Terry Hayes

Quick Facts

• Her family includes her Wife Freda Routt, mom, twin sister, older sister and dogs Sandy Fay and Shelly Ray
• Enjoys fencing, shuffleboard, making movies, creating glass mosaics, crafts, dancing and visiting with friends
• Her favorite fencing memory is winning her first NAC medal and the opening ceremony at the World Games in Sharjah
• Something people would be surprised to know about her is that she was selected to carry the Olympic torch for the Olympic Winter Games Salt Lake City 2002
• Before Hayes became a fencer, she was a special education teacher helping preschoolers learn motor skills and independency
• Served in the U.S. military as a heavy equipment operator
• In 2011, she was diagnosed with primary cerebellar degeneration, an incurable but treatable neurological disease
• The nerve cells deteriorated and died in her cerebellum, the area of the brain that controls coordination and balance, resulting in her being paralyzed from the waist down
• After her diagnosis, Hayes went to a sports camp for disabled women and fell in love with sports in her desire to maintain her freedom
• Fencing was a good fit because she could participate in a wheelchair with one arm, since one of her arms is weaker than the other.

Paralympic Experience

• 1-time Paralympian;
• Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020, 7th (Team Epee - Women), 8th (Team Foil - Women), 12th (Individual Sabre B - Women), 14th (Individual Epee B - Women)

World Championships Experience

• Most recent: 2019 – 9th (Team Sabre - Women), 22th (Individual Sabre B - Women), 25th (Individual Foil B - Women), 29th (Individual Epee B - Women)
• Years of participation: Individual Epee B - Women 2019; Individual Foil B - Women 2019; Individual Sabre B - Women 2019; Team Sabre - Women 2019
• Top finish: 9th – 2019 (Team Sabre - Women)