Love Island USA S8: Beatriz Hatz makes history

Professional Athlete Beatriz Hatz joined the cast of Love Island USA, and she might be one of the most impressive contestants in the show’s history. We’ll meet Beatriz when she heats the Villa this week, but here are all the incredible details about her backstory to give you a head start.

Beatriz is a track & field athlete with major accolades. She made her debut in the Tokyo Paralympic Games in 2020, before heading to the Paris Paralympic Games in 2024 and winning bronze in the long jump.

Her Team USA bio explained that Beatriz was “born without a fibula in her right leg, which resulted in the limb being amputated below the knee,” and in her Love Island USA intro video, she explained, “I was amputated at 10 months old”.

Tell me I can’t do something, I’m gonna do it better than you. My whole life has been ‘you can’t, you can’t, you can’t.’ Now it’s ‘watch me win a fucking medal.’ And I did.” According to her Team USA bio, Beatriz’s parents are named Beatriz and John Hatz, and she has two brothers named John and Ryan.

Beatriz is extremely tight with them and told Interview that having her family there for the Paris Olympics was amazing, saying, “I’m excited this time around to have my family, my mom and dad, and my brothers there. That’s a huge deal for me because they missed my first Paralympic Games.”

She reflected on her standout moment earlier in her career, and noted, “I look over in the stands, and I see my dad crying because he was so proud, and I have never seen this man cry. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I have made my dad so proud,’ and I can hope I can do that at a bigger stage. That was really special.”

She also said, “I got bullied growing up, and I know what that’s like for other kids. And out in public, I’ll see a little kid who’s got a prosthetic, and I’ll immediately walk over, even if I’m wearing pants, and say, ‘Hey, you’re just like me.

She continued, “Look, I have one, too.’ And their parents always tell me, ‘Thank you for that. They always feel like the only ones.’ When I was little, I definitely felt like the only one. I love that I can be a help and an advocate, even for people who are able-bodied. For example, when my cousin was 9, she had a project to make flags with some other kids for their little fun run, and their flags would represent something that they came from. So kids did Germany, or Britain, or whatever, and my little cousin, without anybody, did the Paralympics logo.

All the kids were so confused. She had asked me to come to her run, and I saw her little flag for the first time and started crying. So you see the effect that you can have on everybody, and I hope I can continue to do that.”