A six-time Paralympic medalist was forced to make the “gut-wrenching” decision to kill her own Olympic dreams.

“I’m angry, I’m disappointed, but most of all, I’m sad to not be representing my country,” Becca Meyers, a deaf-blind swimmer, said in a statement shared on Twitter.

The 26-year-old athlete, who had a chance to medal in four events at the Tokyo Paralympics, sent an email Sunday to the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee informing them that she was withdrawing from Team USA, The Washington Post reported.

In her statement, the disabled athlete said that the USOPC had denied her a “reasonable & essential accommodation” she needed to compete in the Tokyo Games. Meyers explained that the committee repeatedly told her she did not need a “Personal Care Assistant (PCA) ‘who I trust’ because there will be a single PCA on staff that is available to assist me and 33 other Paralympic swimmers, 9 of whom are also visually impaired.”

Meyers said the committee had approved her mother to be her PCA since 2017, but due to Covid-19, there are now “limits of non-essential staff in place.” She added: “Rightfully so, but a trusted PCA is essential for me to compete.”

Rick Adams, chief of sport performance and national governing body services for the USOPC, told Meyers’ father in a June 29 email obtained by the Post that there were no exceptions “to late additions to our delegation list other than the athletes and essential operational personnel.” 

“As I said to you both on the phone and over email, I fully empathize with your concerns and wish we could fine [sic] a way as we have in the past.” 

Yet Meyers’ past experience traveling without her own PCA sounds terrifying.

She told the Post that at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics, she was distraught and stopped eating because she wasn’t able to find the dining hall. Although her parents eventually rescued her — and she went on to win several medals — she swore to herself she’d never put herself in that situation again.

“So, in 2021, why as a disabled person am I still fighting for my rights?” Meyers asked in her statement. “I’m speaking up for future generations of Paralympic athletes in hope that they never have to experience the pain I’ve been through. Enough is enough.”

Meyers told the Post that the committee has had time to fix this problem but has “chosen not to.”

She said she had a meeting with the USOPC in May to address the issue.

“They talked right over me. They dismissed me. They said, ‘This is what we have; you’re going to have to deal with it.’”

In response to her bold and heartbreaking decision, Meyers received a ton of support online.

At a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing Tuesday, Senator Maggie Hassan denounced the committee’s failure to fully accommodate Meyers and other athletes with disabilities.

“This is an outrage and a preventable situation that should never have gotten to this point,” she said, calling on the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee to immediately address the issue and ensure all athletes are able to compete safely and equally. 

“Individuals who experience disabilities should not be forced to navigate the Tokyo Olympics without the support that they need,” the lawmaker said.

Jeff Bezos’ short trip to space inspired as many jokes as there are stars in the universe on Tuesday.

The Amazon founder kind of, sort of blasted into space with his private rocket company, Blue Origin.

He was joined by his brother Mark, aerospace pioneer Wally Funk and 18-year-old Oliver Daemen — but most jokes on Twitter were reserved for the billionaire.

The quips included references to Bezos’ recent divorce, reported treatment of Amazon employees and usage of tax breaks, as well as the rocket’s resemblance to a part of the male anatomy. 

Get sucked into a black hole of hilarity below:

We’ve been given a lot of public health messages over the course of the pandemic, from Boris Johnson’s OG mantra, “Stay Home, Protect The NHS, Save Lives” to its much mocked replacement “Stay Alert”, and perhaps the simplest of them all, as introduced last summer – “Hands, Face, Space”.

That last one morphed into cries of “Hands, Face, Dance” on Sunday night as party-goers flocked back to nightclubs to see in so-called “Freedom Day”.

But despite the easing of almost all remaining Covid-19 restrictions on July 19, there are many people who want – or very much need – to remain cautious.

As Covid cases continue to rise and the government pushes a new message of personal responsibility, England’s deputy chief medical officer, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, had the following advice on Monday.

“I’ll just go back to what I’ve said at this podium more than once,” said Professor Van Tam at the Downing Street press conference.

“The principles of how Covid and how other respiratory viruses spread follow the Japanese three Cs, which the Japanese government have used to advise their citizens from the outset of this pandemic.”

So, what are the Japanese Three Cs?

It’s the health message Japan’s government have been promoting since March 2020, which is to avoid three key overlapping conditions. As Professor Van Tam explained on Monday (and not for the first time), these are:

“C number one: closed settings, where the ventilation is relatively low.

“C number two: crowded settings, where there are a lot of people per square metre.

“C number three: close social contact, if that’s the purpose of why you’re there and particularly if it’s with strangers or people you don’t normally mix with.”

As Professor Van Tam made clear: “Those are the things as scientists we are concerned about, wherever they occur and under whatever circumstances.”

His reminder came amid questions around the Covid safety of nightclubs and the government’s announcement that from September, all people going clubbing or to large events will need to present a vaccine passport, proving they have either been double jabbed or have recently tested negative for Covid 19.

“I don’t think it’s particularly helpful to pick out a particular kind of building or a particular kind of business [that has risk],” Professor Van-Tam said on Monday. “I could create the Japanese three Cs by inviting a load of strangers to a garden shed and sitting around having a beer with the door shut. That would do it.”

So, the message to the public: continue to be cautious in your own interactions to reduce your personal risk of catching – or transmitting – Covid-19. Bearing the Japanese Cs in mind and avoiding situations where they overlap may help.

How Japan will be implementing their own public health guidance at the Tokyo Olympics – set to be attended by thousands of athletes – remains to be seen.