Hatz said on TODAY July 20 she first tried track and field in high school after a challenge from a friend.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was like, \u2018You beat me at softball, basketball, I know what I can beat you at \u2014 track and field,\u2019\u201d Beatriz recalled. <\/p>\n
At the time, she was using a walking prosthetic that weighed around five to seven pounds. She agreed to give the sport a chance anyway, motivated in part by the coveted title on the line: \u201cMost Athletic in the Friend Group.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beatriz did far more than win the wager. She began competing in increasingly competitive meets, and eventually, she said, \u201cunknowingly\u201d qualified for the World Para Athletics Junior Championships.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got a call like, \u2018Hey, do you want to represent Team USA?\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cI was 17, and I was like \u2018Oh yeah, sure.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The Colorado-raised athlete made her debut at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games and won bronze in the women\u2019s 200 meter race at the 2024 Paris Paralympics. <\/p>\n
But in June, Beatriz stepped onto a very different stage when she joined Season 8 of \u201cLove Island USA\u201d as a hopeful single. She explored connections with fellow OG islander Sean Reifel <\/a>and Day 2 bombshell Gabriel Vasconcelos<\/a>, and ultimately, made franchise history as the first contestant with a visible, physical disability. <\/p>\n On July 23, just weeks after the show wrapped with its July 12 finale, Beatriz is set to compete in the long jump at the Para National Championships in New York. <\/p>\n Speaking with TODAY.com before her interview with Jenna Bush Hager and Sheinelle Jones, Beatriz opens up about dating with a disability, representing her disability on reality TV and catching up with her fellow islanders after the season finale. Plus, she shares about how she stayed in tip-top shape for her upcoming championship race while in the villa. <\/p>\n This interview has been lightly edited for clarity. <\/p>\n Was there ever a conversation with producers on how your disability would be filmed and spoken about on air \u2014 with close ups or other reveal moments \u2014 that you gave input on? <\/p>\n They gave me free range of like, \u201cOK, we\u2019re willing to do what you\u2019re comfortable with. We don\u2019t want to make it a big deal because we chose you for you and not your leg.\u201d Like, \u201cYour leg has nothing to do with why you\u2019re on the show. We really love you, your personality. We think you\u2019re great. Now, like whatever you want to do, like if you want to walk in and act like it\u2019s not a thing, then do that.\u201d And that\u2019s what I did. <\/p>\n I walked in and I was like, well, I don\u2019t really have to say anything because at the end of the day, with all this small talk, it\u2019s like, \u201cOh, what do you do for work?\u201d And what do I do for work? I\u2019m a professional track and field athlete for the Paralympics. And then it segues into, \u201cOh, I\u2019m missing my leg.\u201d I think they definitely showed my disability in a way of like \u201cshe\u2019s very able to do anything.\u201d<\/p>\n People in the disabled community are often desexualized in the media and popular culture. Do you think your experience on \u201cLove Island\u201d helped challenge that perception?<\/p>\n I think there\u2019s a lot of stereotypes that come with disability. You think of somebody that is most likely older, very dependent on somebody else. Most of the time, not in a relationship, most of the time, probably not attractive. But just my existence does break those stigmas, and I think that\u2019s what the world needs to see is that we\u2019re not what you think we are. We\u2019re just people.<\/p>\n How has the way you talk about your leg in dating situations evolved over the years? Is it something that you approach differently now than you did when you were younger?<\/p>\n Over the years, it\u2019s changed a lot. I was very insecure when I was younger, so I actually didn\u2019t wear shorts in public until I was 17 years old. That was my first time, and now I\u2019m 25, so it\u2019s still not that long ago. <\/p>\n This is probably my third or fourth year with the metal showing on my prosthetics, so it has evolved. When I go to the bar and stuff, and if I\u2019m wearing like pants, it\u2019s not the first thing I say to a guy. \u201cHey, by the way, I\u2019m missing my leg.\u201d Now if a conversation is going well then it\u2019s like, \u201cOh, I\u2019m a Paralympian. I do this and this. I\u2019m an amputee,\u201d just to kind of let them know, yeah, I am an amputee, but also I think everybody\u2019s entitled to their preference. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s something to just like spring on somebody.<\/p>\n You\u2019re competing in the Para National Championships this week. Did you plan your training schedule for the competition in case you were in the villa the full six weeks? <\/p>\n I took my blade with me. I actually did some training with my blade on. I know they didn\u2019t show it, but I was training. <\/p>\n There\u2019s that little grass patch, so there\u2019s the fire pit, and then there\u2019s all that grass. And I just did a bunch of long jump drills, like repetitive takeoffs, a lot of technical work in the blade, and I did like a tendon ligament circuit, just as much stuff as I could do. And anytime I was called to do something, I\u2019d be running across the villa, just because I did kind of feel a little stir crazy. I was like, I can\u2019t do an actual workout so I\u2019m just gonna run around everywhere.<\/p>\n There was no way to fully keep up with the training the way that it should be done, because my training will take three to four hours, maybe on the track, depending on what we\u2019re doing and how fast or slow we\u2019re going about things. But in the villa, it\u2019s like, you\u2019ve got time to do this, and then you got to go back to doing your other things, like having chats. So I had to be very efficient with the work I was doing.<\/p>\n Have you been able to catch up with any of the other islanders now that the show has officially wrapped? <\/p>\n I have been able to catch up with quite a few of the islanders. I think I\u2019m very excited to see where everybody\u2019s career goes. I think everybody\u2019s so deserving of the love that they\u2019re receiving, and I wish everybody was receiving a lot more love. <\/p>\n The internet is a crazy place, and I don\u2019t think anybody truly knows the islanders the way that we do. And I can\u2019t even say that we know each other super well. Yeah, we spent the summer together, but I wasn\u2019t there for the whole time, anyways. But nobody knows you the way your mom knows you, or your sister knows you, or your best friend knows you, right? And I think that\u2019s something that a lot of people on the internet are forgetting. They think they know us because the TV show does an amazing job of making the viewers think they know you, when in reality, we are very much multifaceted people that have feelings, and I think that that\u2019s one thing that\u2019s missing.<\/p>\n![\"Love](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/beatriz-hatz-b7284c.jpg\")
Beatriz Hatz appeared in Season 8 of “Love Island USA.”PEACOCK \/ Ben Symons\/PEACOCK<\/p>\n![\"Para](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/beatriz-hatz-paralympics-me-260721-df2149.jpg\")
Beatriz Hatz celebrates after winning bronze at the women’s long jump T64 of the Paris Paralympic Games.Marcus Hartmann \/ Getty ImagesWas it hard to keep up with your training there, given the schedule of the show? <\/p>\n