Beatriz Hatz, who was a contestant on the most recent season of “Love Island USA,” may not have won the reality competition show, but she did just bring home a giant W.
The two-time Paralympian, 25, won gold at the USA track and field outdoor national championships in New York City on Thursday for the T64 women’s long jump competition. The title comes just weeks after the show wrapped, with its finale on July 12.
The T64 long jump event is for athletes with movement that’s been “moderately affected” in either one lower leg or the absence of one or both legs below the knee, according to Lexi Global, a platform which explains the rules of para-sports.
While Hatz started out in second place behind long jumper Taleah Williams, she hit her stride by the fifth round, posting a mark of 5.24 meters, according to ESPN. She secured the top spot after the sixth round with a mark of 5.11 meters.
What’s more, Hatz had some extra special fans in attendance. Season 8 cast mates Sean Reifel and Amora Robinson were there to cheer on their fellow islander.
“Shout out Bea,” Reifel said in a video interview following the event. “She’s a monster.
Robinson is also seen in the video, telling Beatriz after the competition, “We’re so proud of you!”
The results are particularly impressive given Hatz’s inability to fully train while in the villa. Hatz was among the original Season 8 cast members. She quickly made a name for herself for her blunt honesty with the other islanders and her jokes about her limb difference. Her time, however, was cut short. By Episode 9, she left the villa after America voted to pair her then-partner Gabriel with new bombshell Jen Terry.
Hatz told TODAY.com in an interview Wednesday that it was impossible to keep up her usual regimen while on the island.
“My training will take three to four hours, maybe, on the track, depending on what we’re doing and how fast or slow we’re going about things,” she said. “But in the villa, it’s like, you’ve 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.”
However, Hatz said that she did what she could.
“I took my blade with me. I actually did some training with my blade on. I know they didn’t show it, but I was training,” she said.
Hatz added that she “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.”
