Let's start with the most famous basketball player in the world, Michael Jordan. At 16, he was part of his school's basketball team. He was cut from the team for being too short; at that time, he measured 1.78 m. However, instead of giving up on his dream of playing basketball, Jordan took this defeat as a challenge and kept exercising and preparing.
“Every time I trained and felt tired to the point of wanting to quit, I closed my eyes and saw that list in the locker room without my name on it. That made me want to keep training.”
-Michael Jordan.
Next, we have Bethany Hamilton. The Hawaiian surfer lost her left arm in a shark attack at age 13. Despite this adversity, and even with the trauma from the incident, Hamilton was determined to surf again. Only 9 weeks after the incident, she went back to surfing. She adapted a handmade board that was a bit thicker, making it easier to swim. After learning to swim with one arm, she began to surf perfectly.
“My passion for surfing was greater than my fear of sharks. My passion for surfing was greater than my fear of sharks.”
- Bethany Hamilton.
We continue this video with Lance Armstrong. The American cyclist was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1996 at the age of 25 and was given very few chances of survival. Armstrong chose chemotherapy, and after recovering, returned to cycling and won the Tour de France seven consecutive times, although throughout his career he had some controversies.
“Pain is temporary, it may last a minute, an hour, a day, or a year, but in the end it will pass and something else will take its place. However, if I quit, that pain will be forever.”
- Lance Armstrong.
Next, Jim Abbott. The baseball pitcher was born without his right hand but learned to pitch with his left hand. He was selected in the first round of the MLB draft in 1988 and played in the Major Leagues for 10 years.
“Disability doesn’t define you; how you deal with the challenges the disability presents does.”
- Jim Abbott.
We finish with Michael Phelps: The American Olympic swimmer struggled with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) throughout his life but found swimming as a way to channel his energy and focus on his goals. He won a total of 28 Olympic medals, becoming the most decorated Olympic athlete of all time.
“I want to be able to look back and say: ‘I did everything I could and I succeeded.’”
- Michael Phelps
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