor to USParaCycling.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.