Hunter Woodhall issues a clarification amid confusion after announcing his goal to transform accessibility to the sport

Hunter Woodhall issued a clarification about a confusion that erupted among fans after he announced his progress in his goal to make running accessible to everyone. The Paralympic gold medalist revealed that a bill had been passed in Arkansas that forces insurance to cover secondary prosthetics.

The American athlete expressed his elation at putting his first foot forward towards progress and shared how many other states will be following Arkansas in working towards the same goal. He made this announcement and spoke about his goal on Instagram threads. One point in his post stood out and created confusion among fans.

"Going to make running accessible for everyone! Running is a privilege, not a right!" read an excerpt from his post

Hunter Woodhall shares a message | Threads@Hunterwoodhall

However, many fans pointed it out in the comments, and Woodhall agreed to a fan's comment who shared that it was actually 'Running is a right, not a privilege. However, after thinking about it for over two days, Woodhall shared that running is a privilege for disabled people who don't have access to prosthetics or people who are not healthy enough to run.

Hunter Woodhall shared that he wanted to extend this privilege to as many people as possible by creating an office that would make prosthetic legs.

"In my last post, I said “running is a privilege, not a right”. A few people corrected me to say “running is a right, not a privilege. After thinking about it, I wrote what I meant. Running is a privilege; not everyone has a healthy body to run. Not everyone has access to prosthetics or options to run. If you have the ability to run, it’s a privilege. We’re making an office to make running legs so we can extend the privilege to as many people as possible," he clarified.

Hunter Woodhall issues a clarification | Thread@HunterWoodhall

---

Hunter Woodhall opens up about the hardships of being a para-athlete

Hunter Woodhall at the USA House at Paralympics Paris 2024 - Source: Getty

Hunter Woodhall spoke about the hardships of being a para athlete in an interview with Travel and Leisure. The American athlete revealed that he has faced struggles with prosthetic tools multiple times and travels to his competitions with a certain set of tools.

Woodhall shared that his tools included his track spikes, running prosthetics, and bolts.

"I also always have problems with prosthetic tools. I have to travel with a certain set of tools in case anything goes wrong, especially with my running prosthetics, bolts, or track spikes. I follow the rules — for instance, I only carry a wrench that’s a certain length. But they give me the hardest time and have probably taken my tools a dozen times," he said. (as quoted by travelandleisure)

Moreover, Woodhall shared that often times while traveling in a plane, he has to remove his prosthetic legs and keep them under the seat to become comfortable.