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For more than three decades, Hank Aaron has been best known for hitting more home runs than any other baseball player in history. However, the baseball icon also spoke out against pervasive racism in major league baseball and broke racial barriers throughout his career. Despite hate mail, death threats against him and a plan to kidnap one of his daughters, Aaron broke Babe Ruth's homerun record on April 8, 1974 when he hit his 715th homerun. At the end of his career, "Hammerin' Hank" Aaron had a total of 755 homeruns. Aaron set twelve other major league records by his retirement from the playing field in 1976 and won three Gold Glove Awards. He became one of the first blacks in Major League Baseball upper-level management when Braves owner Ted Turner appointed him vice president of player development. On August 1, 1982, Hank Aaron was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame receiving 97.8 percent of the ballots cast. Aaron is a longtime supporter of civil rights organizations such as the NAACP. He co-founded with his wife, educator Billye, the Hank Aaron Chasing the Dream Foundation to help children develop their potential.

Henry Louis Aaron was one of eight children born to Herbert and Estella Aaron in a poor black community in Mobile. When Aaron was eight, his father, a dry dock boilermaker's assistant and tavern owner, built a home for his family in the Toulminvile community. At 14, Aaron made the decision to be a major league baseball player after hearing a speech by his hero Jackie Robinson, the African American player who integrated the major leagues. Young Aaron played for the semi-pro team the Black Bears while still in high school. At 18, he was playing for the Indianopolis Clowns, one of the last of the teams in the Negro Baseball League. He joined the Boston Braves in 1952, and played in his first major league game with the Milwaukee Braves in 1954.

In 2002, President George W. Bush awarded Aaron the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his philanthropy and humanitarian endeavors. The NAACP Legal Defense Fund awarded him the Thurgood Marshall Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005; the organization also established the Hank Aaron Humanitarian in Sports Award.

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International Civil Rights: Walk of Fame - Henry Aaron

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For more than three decades, Hank Aaron has been best known for hitting more home runs than any other baseball player in history. However, the baseball icon also spoke out against pervasive racism in major league baseball and broke racial barriers throughout his career.

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Baseball legend Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s hallowed mark of 714 home runs and finished his career with numerous big league records.

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Hank Aaron's consistent excellence on the field was overshadowed by the dignity and grace he exemplified throughout his career.

About Hank Aaron

Boxing legend Muhammad Ali once called Hank Aaron "The only man I idolize more than myself. " For many, Aaron was everything an athlete - and a human being - should be. Aaron grew up in humble surroundings in Mobile, Ala. He passed through the sandlots with brief stops in the Negro Leagues and the minor leagues before he settled in with the Braves, where he ultimately became one of baseball's most iconic figures. He was a consistent producer both at the plate and in the field, reaching the .300 mark in batting 14 times, 30 home runs 15 times, 90 RBI 16 times and captured three Gold Glove Awards en-route to 25 All-Star Game selections. Nineteen fifty-seven was arguably Aaron's best season. He hit .322 that year with 44 home runs and 132 RBI, captured the National League MVP Award and led the Braves to their first World Series Championship since 1914. Despite his consistent production, it wasn't until 1973 that Aaron was thrust into the national spotlight as he neared the finish of a successful assault on one of sport's most cherished records: Babe Ruth's mark of 714 home runs. It was on April 8, 1974, that Hammerin' Hank sent a 1-0 pitch from Dodgers hurler Al Downing into the left field bullpen at Atlanta-Fulton Count Stadium, giving Aaron 715 career home runs. He would finish his career with 755. Aaron remains baseball's all-time leader in RBI (2,297) and total bases (6,856). If each of his 755 home runs were removed from his statistical record, Aaron would still have 3,016 hits. It was shortly after Hank Aaron's record-breaking home run that Georgia congressman Andrew Young declared: "Through his long career, Hank Aaron has been a model of humility, dignity, and quiet competence. He did not seek the adoration that is accorded to other national athletic heroes, yet he has now earned it." Aaron was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1982. He passed away on Jan. 22, 2021.

Hank Aaron Stories

Explore the archives and go deep into the lives, careers, and stories of the Hall of Fame's honorees.

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Boxing legend Muhammad Ali once called Hank Aaron "The only man I idolize more than myself. " For many, Aaron was everything an athlete - and a human being - should be. Aaron grew up in humble surroundings in Mobile, Ala.

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Guest presenter Brig Owens, former defensive captain of the Washington Redskins, discusses a 2010 painting of Hank Aaron by Ross Rossin. "Hammering" Hank Aaron was one of the greatest players in major league history. He was scouted at sixteen and played Negro League baseball before signing with the Milwaukee (later, Atlanta) Braves, for whom he debuted in 1954.

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Video: Hank Aaron - Baseball Player & Civil Rights Activist - Mini Bio

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Video: Hank Aaron - Baseball Player & Civil Rights Activist - Mini Bio

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Hank Aaron - Baseball Player & Civil Rights Activist | Mini Bio | BIO

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Born into humble circumstances in Mobile, Alabama, Hank Aaron ascended the ranks of the Negro Leagues to become a Major League Baseball icon. He spent most of his 23 seasons as an outfielder for the Milwaukee and Atlanta Braves, during which time he set many records, including a career total of 755 home runs.

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Roberto Clemente | Primary Source

In November 1960, Roberto Clemente was more than disappointed after finishing only eighth among National League players in the Baseball Writers Association's Most

Valuable Player balloting.

Six long years would pass before Clemente's excellence was finally recognized. He batted over .300 year after year, but MVP honors eluded him. In 1966, though the Pirates were edged out of the playoffs, he hit .317 with 29 home runs and 119 runs batted in.

Clemente is most valuable player
By Joseph Durso, New York Times, November 17, 1966

Pittsburgh Star Outpolls Koufax
Gets 218 Points to 208 in Baseball Writers' Vote of National Leaguers

Roberto Clemente of the Pittsburgh Pirates was elected the most valuable player in the National League yesterday, eclipsing Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers in a photo finish.

The 32-year-old outfielder from Puerto Rico won his first such award in 12 baseball seasons, after hitting .317 with 29 home runs and 119 runs batted in. He received one less first-place vote than Koufax, who pitched the Dodgers to the pennant with 27 victories.

He received eight, Koufax nine. But Koufax was shut out completely on one ballot, getting no votes even for 10th place, and Clemente outpolled him, 218 to 208.

Both finished far ahead of their nearest pursuers - Willie Mays of the San Francisco Giants, Richie Allen of the Philadelphia Phillies, Felipe Alou of the Atlanta Braves, Juan Marichal of the Giants, Phil Regan of the Dodgers, Henry Aaron of the Braves, Matty Alou of the Pirates and Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds....

Mainstay for Pirates
Clemente's hitting helped keep the Pirates in the pennant race until the next-to-last day, when they faded to third. He emerged as a power hitter, with 11 triples and 31 doubles in addition to his 29 home runs, and he exceeded .300 for the seventh straight time. He finished fourth in batting in the league, 10th in home runs and second in runs batted in.

"It's the highest honor a player can hope for," Clemente said yesterday at his farm in Rio Piedras, P. R. "Of course, it could have gone to Sandy Koufax, but I had the best season of my career and I was confident the sports writers would vote for me. I am thankful they did."

Clemente Joins Select Group, Wins MVP
13th Time Tan Ace Honored Since 49
The New Pittsburgh Courier, November 26, 1966

PITTSBURGH, PA. - Roberto Clemente, the fiery and exciting right fielder of the Pittsburgh Pirates, joined a National League group of illustrious performers last week when he was named the Most Valuable Player for 1966.

For Clemente, a player who has won the National League batting championship three times, the award was the highlight of a sparkling career that has covered 12 glorious seasons.

In winning the award, Clemente thus becomes the 13th tan winner of the crown since Jackie Robinson first broke the MVP barricade back in 1949. Since that time nine tan stars, counting Clemente, have walked off with the crown...

For Clemente, one of the great stars in the National League and perhaps the greatest Pirate outfielder of all time, the award was a long time coming. Time after time the Clemente has been on the threshold of grabbing the title only to be sidetracked.

This year he wouldn't be denied. While he gave up the batting crown he had held for the past two seasons to teammate, Matty Alou, Roberto still had the top season of his career.

During a year in which the Pirates were in the thick of the pennant race until the end of the campaign, Clemente was superb. He drove in more runs (119) and his more homers (29) than any other single season in his career. He also finished the season with a robust .317 batting average.

For Clemente, this year's award somewhat justified his disappointment in not winning in 1960, when former teammate Dick Groat was handed the Toga. That was the year in which the Bucs won the world championship and Clemente performed superbly. He has always felt he deserved the MVPthat year.

"This is a big moment for me," Clemente said upon learning he has won the award from his home in Puerto Rico. "I am very happy. The only thing I would trade this for is a pennant."

Clemente's climb to the very top of the baseball ladder could be only a prelude of things to come. Still young, he's 32, Clemente has shown no signs of slacking off from the terrific pace he has set over the last seven years.

During that span he has averaged .322 and led the National League in hitting three times. No player in the game has done better...

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Roberto Clemente: MVP | American Experience | PBS

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Roberto Clemente | Primary Source In November 1960, Roberto Clemente was more than disappointed after finishing only eighth among National League players in the Baseball Writers Association's Most Valuable Player balloting. Six long years would pass before Clemente's excellence was finally recognized. He batted over .300 year after year, but MVP honors eluded him.

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Roberto Clemente: Baseball Great and Humanitarian

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Roberto Clemente: Baseball Great and Humanitarian

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On and off the playing field, American athletes have broken records for themselves and social barriers for us all. This exhibition focused on exceptional athletes and remarkable events. But more importantly, it showed how sportsmen and women have helped shatter cultural and political barriers for all Americans. Portraying athletes from more than a dozen sports, the exhibition also explored issues such as the emergence of sports celebrities and superstars, nationalism, perceptions about human physical limitations and handicaps, and technological breakthroughs that enhance athletic performance.

The website for this exhibition was retired in 2023 due to incompatibility with current web standards. A view of the previous home page can be seen below.

Browse items relating to sports in our collection search.

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This exhibition focuses on exceptional athletes and remarkable events.

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Gertrude Ederle: First Woman to Swim the English Channel

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Gertrude Ederle: First Woman to Swim the English Channel

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This exhibition focuses on exceptional athletes and remarkable events.

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Gertrude Ederle - Olympics, Death & Facts

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American swimmer Gertrude Ederle achieved fame when she competed in the 1924 Olympics and became the first woman to swim across the English Channel in 1926.

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Gertrude Ederle Becomes First Woman to Swim English Channel

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Gertrude Ederle Becomes First Woman to Swim English Channel

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On August 6, 1926, on her second attempt, 19-year-old Gertrude Ederle becomes the first woman to swim the 21 miles from Dover, England, to Cape Griz-Nez across the English Channel, which separates Great Britain from the northwestern tip of France.

Ederle was born to German immigrants on October 23, 1905, in New York City. She did not learn to swim until she was nine years old, and it was not until she was 15 that she learned proper form in the water. Just two years later, at the 1924 Paris Olympics, Ederle won a gold medal in the 4 x 100 meter relay and a bronze in the 100- and 400-meter freestyle races. In June 1925, Ederle became the first woman to swim the length of New York Bay, breaking the previous men's record by swimming from the New York Battery to Sandy Hook, New Jersey, in 7 hours 11 minutes. That same summer, Ederle made her first attempt at crossing the notoriously cold and choppy English Channel, but after eight hours and 46 minutes, her coach, Jabez Wolff, forced her to stop, out of concern that she was swallowing too much saltwater. Ederle disagreed and fired Wolff, replacing him with T.W. Burgess, a skilled Channel swimmer.

On August 6, 1926, Ederle entered the water at Cape Gris-Nez in France at 7:08 a.m. to make her second attempt at the Channel. The water was predictably cold as she started out that morning, but unusually calm. Twice that day, however-at noon and 6 p.m.-Ederle encountered squalls along her route and Burgess urged her to end the swim. Ederle's father and sister, though, who were riding in the boat along with Burgess, agreed with Ederle that she should stay the course. Ederle's father had promised her a new roadster at the conclusion of the swim, and for added motivation he called out to her in the water to remind her that the roadster was only hers if she finished. Ederle persevered through storms and heavy swells, and, finally, at 9:04 p.m. after 14 hours and 31 minutes in the water, she reached the English coast, becoming the sixth person and first woman to swim the Channel successfully. Furthermore, she had bettered the previous record by two hours.

Afterward, Ederle told Alec Rutherford of The New York Times, "I knew it could be done, it had to be done, and I did it." Ederle's feat was celebrated by a ticker-tape parade in New York City, and she received congratulations from fans ranging from the mayor of New York City to Henry Sullivan, the first American man ever to swim the Channel.

Ederle damaged her hearing during the Channel swim, and went on to spend much of her adult life teaching deaf children in New York City to swim. She died in 2003 at the age of 98.

Fact Check

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Gertrude Ederle becomes first woman to swim English Channel | August 6, 1926 | HISTORY

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On August 6, 1926, on her second attempt, 19-year-old Gertrude Ederle becomes the first woman to swim the 21 miles from Dover, England, to Cape Griz-Nez across the English Channel, which separates Great Britain from the northwestern tip of France. Ederle was born to German immigrants on October 23, 1905, in New York City.

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Born: November 22, 1943
Long Beach, California
American tennis player

I nternational tennis star Billie Jean King won a record twenty Wimbledon championships and helped win equal treatment for women in sports.

Encouraged by her parents

Billie Jean (Moffitt) King was born on November 22, 1943, in the southern California city of Long Beach. She was the first of Willard and Betty Moffitt's two children. Her father was an engineer for the fire department, and her mother was a receptionist at a medical center. Both she and her brother, Randy, who would become a professional baseball player, excelled in athletics as children and were encouraged by their parents. At fire department picnics, her father's coworkers always wanted Billie Jean to play on their softball team.

Billie Jean developed an interest in tennis at age eleven and saved money to buy her first racket. When she was fourteen years old she won her first championship in a southern California tournament. She began receiving coaching at age fifteen from Alice Marble, a famous player from the 1930s. The product of a working-class family, Billie Jean soon found herself caught up in a country club sport. Despite her success on the court, the fact that tennis was mainly geared toward men would prove a personal challenge to her in later years.

Tournament successes

In 1961 Billie Jean competed in her first Wimbledon tournament in England. Although she was defeated in the women's singles, she teamed with Karen Hautze to win the doubles (two-person team) title. She married attorney Larry King in 1965. In 1966 she won her first Wimbledon singles championship and repeated in 1967. That same year she also won the U.S. Open singles title at Forest Hills, New York.

In 1968 King won both the women's singles and doubles titles at Wimbledon. In 1971 she became the first woman athlete to win more than one hundred thousand dollars

in a single year. It was 1972, however, that would be King's banner year. She won the women's singles title at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, and the French Open. (These three tournaments plus the Australian Open now make up the "Grand Slam" of tennis.) For this feat, Sports Illustrated magazine named her "Sportswoman of the Year," and Sports magazine deemed her "Tennis Player of the Year."

In 1973 King again won Wimbledon's singles and doubles championships. It was then that she began to openly criticize the low prize money offered to women competitors. She noted that women were receiving far less than men for what she considered equal ability and effort. Her statements on this issue led to the offer from a major U.S. drug manufacturer of a large sum of money to make the prize money at the U.S. Open equal for both men and women.

A victory for women's liberation

King's career coincided with the women's liberation (feminist) movement of the 1970s. Her working-class upbringing in southern California and the second-class treatment she received as a professional athlete made her a natural spokesperson for the movement. Her role as a leader in the feminist cause reached its peak in September 1973, when she faced the 1939 men's tennis champion Bobby Riggs (1918-1995) in a nationally televised match at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas. King easily beat the aging Riggs and emerged as the winner of what had been billed as the "Battle of the Sexes."

In 1975 King won her sixth Wimbledon singles championship, but she announced that she would no longer compete in major events because of injuries to her knees. In all she won a record twenty Wimbledon championships (including singles, doubles, and mixed doubles). Today, women competing in professional athletic contests owe much to Billie Jean King. With her outstanding play and forceful attitude, she earned them the right to compete for the same money as men.

Later years

King helped to found the Women's Tennis Association and served as its president from 1973 to 1975 and again from 1980 to 1981. After retiring from professional tennis in 1984, King and her husband have promoted coed (open to both men and women) team tennis. King has also been active in charitable events. In 1995 she joined the Virginia Slims legends tour along with Chris Evert (1954-) and Martina Navratilova (1956-) to raise money for the fight against acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS; a disease that destroys the body's ability to fight off infection). King is also an investor in Discovery Zone, a chain of children's "play lands" that promotes the equal athletic abilities of boys and girls.

King continues to be associated with the sport as a broadcaster, teacher, and coach. In 1999 and 2000 she coached the U.S. women's team, whose members included Venus Williams, Serena Williams, Lindsay Davenport, and Jennifer Capriati, to victories in the international Federation Cup tournament.

For More Information

King, Billie Jean. Billie Jean. New York: Viking Press, 1982.

King, Billie Jean. Secrets of Winning Tennis. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1974.

Marble, Alice, and Dale Leatherman. Courting Danger. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1991.

Rappoport, Ken. Girls Rule!: The Glory and Spirit of Women in Sports. Kansas City, MO: Andrews McMeel Publishers, 2000.

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Born: November 22, 1943 Long Beach, California American tennis player I nternational tennis star Billie Jean King won a record twenty Wimbledon championships and helped win equal treatment for women in sports. Billie Jean (Moffitt) King was born on November 22, 1943, in the southern California city of Long Beach.

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Billie Jean King ~ Billie Jean King Biography | American Masters | PBS

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The life and times of Billie Jean King by filmmaker James Erskine/New Black Films.

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A Muslim Fencer Broke Stereotypes, But Now She Wants Olympic Gold

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A Muslim Fencer Broke Stereotypes, But Now She Wants Olympic Gold

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If you're trying to figure out how Ibtihaj (IB-tee-haj) Muhammad defied the stereotypes to become one of the world's fiercest fencers - she'll be the first American to wear a hijab while competing for the U.S. when the Rio games open next week - you may not have to go any further than this mundane tale.

Back in March, she was pulling up to her sister's Faizah's apartment in Brooklyn and saw a parking spot open. She waited, signaled and was preparing to pull in when a truck stole the spot. She backed up and began yelling, only calming down at the urging of her sister, who has become accustomed to taming Ibtihaj's competitiveness.

Not that the 30-year-old Muhammad has let it go. She's telling this anecdote weeks later, angry as the day it happened. But redemption for past slights has been the theme of her life since 2012, when she narrowly missed making the Olympics. Making things right has driven her for four years, and she's not about to lose her edge just because she reached one goal.

She was so close to making the team in 2012. Fencing isn't like swimming or track and field, where one result at the Olympic trials can decide if someone is an Olympian or not. Results from an entire schedule of international events add up in points, and those points dictate who is on the team. Muhammad, known as Ibti by those who know her well, missed making the London team by one spot.

Still, she was recognized by Muslims as a special member of the community. They would often still call her an Olympian. An experience she had when meeting with young girls at an event refocused her: Someone she considered a friend went out of her way to make it clear to the girls that Muhammad had failed to make the team. In that moment she vowed to herself to not miss out on her next chance.

She has better things to focus on these days. Muhammad, who won gold with the U.S. saber team at the world championships in 2014, is ranked eighth in the world. She is not going to Rio to be merely a symbol. She is going for one reason, she says: a gold medal.

Yet it is impossible to ignore what it says to have a Muslim woman represent the United States in the Olympics in the same year the Republican nominee for president has proposed barring Muslims from the country.

"I felt like it's been this dream that developed amongst my family, my friends, my community, and I think that helped me to get where I am," Muhammad said. "It seemed really important to everyone. Just to shatter those stereotypes that Muslim women couldn't achieve certain things."

While there have been plenty of great Muslim athletes in the United States in the past, the most accomplished ones are men. Muhammad Ali. Kareem Abdul-Jabaar. Hakeem Olajuwon. With Ibtihaj as a role model for Muslim women, that can change.

Muhammad's mother Denise often hears from other Muslim parents. Many are from countries where girls were not allowed play sports. They didn't think their daughters could wear hijab and still participate. Seeing Muhammad fence changed their minds.

"There's kids who can convince their parents, at least let me try. Sports is all-inclusive. It gives you an introduction into a community where sometimes it's difficult, when you're a minority - be it nationality or religious minority," Denise Muhammad said.

When Ibtihaj first tried fencing, she was 12 years old and in a local fencing coach's garage. The coach had been recommended by a neighbor, and Denise wanted Ibti to give it a try. She hated it.

"As a Muslim kid, it was weird. I had somebody, a guy, fixing my arms, fixing my legs, teaching me positions, and it was uncomfortable," she said.

She tried it again in high school. This time, she liked the sport more, but her high school coach insisted she tried the epee. Fencers believe the weapon they choose speaks to their personality. Epee fencers are more cerebral. Foil fencers are the popular kids - take one look at the U.S. men's foil team for Rio, and you'll think you're looking at a boyband. But saber? Saber is the 100-meter dash, the 50-meter freestyle, the vault of the fencing world. While epee and foil turn into more of a chess match, with competitors taking measured steps before moving to take a shot, saber matches are fast and aggressive.

When she switched to saber later in her high school career, the stage was set for her to become the woman who fenced with the first lady in Times Square. She rose through fencing's ranks quickly after high school, earning a scholarship to Duke, where she was a three-time All-American. After graduating in 2007, she juggled fencing at the international level with coaching her high school team. She finished in the top 25 in the world in 2010-12, but it wasn't enough to make the Olympic team, to earn a shot to win a medal - to grab for the goal every young fencer has.

Her focus on making the 2016 team took on an almost-obsessive nature. She started cross-training, sought out books and magazines on how to get better, and worked with a sports psychologist.

"I watched how it broke people around me when they didn't qualify. It literally shattered their world. I knew I would never be like that," she said. "I could have easily walked away from the sport. I felt unfulfilled, in a sense that I wanted to leave my mark on the sport. I wanted to provide that piece of diversity to the Olympic team, and that was really my driving force that got me here."

She worked constantly with her coaches Peter Westbrook and Akhnaten "Akhi" Spencer-El at the Peter Westbrook Foundation in Manhattan. When the Muhammad family was at a fencing competition while Ibtihaj was in high school, Denise was impressed with a group of young African-American fencers, all wearing black and gold jackets, in a room of mostly white fencers. They ran into each other again when the Muhammeds attended a film premiere about Westbrook's life, and Ibtihaj was invited to try fencing with the foundation. Though she would have to take a train an hour each way into the city from Maplewood, N.J., it turned into a perfect match.

Spencer-El is her day-to-day coach, while Westbrook runs the foundation. Westbrook fenced in the 1976 Olympics and won bronze at the 1984 Games. The son of an African-American G.I and the Japanese woman he met while serving in the Korean war, Westbrook faced many of the same challenges Muhammad does now. As a mixed-race child living in Newark in the 1970s, he routinely faced racism. His mother - who raised him by herself after his father left - bribed him to try fencing, and in the sport, he found a place to channel his anger. He later started the Peter Westbrook Foundation to use fencing as a way to help students, particularly in underserved communities, who had struggled as he did.

When she was asked to remove her hijab by a volunteer at SXSW in March, she tweeted about the incident but then tried to forget about it. It's how she has reacted to many of the instances of hatred and bigotry she has faced. Talk about it, raise awareness, and then move on.

Westbrook's tutelage is apparent in her actions.

"Sometimes, a lot of us like to look at the negative things people say about African-Americans and Muslims. Sometimes that can affect you. Sometimes that can make you very angry," he said. "Sometimes that can make you wallow a little bit or make you feel bad about yourself. You can't let that make you feel bad about yourself. You have to use that to go to higher heights."

Westbrook isn't the coach you'll hear yelling across a fencing strip. His voice is soft and reassuring, but he carries the authority of a man who has shepherded four fencers to the Olympics. He knew Muhammad had the potential to make the Olympics, but it was up to her to take the next step after 2012.

"Sometimes, that will break someone's spirit," Westbrook said. "You have to make sure you encourage and nourish that negativity, nourish that pain, and use that for success for the future. Ibti was able to do that."

The trait Westbrook and Spencer-El didn't need to nourish was her competitiveness. Muhammed is one of five children, and she constantly tried to keep up with her older brother, Qarib. Still today, she and her sisters race each other from the train stop in New Jersey to the car.

In practice, Muhammad never takes a day off. Keeth Smart, who won Olympic silver in 2008, trains with the Westbrook Foundation and has often worked with Muhammad. There are times when he finds himself laughing, asking her not to take practice so seriously.

"I might fence for fun one practice, and another practice, might go hard. With Ibti, she practices hard every single moment. She wants to win every touch. She's fighting tooth and nail for every touch," Smart said.

"When you get to practice, if you're practicing with Ibti, you're practicing and practicing hard. If you're not practicing hard, you're not practicing with her," Spencer-El said.

For Muhammad, it's about simple time management. She trains for three hours every night, and cross-trains during the day. Her life is much too busy to waste any time in the gym.

"I think of the time I have in the gym as sacred time. I'm there to do a job and I have to execute that job, and execute that job to the best of my ability," she said.

Her time has become even more valuable since making the Olympic team. Muhammad has been pointed out by President Barack Obama and was named one of Time Magazine's most fascinating people. Her phone is constantly buzzing, and she welcomed training and competing in China because she couldn't be reached.

"People are pulling at you in every direction, wanting interviews, wanting every moment of your time, you have family and friends wanting you to come here and speak, it's overwhelming," she said.

During the month of April, she attended USA Fencing's Division I nationals, where she met with me. She also took part in the espnW Women's Sports Summit, shot a commercial with Visa, attended a fencing fundraiser in New York with Tim Gunn, spoke at the Ideas Festival in her hometown of Maplewood, and joined the First Lady in Times Square for the 100 Days to Rio celebration. This was in addition to training every day.

Through it all Muhammad has tried to focus on her next goal.

"I thought qualifying would be this really happy and jovial moment," she said. "But at the end of the day, you're a competitor. I'm one of those people who always sets goals for myself. I set a goal and then I move onto the next one. I set this goal for myself. I was able to achieve it. So now I set the next one. I have to do well in Rio. This immense level of stress has taken over."

Smart walked down this path before she did. He was one of the Westbrook Foundation's first Olympic successes, so he also understands what she is experiencing. He has been there with her as she navigates the rarefied air of being an Olympic trailblazer.

"Fencing with all of that pressure is a lot for anyone. She's been able to do really well under a really excruciating situation with pressure," he said.

Muhammad has become well-known within the Muslim community. Since 2012, she has been asked to speak at mosques, universities and community centers. After making the Olympic team, her reach became broader. ESPN and SXSW came calling and asked her to be a part of their events. But when Denise looks at her daughter, she sees a woman who doesn't fit or perpetuate pervasive stereotypes of Muslim women in America.

"She's never really fit a 'predetermined expectation' for Muslim women. That we're quiet and submissive. Unheard. Intelligent, but not articulate. She doesn't fit that mold at all," Denise said. "She is expressive. She does have an opinion. She's vocal. She speaks well, she's confident. Not saying Muslim women aren't confident, but I think there's an expectation people believe that they're not really confident, that they're shy."

Ibtihaj is anything but shy. She speaks out when she sees injustice. On Twitter and Snapchat, she will bring attention to important causes, like the plight of refugees. When that volunteer asked her to take off her hijab at SXSW earlier, she spoke out - and didn't touch her scarf.

Prejudice tolerated is intolerance encouraged. Lead your day with love and action!

- Ibtihaj Muhammad (@IbtihajMuhammad) April 20, 2016

"When she feels something is right, it could be a debate, but she'll fight to the death until you agree. Very competitive, and that's what I think makes her a great athlete," Spencer-El said.

Her willingness to fight for what she needed started early in life. Muhammed played for her high school volleyball team while also fencing at the Peter Westbrook Foundation. Even as coaches pushed her to quit the team to focus on fencing, she held her ground. This meant a grueling schedule where she would practice volleyball until 6. Denise would pick her up with dinner in hand and take her to the train station so Ibti could make the one-hour train ride to New York for fencing. She would eat dinner and take care of her homework on the train before fencing for three hours, and then turning around to come home.

Her schedule is just as grueling now, as she juggles running a fashion line along with preparing for the Olympics. On the day we met in Richmond, there was a shoot happening in Los Angeles, and she was being sent the latest photos on her phone. The images were mostly of women who, like Muhammed, were clad in the hijab, though a few did not cover their heads. The shirts were long and gauzy, with loose-fitting pants underneath. They weren't the kind of clothes that make the pages of Vogue, but that doesn't mean they weren't fashionable. Vibrant colors, interesting details on the arms and pretty fabrics make up the line, named Louella after Muhammed's grandmother.

She examines each picture closely. She's looking for the little details that she expects to be there - the fit and the flow of each item. Muhammed sends a text after looking at one of the pictures. She wants to be there, supervising each shot.

"I'm practicing delegating," she said while letting out a long sigh.

She started Louella after struggling to find clothes that would fit her guidelines for modesty that were at a reasonable price. Wearing hijab doesn't mean not embracing her own beauty. She wears gorgeous scarves that match her outfit, and her makeup is always impeccable. When she met Sanya Richards Ross, the gold medalist asked Muhammed who did her makeup. Muhammed laughed when she explained she did her own.

With Louella, she wanted to give more women the chance to wear modest clothes without having to spend a fortune or turn to overseas outlets. She partnered with her brother, and started manufacturing clothes at factories in the U.S. For her, Louella is about serving her community. Keeping manufacturing domestic is key.

"One of the manufacturers I work with only employs women that are often times single mothers. I love that. Not only is it hard work to find a manufacturer that is a woman that owns her own manufacturing business, but she hires women!" Muhammed said.

It's also about ensuring her life has some balance.

"When I look at some of my teammates, and they fence, and maybe work with in fencing, and they're always in fencing. That can never be me," she said. "I need to have something where I can totally walk away and not focus on fencing at all."

But for now, all of her focus is on August 8, the day she will attempt to win a medal in the individual saber competition, and August 13, when she and her American teammates will try to bring home a team gold. It's not about the commercials or the speeches or being a symbol for a people who are often questioned, stereotyped and misunderstood. It's about wearing a star-spangled helmet over her hijab and fencing on the biggest stage in sports.

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A Muslim fencer broke stereotypes, but now she wants Olympic gold

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If you're trying to figure out how Ibtihaj (IB-tee-haj) Muhammad defied the stereotypes to become one of the world's fiercest fencers - she'll be the first American to wear a hijab while competing for the U.S. when the Rio games open next week - you may not have to go any further than this mundane tale.

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Muslim Girl from Jersey Poised to Make U.S. Olympic History

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Muslim Girl from Jersey Poised to Make U.S. Olympic History

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/ CBS News

The Rio Olympics kick off Friday night, but one athlete from team USA is making history before the games begin.

After two decades of fitness training, sparring and lots of lunging, 2016 is the year for fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad. For the 30-year-old, identity is important - she's African-American and a Muslim woman. And after failing to make the 2012 Olympic team, she's back with a clear objective that goes beyond her desire to win gold, reports Elaine Quijano of CBS News' digital network, CBSN.

The self-described Jersey girl and three-time All-American at Duke University is going to her first Olympic Games.

"I just feel very blessed to... have qualified for the team, and it's just -- I'm so excited," Muhammad said. "And I'm like, 'When is this excitement going to wear off?'"

She will experience another first in Rio by becoming the first American to compete in the Olympics wearing a hijab.

"I feel like my hijab is liberating. It is a part of who I am, and I believe that it allows people to see me for my voice and not necessarily how I look," Muhammad said. "I hope that it'll change a lot of the misconceptions that people have about Muslim women specifically."

Muhammad chose fencing as a kid because unlike other sports, it allowed her to both honor her Muslim faith and blend in.

"It was the first time where I truly felt a part of the team," Muhammad said. "It was the first time I was in uniform with everyone else and I didn't have to adjust it in any way by, like adding length to the sleeves or wearing pants when everyone else had on shorts."

Muhammad's high school coach, Frank Mustilli, who began working with her in his garage, knew she had the aggressive analytical approach to excel.

"I knew she would be a champion," Mustilli said. "There's not a whole lot of children that walk in here and have that look -- to be able to look at through opponent and say, 'you're not even there, because you know what? I'm focused on that gold medal and you just happen to be between me and it.'"

Muhammad ran us through the basics of sabre fencing, including how to take the perfect stance, the weapon, the attack and strategy. Muhammad compares the sport to chess.

"There's strategy, and you want to be a step ahead of your opponent," Muhammad said.

Muhammad said she owes it to her community to use her platform as an Olympic athlete to speak out against hate.

"We're in this time where people are very comfortable, speaking out against Muslims. I had a man encounter me on the street and told me that I looked suspicious, and that I looked like I was [going to] blow something up," Muhammad recalled. "And he followed me to my train. I felt so unsafe and I was afraid. Here I am, a U.S. Olympian and that's my reality."

This is a reality President Obama acknowledged earlier this year at a Baltimore mosque.

"Muslim Americans enrich our lives today in every way. When Team USA marches into the next Olympics, one of the Americans waving the red white and blue will be a fencing champion wearing her hijab -- Ibtihaj Muhammad, who is here today," the president said to cheers.

And even though Muhammad was named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people, when she puts on that helmet in Rio, she'll be just another American athlete focused on winning the gold.

"I tell people all the time that I'm just a girl from Jersey who had a dream and was willing to work hard for it," Muhammad said.

Along with her siblings, Muhammad is also the co-owner of a modest fashionable clothing line -- inspired by her mother and grandmother --for women who want to dress modestly without being dowdy.

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Muslim "girl from Jersey" poised to make U.S. Olympic history

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Ibtihaj Muhammad will become the first woman to compete in the Olympics wearing her hijab

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Video: Ibtihaj Muhammad Didn't Need a Medal to Leave her Mark on U.S. Olympics

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Video: Ibtihaj Muhammad Didn't Need a Medal to Leave her Mark on U.S. Olympics

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RIO DE JANEIRO - Ibtihaj Muhammad will not be your punching bag. She will also not be your rabble-rouser, your wallflower or the knife in your political knife-fight. Muhammad just became the first American woman ever to compete in the Olympics wearing a hijab, and the fact she did this and did it in the Age of Trump means this is her Story, capital S, the way she is discussed in America today: Did you hear the Story of the fencer in the hijab?

But her story, lowercase s, is the story of everyday existence that she has lived for 30 years and eight months, the one she described as "four years of crying and hard work and tears and injuries" leading to these Olympics, which is how most Olympians would tell their story. You might not like her faith, her hijab, her quiet demeanor, her reluctance to go all-in on Donald Trump or the fact she went to Duke, but this is her story, lowercase s, and she will not hand you the pen.

Muhammad won her first match, but she lost her second. It happened quickly, because fencing matches are quick. She had a few bad points in succession, got too frustrated with the referee, and ended the match doing a split with one foot outside of the piste, sealing the win for France's Celia Berder. That was it. Done. This is how most Olympic stories end.
Nigeria's men's basketball team left scrambling after financial, player issues
But Ibtihaj Muhammad, who lives in New York, was not done, because when she removed her mask, there it was: The hijab. This should not matter. It has nothing to do with fencing. It is not why she is here. It does not define her achievement any more than those moments when her brother Qareeb, decked out in red white, and blue, implored the crowd to chant "U-S-A! U-S-A!" whenever his sister seemed to need a boost. But the hijab did make her a Story, especially this year, whether she liked it or not.

Most sportswriters are not in the habit of asking fencers for their thoughts on presidential elections. But we live in strange times. And so there was Muhammad, still processing the end of her dream of an individual Olympic medal (she has another chance in the team event), being asked about her religion.

There was no fire. No rage. No screaming about the injustice of a proposed ban on Muslim immigrants.
Primed for Rio, Katie Ledecky thriving in high-pressure Olympic atmosphere
"I think that anyone who has paid attention to the news at all would realize the importance of having a Muslim woman on Team USA," she said. "It's not just any team. It's the United States of America. It's in light of what's going on in this country. It's the political fuss that we hear. All these things, I feel like, kind of circle back to my presence on Team USA, and again, just challenging those misperceptions of who a Muslim woman is."

"Do you hope Donald Trump was watching?" someone asked.

"Oh, I don't know," she said.

"How can you not see that Muslims are like every other group?" she continued. "We are conservatives and we are liberals. There are woman who cover and women who don't. There are African-American Muslims, there are white Muslims-there are so many different types of Muslims."

The sport of fencing is violent in the imagination but artful in practice. Muhammad took her sabre and masterfully fileted each question. She drew no blood and won every point.

She did not utter a single word that could reasonably be used against her. She said she was proud to show people outside her community what a Muslim woman could do, but she also wanted to show women in her community what was possible.

She was thoughtful, sweet and undeniably likeable.

She said, again and again, what an honor it was to represent the United States.

In a city where the statue of Christ the Redeemer stands above the masses, Muhammad made a quiet, subtle case for respect. She talked about "misconceptions," like this one: "That somebody is forcing me to wear a hijab, that I'm repressed, that I don't have a voice." But she did not raise that voice. It would only lead to more shouting.

She said, "At our normal events and competition, we don't have to deal with this many people or this many press," then paused and said, "We actually don't have press." It was a funny moment, a reminder of how big the Olympics really are: so much bigger than anything most of these athletes have ever seen.

Very few athletes in Rio will become famous, and it usually takes a medal to do it. Ibtihaj Muhammad has not won a medal. She gained attention by being herself. She didn't ask for it. She didn't come here with a political angle. She came with her sabre, her dreams and her sense of self, and she used all three to represent her country extraordinarily well. I hope Donald Trump did watch. I hope everybody did.

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Ibtihaj Muhammad left her mark on U.S., Olympics

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Fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad, the first woman to compete in the Olympics for Team USA wearing a hijab, didn't come to Rio to make a statement; she came to compete, and that's exactly what she did.

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Video: U.S. Fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad Set to Make History in Rio

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Video: U.S. Fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad Set to Make History in Rio

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Ibtihaj Muhammad's parents wanted their daughter to participate in sports, but it was a challenge.

They wanted to find something that wouldn't hinder her from participating because of her Islamic faith.

Muhammad wears a hijab, a veil or headscarf worn by some Muslim women to cover the hair and neck. What sport could she do while still fully covered and without having to alter the uniform?

One day, Muhammad's mom found an answer.

"My mom just so happened to discover fencing," Muhammad told CNN. "She was driving past a local high school and saw kids with what she thought was like a helmet and like long pants and long jacket. She was like, 'I don't know what it is, but I want you to try it.'"

Muhammad started épée fencing the following fall, when she was 13. She switched to sabre fencing at age 16. Fast forward to now, and the 30-year-old from Maplewood, New Jersey, will represent Team USA in sabre in the Rio Olympics. She clinched a spot on the U.S. team when she won bronze at the Fencing World Cup in Athens, Greece, earlier this year.

With that comes history: She's the first woman on Team USA to compete while wearing a hijab.

That's also motivation.

"When I heard that there had never been a Muslim woman on the U.S. team to wear the hijab, that is when I made this conscious decision to go for 2016," Muhammad told CNNMoney. "I knew that I had it in me to qualify for the Olympic team, and I wanted to hopefully be that change, that other minorities could see that with hard work and perseverance, anything is possible."

Muhammad says she is comfortable in her own skin, but it's not always easy being different. However, in a fencing uniform, where an athlete is covered from head to toe, there's no sign of race or religion.

"I saw that my skin color, my religion, made other people uncomfortable," Muhammad said. "I always looked different from my teammates and had a really hard time with that. Once I discovered fencing and I looked like my teammates, I really was afforded the opportunity to not just look like my teammates but also have that sense of camaraderie and uniformity that a uniform allows."

Muhammad was ranked as high as No. 7 in the world during the 2015-2016 season. She has won individual and team medals on the World Cup circuit, including team bronze at the Senior World Championships in 2015 and team gold in 2014. She also was a three-time NCAA All-American when she competed at Duke.

A torn ligament in her hand kept Muhammad from trying to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

"It means a lot to me to be able to represent the United States and be an ambassador not just to the sport but also to our country and show the diversity," Muhammad said. "One of the special things that I hold near and dear to my heart at being an American is how diverse our community and our society is."

Muhammad, who graduated with a dual major in international relations and African studies and a minor in Arabic, has embraced her role as an ambassador. She serves in the U.S. Department of State's Empowering Women and Girls Through Sport Initiative and has had speaking engagements on sports and education. She also won't shy away from race, politics and religion.

Through it all, her message is clear: Believe you can do anything.

"I remember as a kid, people telling me as a kid that black people didn't fence," Muhammad said. "I remember people telling me that Muslims didn't fence. Without that belief and that drive in having strong athletes like Muhammad Ali or like Serena (Williams) and Venus (Williams), without having strong people to look up to when I was a kid and to really face adversity head on, I wouldn't be where I am today, so I'm really appreciative of that."

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Muslim fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad set to make U.S. Olympic history in Rio

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Ibtihaj Muhammad's parents wanted their daughter to participate in sports, but it was a challenge.

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Muslim-American fencer to take stand against hate in Rio Olympics

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Fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad is making history with Team USA as the first American to compete in the Summer Olympics while wearing a hijab. After failing to make the 2012 Olympic team, she's back with a clear objective that goes beyond her desire to win gold. Elaine Quijano reports.

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A Paralympian Goes for Another Gold, in a Third Sport

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A Paralympian Goes for Another Gold, in a Third Sport

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Alana Nichols trained in sprint kayak near Fiesta Island in San Diego last month. Credit... Sandy Huffaker for The New York Times

Two years had passed since Alana Nichols broke her back in a snowboarding accident, leaving her paralyzed and wheelchair-bound, when one day she took a shortcut through a gym at the University of New Mexico, where she was a student.

"I was blown away," she said about discovering a wheelchair basketball game. "I had heard about adaptive sports. I was totally closed-minded toward them because I was such a prideful softball player. It would never compare."

What she witnessed - coordinated athletes violently crashing into one another, working up a sweat - changed her mind.

"These people with disabilities, some even more severe than mine, were doing it," she said. "They weren't sulking in their sorrows and missing their legs. They were trying to be the best athletes they could. I needed to figure this out."

More than a dozen years later, Nichols, 33, continues to figure out new sports. The first American woman to win gold at the summer and winter Paralympic Games, she will try to add another medal - in another sport - starting Wednesday, when she will join nine other women in the debut of sprint kayak at the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Nichols, passing, won gold with the United States women's wheelchair basketball team in 2008 in Beijing, but in 2012 in London, above, the Americans lost the bronze medal game to the Netherlands. Credit... Scott Heavey/Getty Images

Nichols has previously won gold medals in wheelchair basketball (2008) and Alpine skiing (2010).

Although Nichols did not begin training as a kayaker until two years ago, she finished eighth at the paracanoe world championships in Duisburg, Germany, in May, while competing in the KL2 class, for athletes with good arm strength but partial leg and trunk function.

"Alana has that nonphysical part that makes her want to excel, that goes to the pain and pushes the limits," said Deborah Page, the team leader and a coach of the United States paracanoe team, "because you don't paddle 200 meters as hard as you can without it hurting."

For Nichols, suffering has tended to produce her best performances.

Born in New Mexico, she was 9 months old when her father was killed by a drunken driver. Struggling to raise four children, her mother sent Nichols and her older sister, Jovan, to be raised by grandparents in Farmington, N.M., where she grew up playing softball, basketball and volleyball.

"She just wanted to be great at sports," said Crystal Stallings, a childhood friend who recalled Nichols as an impulsive daredevil with a competitive streak. "It was her dream to do collegiate sports, and beyond."

But in 2000, when she was a high school senior mulling options for collegiate softball, Nichols attempted a back flip on a backcountry snowboard trip in Colorado. She landed on her back, breaking it and leaving her paralyzed from the waist.

"Every part of my identity was wrapped up in being an athlete and using my body," she said. "I was just lost. I went back to high school and cried every day in private, trying to keep it together and get through it."

Nichols, who won two gold medals in Alpine skiing at the Vancouver Paralympics in 2010, followed with a silver in the women's downhill sitting event, above, in Sochi in 2014. Credit... Tom Pennington/Getty Images

Nine months after her injury, Nichols joined Jovan at the University of New Mexico. "The two years post-injury were the darkest times," Alana Nichols said. "Getting up out of bed some days was really hard."

Discovering wheelchair basketball helped Nichols recapture her identity. She transferred to the University of Arizona, which offers a training center and six sports for athletes with disabilities: men's basketball, women's basketball, track and road racing, tennis, rugby and handcycling.

In 2004, she earned a spot on the United States women's wheelchair basketball team, and she remained a member of the team through 2012.

After completing work on a bachelor's degree in special education rehab and school psychology from Arizona in 2006, and a master's in kinesiology from the University of Alabama in 2008, Nichols returned to the mountains, and to adaptive skiing.

"Part of me just wanted to get back on the horse that knocked me off," she said.

Training at the National Sports Center for the Disabled, in Winter Park, Colo., she reconnected with her older brother, D. J., who was living in Denver. "He was my No. 1 fan. He came up to Winter Park a bunch to support me."

In June 2009, D. J. Nichols was shot to death and his body dumped in the mountains near Vail. In 2010, a man pleaded guilty to his murder. "That was one of those moments like breaking your back," Alana Nichols said. "I'll never be the same. It was like part of my heart got paralyzed."

A grieving Nichols made the United States Alpine team for the 2010 Vancouver Games, and dedicated her Paralympic performance to her brother's memory.

She won gold in the giant slalom and in the downhill, plus a silver and a bronze, to become the most decorated athlete of those Games. Four years later, in Sochi, Russia, Nichols added a silver medal in the downhill. But she had broken her shoulder in a collision with a boulder six months earlier, and injuries from Alpine skiing were taking a toll.

"I really couldn't do anything independently," she said about life with a broken shoulder. "That really made me think about how I want the rest of my life to go."

While on a trip to Hawaii in 2014, Nichols discovered adaptive surfing - sitting on top of the board and using a paddle to propel into the waves - and fell in love with the sport.

Through AccesSurf, a nonprofit that makes surfing accessible to people with disabilities, Nichols met Spike Kane, a surfer who was paralyzed 11 years ago in Seattle when a car ran him over while he was riding his motorcycle.

Kane had coached sprint kayaking before his injury, and Nichols asked for his help as she committed to competing at her fifth Paralympics, in Rio. She moved to San Diego, using surfing with a kayak paddle as cross-training. Kane helped create a kayak setup for Nichols and served as a consultant.

Nichols did not begin training as a kayaker until two years ago. This is her fifth Paralympics. Credit... Sandy Huffaker for The New York Times

Nichols said her past achievements conferred no advantages in her new sport.

"I'm an adrenaline junkie," she said. "I like that immediate gratification of getting a basket or winning a ski race within a minute. For me, it's been a huge challenge mentally of hours and hours of the same motion. It's one of the hardest things I've ever done."

Two months before the start of the Rio Games, Nichols wavered, and considered pulling out of the competition.

Nerve pain from a bulging disk in her neck, a result of her skiing injuries, had hampered her training. She worried about pollution and superbacteria in Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon - the venue for sprint kayak - and even about the risk of contracting the Zika virus.

She resolved to reduce risks of infection and illness by using hand sanitizer and bug spray and by showering after leaving the water.

And she remembered her younger self, the one who lost the use of her legs and, for a while, her way. Nichols needed to set an example for her.

"I know that other young women need to see me be my best self," she said. "When I struggle with self-doubt and feel like I can't move on, I know there's people out there who need me to do that. That's motivating."

A version of this article appears in print on , Section B, Page 9 of the New York edition with the headline: Blazing a New Trail, on the Water. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe

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A Paralympian Goes for Another Gold, in a Third Sport (Published 2016)

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Alana Nichols, 33, who won gold medals in wheelchair basketball (2008) and Alpine skiing (2010), will compete in sprint kayak on Wednesday at the Rio Paralympic Games.

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Gold Medalist Alana Nichols Makes 'Something Beautiful' Our of Paralysis

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Gold Medalist Alana Nichols Makes 'Something Beautiful' Our of Paralysis

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Alana Nichols always imagined she'd be an Olympic softball player, but those dreams were dashed at 17 when she was paralyzed in a snowboarding accident.

"I remember lying in my hospital bed like a prisoner in my own body ... thinking of what my life would become," said Nichols. "I had wanted to travel, be a mom and wife and walk down the aisle."

"It seemed like the end of the world and I didn't have any hope for the future," she told TODAY.

But today at 33, Nichols is one of the top Paralympic athletes in the world. She will compete for the U.S. team in sprint kayaking in Rio, hoping to be the only American woman - Olympic or Paralympic - to win gold in three different sports.
Related: Full coverage of the 2016 Games in Rio
Nichols has already won gold in wheelchair basketball and alpine skiing, and is the first American woman to win gold in both the summer and winter games.

She is part of a movement that began in 1960 in Rome as 400 disabled athletes from 23 countries participated in the first Paralympics. Today, the event is held two weeks after the Games in all the same venues where able-bodied athletes compete.

Her story is also featured in a new documentary, "Tin Soldiers," about the world of adaptive sports by filmmaker Ben Duffy. It rolls out on iTunes and other video platforms on Aug. 16.
Related: Rio 2016 Olympic hopefuls tell us why they are 'strong'
Nichols has achieved success despite unimaginable tragedy: Her father was killed in a car crash when she was 9 months old; unable to cope, her mother gave up her two daughters; as a teen, she was paralyzed; then, while training for the 2010 Paralympics, her brother was murdered.

"I didn't want to live anymore," said Nichols.

But through adaptive sports, Nichols found a way to live fully.

Her paralysis begins about mid-thigh, so long leg braces have allowed her to walk. Her hip abductors are still strong enough to squeeze her thighs and swivel her torso.
Related: Woman who is paralyzed hikes Appalachian Trail - alone
"Alana has all those life skills, determination and perseverance built into her DNA already," said her best friend and fellow wheelchair basketball gold medalist Patty Cisneros Prevo of Denver. "It's who she is."

"She is so energetic and positive, but super humble," added Prevo, 38, who was paralyzed in a 1996 car accident. "She's one of those people who makes you feel better about yourself. And she is fearless."
Related: This woman won't let paralysis stop her from extreme sports, beauty pageants
Nichols' personal journey began in New Mexico, where her grandparents formally adopted her at age 5 and introduced her to sports.

"It was a turning point for me," she said. "I played t-ball, then basketball and then snowboarding. Toward the end of high school, I focused on softball, and I dreamed of playing in the Games."

A risk-taker who "loved to go fast," Nichols said she gained "new confidence" on the snowboard and yearned to do a back flip. But in November 2000, while out in the back country, she said she "impulsively" tried it out and failed.

"I gained speed, threw my feet over my head and taco-landed on a four-foot boulder under the snow," she said. "I broke my back in three places and was paralyzed."

At first, Nichols said she was in denial; then when reality set in, she was "broken."

"I couldn't really imagine what paralysis meant even as my doctor described how nerves don't regenerate," she said. "I thought I would walk in a few weeks."

"I couldn't sit up or move or feel my legs and, in rehab, things got heavy," she said. "All my friends who'd visited me in the hospital weren't coming around anymore. It started to get real for me. I felt so alone."
Related: Rodeo champion Amberley Snyder back in the saddle after paralysis
Nichols went on to the University of New Mexico, where only two years later, her "God moment" came in the gym, when she discovered wheelchair basketball.

"I didn't think adaptive sports would challenge me or be nearly as exciting," she said. "What grabbed my attention was how violent it is. These chairs were making huge contact and guys were falling over and getting back up."

"I felt athletic again - the wheels could slant and turn," she said. "I felt agile again. I could move like I wanted to. I saw others in wheelchairs and knew that I didn't have any excuse."

In 2008, Nichols played on the U.S. wheelchair team in Beijing, taking gold. In the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, she won two golds on a mono-ski, one in downhill and another in slalom.

Today, she inspires others through speaking engagements and serves on the Women's Sports Foundation.

"I have a certain responsibility to speak to that young girl who, God forbid, has a spinal cord injury," she said. "She needs to see someone like me who follows her dream and passions, getting an education and getting on the red carpet in heels."

Nichols has a steady boyfriend and said she one day would be "honored to be a mother."

She has forgiven her mother, whom she describes as a "beautiful person." Nichols remains close to her sister and 86-year-old grandmother, her biggest fan.

"When life throws a curveball - and it doesn't have to be a disability - you have to keep going," said Nichols. "Create something new and beautiful out of it."

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Boats and boating--Equipment and supplies

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After a 'God moment,' athlete makes something beautiful out of paralysis

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Alana Nichols imagined she'd be an Olympic softball player, but her dreams were dashed when she was paralyzed. Now, she's making history.

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Video: Paralympic Gold Medalist Sets Sights on Rio

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Video: Paralympic Gold Medalist Sets Sights on Rio

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Paralympic gold medalist sets sights on Rio

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Alana Nichols is the first American woman to win gold in both the summer and winter Paralympics. Now, before the Rio games this summer, she has picked up two new sports. Jeff Glor has the latest.

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Jesse Owens: A Lasting Legend: Owen's Story

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Jesse Owens: A Lasting Legend: Owen's Story

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Last week, Sports Illustrated writer Frank Deford called the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin "the most fascinating and historically influential Games." Reflecting on the 75th anniversary of those summer games, he wrote, "It was novelty and glory and evil all in athletic conjunction as never before or since."

Adolf Hitler went into the Olympics with the hopes of displaying the supremacy of the so-called Aryan race. "With that inherent thoroughness for which they have long been noted, the Germans plunged gayly into every event, some of which they scarcely understood a few years ago," wrote John Drebinger in the New York Times in December 1936.

Ultimately, the Germans placed first overall in the medal count with 101 medals to the United States' second-place earning 57. But, one sport, which the United States prevailed in, was in track and field-thanks, in great part, to a track star from Cleveland named Jesse Owens. The son of a sharecropper and grandson of slaves, Owens began racing at age 13. He became one of the top sprinters in the country while attending East Technical High School in Cleveland and went on to break world records in the broad jump (now called long jump), 220-yard dash and 220-yard low hurdles-and match one in the 100-yard dash-while just a sophomore at Ohio State University. A year later, in 1936, Owens traveled to Berlin, as one of 66 athletes, ten of whom were black, on the United States Olympic track team. "The Nazis derided the Americans for relying on what the Nazis called an inferior race, but of the 11 individual gold medals in track won by the American men, six were won by blacks," reads Owens's 1980 obituary in the New York Times.

Owens became an instant hero, taking home four gold medals-in the 100 meters, 200 meters, broad jump and 400-meter relay. "Traveling with the speed of a Mercury incarnate, this most amazing athlete of all time confounded even Hitler, considered no mean achievement in itself," wrote Drebinger. "Most every time he stepped on the track he broke a record of some sort and in the end received a record-smashing ovation from a vast gallery that seemed fully cognizant of the fact it was acclaiming a most marvelous athlete."

Hitler, however, refused to congratulate him with even a simple handshake.

It was a huge snub. Yet, years later, Owens would acknowledge that the response even from leadership in his own country fell short of what might be expected. President Franklin D. Roosevelt hadn't congratulated him either. Owens never received a phone call from the president or an invitation to the White House. Finally, in 1976, the track star received a Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Gerald Ford.

Today marks the day, 75 years ago, when Owens earned the first of his four Olympic golds, by edging out his teammate Ralph Metcalfe in the 100-meter dash. Post-Olympics, Owens became a much-desired public speaker. In his speeches, he often described what it was like to line up on the track and represent his country in the Olympics. "It's a nervous, a terrible feeling. You feel, as you stand there, as if your legs can't carry the weight of your body. Your stomach isn't there, and your mouth is dry, and your hands are wet with perspiration. And you begin to think in terms of all those years that you have worked. In my particular case, the 100 meters, as you look down the field 109 yards 2 feet away, and recognizing that after eight years of hard work that this is the point that I had reached and that all was going to be over in 10 seconds," said Owens. "Those are great moments in the lives of individuals."

The National Portrait Museum has in its collection (not on display, but in an online exhibition) a painting by the late Paul Calle depicting Jesse Owens leaping over a hurdle. Commissioned by the United States Postal Service, the painting served as the image on a stamp, also in the museum's collection, issued in 1998.

Calle was highly regarded as a stamp designer. His best known stamp is one he made in 1969 to commemorate the moon landing. He was actually the only artist allowed to watch astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins prep for the July 16, 1969 launch of Apollo 11, and a series of his pen-and-ink sketches are on exhibition in " NASA Art: 50 Years of Exploration," at the National Air and Space Museum through October 9.

When Calle passed away in December 2010, at age 82, his New York Times obituary resurrected a morsel he once shared about his process. "When you do a stamp," he said, in an interview after the moon landing, "think big, but draw small."

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Despite a climate thick with racial tension, 75 years ago today, the track star made history at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin

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Jesse held various positions, but serving as playground director in Cleveland was particularly instrumental for him. Here, Owens took a step into what would become a lifetime of working with underprivileged youth, which gave him great satisfaction. After relocating to Chicago, he devoted much of his time to underprivileged youth as a board member and former director of the Chicago Boys' Club.

Owens traveled widely in his post-Olympic days. He was an inspirational speaker, highly sought after to address youth groups, professional organizations, civic meetings, sports banquets, PTAs, church organizations, brotherhood and black history programs, as well as high school and college commencements and ceremonies.

He was also a public relations representative and consultant to many corporations, including Atlantic Richfield, Ford and the United States Olympic Committee.

A complete list of the many awards and honors presented to Jesse Owens by groups around the world would fill dozens of pages.

In 1976, Jesse was awarded the highest civilian honor in the United States when President Gerald Ford presented him with the Medal of Freedom in front of the members of the U.S. Montreal Olympic team in attendance. In February, 1979, he returned to the White House, where President Carter presented him with the Living Legend Award.

On that occasion, President Carter said this about Jesse, "A young man who possibly didn't even realize the superb nature of his own capabilities went to the Olympics and performed in a way that I don't believe has ever been equaled since...and since this superb achievement, he has continued in his own dedicated but modest way to inspire others to reach for greatness".

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Biography | The Story of the Olympic Legend | Jesse Owens

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Jesse Owens was an African-American track and field Olympic athlete who became a sports icon and a symbol of triumph against discrimination.

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Rudolph ran and world went wild
By M.B. Roberts
Special to ESPN.com
Wilma Rudolph was a sight to behold. At 5-foot-11 and 130 pounds, she was lightning fast. Wilma watchers in the late 1950s and early '60s were admonished: don't blink. You might miss her. And that would be a shame.

Wilma Rudolph was the first American woman to win three gold medals in one Olympics.

At the 1960 Rome Olympics, Rudolph became "the fastest woman in the world" and the first American woman to win three gold medals in one Olympics. She won the 100- and 200-meter races and anchored the U.S. team to victory in the 4 x 100-meter relay, breaking records along the way.

In the 100, she tied the world record of 11.3 seconds in the semifinals, then won the final by three yards in 11.0. However, because of a 2.75-meter per second wind -- above the acceptable limit of two meters per second -- she didn't receive credit for a world record. In the 200, she broke the Olympic record in the opening heat in 23.2 seconds and won the final in 24.0 seconds. In the relay, Rudolph, despite a poor baton pass, overtook Germany's anchor leg, and the Americans, all women from Tennessee State, took the gold in 44.5 seconds after setting a world record of 44.4 seconds in the semifinals.

Rudolph's Olympic performances (she also won a bronze medal at age 16 in the relay at Melbourne in 1956) were spectacular. But it is the story of how she got there that makes her accomplishments legendary.

She was born prematurely on June 23, 1940 in St. Bethlehem, Tenn. She weighed 4 1/2 pounds. The bulk of her childhood was spent in bed. She suffered from double pneumonia, scarlet fever and later she contacted polio. After losing the use of her left leg, she was fitted with metal leg braces when she was 6.

"I spent most of my time trying to figure out how to get them off," she said. "But when you come from a large, wonderful family, there's always a way to achieve your goals."

Rudolph grew up in a poor family, the 20th of her father Ed's 22 children (from two marriages). Although she never shared a home with all her siblings and half-siblings at once, there were still plenty of brothers and sisters to serve as "lookouts" if she mischievously removed her braces.

Her brothers and sisters took turns massaging her crippled leg every day. Once a week her mother Blanche, a domestic worker, drove her 90 miles roundtrip to a Nashville hospital for therapy.

Years of treatment and a determination to be a "normal kid" worked. Despite whooping cough, measles and chicken pox, Rudolph was out of her leg braces at age 9 and soon became a budding basketball star.

When she was 11, her brothers set up a basketball hoop in the yard. "After that," her mother said, "it was basketball, basketball, basketball."

At the all-African-American Burt High School, Rudolph played on the girls' basketball team, where her coach, C.C. Gray, gave her the nickname, "Skeeter."

"You're little, you're fast and you always get in my way," he said.

Rudolph became an all-state player, setting a state record of 49 points in one game. Then Ed Temple came calling.

Temple, the Tennessee State track coach, asked Gray to form a girls' track team so he could turn one of the forwards into a sprinter. And Wilma was the one.

She had natural ability she couldn't explain. "I don't know why I run so fast," she said. "I just run."

She loved it enough to begin attending Temple's daily college practices while still in high school. Temple's dedication was inspiring. He was a sociology professor at Tennessee State and unpaid coach. He drove the team to meets in his own car and had the school track, an unmarked and unsurfaced dirt oval, lined at his own expense.

But Temple was no soft touch. He made the girls run an extra lap for every minute they were late to practice. Rudolph once overslept practice by 30 minutes and was made to run 30 extra laps. The next day she was sitting on the track 30 minutes early.

Unity and teamwork were Temple's passions. He reminded reporters after Rudolph became famous that there were three other gold medalists on the platform with her during the relay event. Almost the entire 1960 Olympic team, coached by Temple, came from his Tennessee State team.

Rudolph didn't forget her teammates, either. She said her favorite event was the relay because she got to stand on the platform with them. Regardless, the press and fans in Rome flocked to her.

The newspapers called her "The Black Pearl" and "The Black Gazelle." After the Olympics, when the team competed in Greece, England, Holland and Germany, it was the charming, beautiful Rudolph, fans wanted to watch perform.

Sports Illustrated reported that mounted police had to keep back her admirers in Cologne. In Berlin, fans stole her shoes then surrounded her bus and beat on it with their fists until she waved.

"She's done more for her country than what the U.S. could have paid her for," Temple said.

ZONE POLL

She did more than promote her country. In her soft-spoken, gracious manner, she paved the way for African-American athletes, both men and women, who came later.

When she returned from Rome, Tennessee Gov. Buford Ellington, who was elected as "an old-fashioned segregationist," planned to head her welcome home celebration. Rudolph said she would not attend a segregated event.

Rudolph's parade and banquet were the first integrated events in her hometown of Clarksville.

Rudolph especially inspired young African-American female athletes. Most notable was Florence Griffith Joyner, the next woman to win three gold medals in one Olympics (1988).

"It was a great thrill for me to see," Rudolph said. "I thought I'd never get to see that. Florence Griffith Joyner -- every time she ran, I ran."

Bob Kersee, husband and coach of Jackie Joyner-Kersee, said Rudolph was the greatest influence for African-American women athletes that he knows. His wife went further. "She was always in my corner," said Joyner-Kersee, winner of six Olympic medals. "If I had a problem, I could call her at home. It was like talking to someone you knew for a lifetime."

Rudolph touched Olympians and non-Olympians alike. She had four kids of her own and in her post-Olympic years she worked as a track coach at Indiana's DePauw University and served as a U.S. goodwill ambassador to French West Africa.

She said her greatest accomplishment was creating the Wilma Rudolph Foundation, a not-for-profit, community-based amateur sports program.

"I tell them that the most important aspect is to be yourself and have confidence in yourself," she said. "I remind them the triumph can't be had without the struggle."

Honors kept coming for Rudolph. She was voted into the Black Athletes Hall of Fame in 1973 and the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1974. NBC made a movie about her life from her autobiography, "Wilma."

Rudolph died of brain cancer at age 54 on Nov. 12, 1994 in Nashville. Her extraordinary calm and grace are what people remember most about her. Said Bill Mulliken, a 1960 Olympics teammate of Rudolph's: "She was beautiful, she was nice, and she was the best."

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ESPN.com: Rudolph ran and world went wild

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Rudolph ran and world went wild By M.B. Roberts Special to ESPN.com Wilma Rudolph was a sight to behold. At 5-foot-11 and 130 pounds, she was lightning fast. Wilma watchers in the late 1950s and early '60s were admonished: don't blink. You might miss her. And that would be a shame.

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In 1960, Wilma Rudolph became the first American woman to win three gold medals in track and field at a single Olympics.

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Born: June 23, 1940
St. Bethlehem, Tennessee
Died: November 12, 1994
Brentwood, Tennessee
African American track and field athlete, sports manager, and coach

The African American athlete Wilma Rudolph made history in the 1960 Summer Olympic games in Rome, Italy, when she became the first American woman to win three gold medals in the track and field competition.

An uphill battle

Almost every circumstance was stacked against Wilma Rudolph from the day she was born on June 23, 1940. Her father, Ed Rudolph, had eleven children by a first marriage while his second marriage yielded eight more, of which Wilma was the fifth. At birth she weighed only four-and-a-half pounds. Her mother, Blanche, a housemaid, feared for Wilma's survival from the outset. The family lived in tiny St. Bethlehem, Tennessee, a farming community about forty-five miles southeast of Nashville, Tennessee. Shortly after Wilma was born, the Rudolphs moved to nearby Clarksville, Tennessee, where they lived in town. Her father worked as a porter on railroad cars, and her mother cleaned houses six days a week. Older siblings helped care for the sickly baby who had come into the world prematurely.

At the age of four, Wilma was severely weakened when she contracted polio, a disease that attacks the central nervous system and often causes developmental problems in children. She survived the illness, but she lost the use of her left leg. Specialists in Nashville recommended routine massage therapy for the limb, and Mrs. Rudolph learned it and taught it to some of the older children. Thus, Wilma's legs were massaged a number of times each day, helping her to regain strength. Rudolph's confidence may have flagged at times in her childhood when it seemed she might spend a lifetime in leg braces or even a wheelchair. Through the efforts of her devoted family-and her own steely determination to strengthen herself-she rose from disability to Olympic glory.

Staged a comeback from physical disability

After five years of treatment, Wilma one day stunned her doctors when she removed her leg braces and walked by herself. Soon she was joining her brothers and sisters in basketball games in the Rudolph backyard and running street races against other children her age. "By the time I was 12," she told the Chicago Tribune, "I was challenging every boy in our neighborhood at running, jumping, everything."

Rudolph desperately wanted to play high school basketball, but she simply could not convince the coach to put her on the team. When she finally worked up the nerve to ask him for a tryout, he agreed to coach her privately for ten minutes each morning. Still she was cut in her freshman year. She finally earned a position on the roster at Burt High School in Clarksville, Mississippi, because the coach wanted her older sister to play. Her father agreed to allow her sister to join the team only if Wilma was allowed to join, too.

Rudolph soon blossomed into a fine basketball player. As a sophomore she scored 803 points in twenty-five games, a new state record for a player on a girls' basketball team. She also started running in track meets and found that her greatest strengths lay in the sprint. She was only fourteen when she attracted the attention of Ed Temple, the women's track coach at Tennessee State University. Temple told her she had the potential to become a great runner, and during the summer breaks from high school she trained with him and the students at Tennessee State.

An Olympian

The Olympic Games were a far-off dream to a young African American woman in Tennessee. She was a teenager before she even learned what the Olympics were. Rudolph caught on fast, though. In four seasons of high school track meets, she never lost a race. At the tender age of sixteen, she qualified for the Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, and came home with a bronze medal.

Rudolph entered Tennessee State University in the fall of 1957, with the intention of majoring in elementary education. All of her spare time was consumed by running, however. The pace took its toll, and she found herself too ill to run through most of the 1958 season. She rebounded in 1959, only to pull a muscle at a crucial meet between the United States and the Soviet Union, the former country made up of Russia and several smaller nations. Ed Temple, who would prove to be a lifelong friend, supervised her recovery, and by 1960 Rudolph was ready to go to Rome, Italy.

At the 1960 Olympics, Rudolph won all three of her gold medals in very dramatic fashion. In both the 100-meter dash and the 200-meter dash, she finished at least three yards in front of her closest competitor. She tied the world record in the 100-meter and set a new Olympic record in the 200. Rudolph also brought her 400-meter relay team from behind to win the gold. The French called her "La Gazelle." Without question, Rudolph's achievements at the 1960 Olympic Games remain a stand-out performance in the history of Olympic competition.

After the fame

Wilma Rudolph became an instant celebrity in Europe and America. Crowds gathered wherever she was scheduled to run. She was given ticker tape parades, an official invitation to the White House by President John F. Kennedy (1917-1963), and a dizzying round of dinners, awards, and television appearances.

Rudolph made one decision that she stuck to firmly: she refused to participate in the 1964 Olympic games. She felt that she might not be able to duplicate her achievement of 1960, and she did not want to appear to be fading. She retired from amateur athletics in 1963, finished her college work, and became a school teacher and athletic coach. She also became a mother, raising four children on her own after two divorces.

Talent didn't go to waste

For more than two decades, Wilma Rudolph sought to impart the lessons she learned about amateur athletics to other young men and women. She was the author of an autobiography, Wilma, which was published in 1977-and the subject of a television movie based on her book. She lectured in every part of America and even served in 1991 as an ambassador to the European celebration of the dismantling of the Berlin Wall, the wall that for three decades separated East from West Berlin, Germany. Rudolph helped to open and run inner-city sports clinics and served as a consultant to university track teams. She also founded her own organization, the Wilma Rudolph Foundation, dedicated to promoting amateur athletics.

Rudolph was a member of the United States Olympic Hall of Fame and the National Track and Field Hall of Fame. She traveled frequently and was well known for her motivational speeches to youngsters.

On November 12, 1994, Wilma Rudolph died at her home in Brentwood, Tennessee, of a brain tumor. She is survived by two sons, two daughters, six sisters, two brothers, and a truly inspirational legacy.

For More Information

Coffey, Wayne. Wilma Rudolph. Woodbridge, CT: Blackbirch Press, 1993.

Flanagan, Alice K. Wilma Rudolph: Athlete and Educator. Chicago: Ferguson, 2000.

Krull, Kathleen. Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma Rudolph Became the World's Fastest Woman. San Diego: Harcourt Brace, 1996.

Ruth, Amy. Wilma Rudolph. Minneapolis: Lerner, 2000.

Sherrow, Victoria. Wilma Rudolph: Olympic Champion. New York: Chelsea House, 1995.

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Born: June 23, 1940 St. Bethlehem, Tennessee Died: November 12, 1994 Brentwood, Tennessee African American track and field athlete, sports manager, and coach The African American athlete Wilma Rudolph made history in the 1960 Summer Olympic games in Rome, Italy, when she became the first American woman to win three gold medals in the track and field competition.

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Video: Wilma Rudolph's Incredible Career

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Video: Wilma Rudolph's Incredible Career

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Wilma Rudolph's Incredible Career | Olympic Records

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📲 Subscribe to @olympics: http://oly.ch/Subscribe A look back at the career of Wilma Rudolph and her remarkable gold medal haul in the 1960 Rome Games as part of our Olympic Records series. _____________________________________________________ 🇨🇳 #Beijing2022 replays: https://oly.ch/B22Replays 🇯🇵 #Tokyo2020 replays: https://oly.ch/T20Replays 🗞️ News from the Olympic world: https://oly.ch/News

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Story highlights

Erik Weihenmayer has scaled the seven summits and braved the violent rapids of the Colorado River - in the dark.

But his greatest challenge started at 4 years old when he was diagnosed with a rare eye disease called juvenile retinoschisis. For almost 10 years, Weihenmayer was faced with an inevitable truth: One day he wouldn't be able to see the world around him.

By his freshman year in high school, Weihenmayer was blind.

"I wanted to be with my friends and going on dates," he says. "I was afraid that I wasn't going to be able to participate in life."

But his parents refused to let him sit on the sidelines.

"My dad would sweep me out into the world and I'd get beat up a little bit and shattered," he recalls. "And my mom would build me up and my dad would sweep me out again. And that's a hard thing to do as a parent."

Before losing his sight, Weihenmayer couldn't participate in physical sports because it would damage his retinas, making his sight get worse at a faster pace. In a way, going blind allowed him to start his life.

He joined the wrestling team and went all the way to the National Junior Freestyle Wrestling Championship in Iowa.

"Wrestling really changed my life because it was the first time as a blind person that I was a part of something bigger than me," Weihenmayer says.

He also learned how to rock climb.

"I remember loving rock climbing because it's a stable rock face. It's not moving, hopefully, and you're just feeling your way up the rock face," he says.

After graduating from Boston College, Weihenmayer moved to Phoenix to be a teacher. He spent every weekend rock climbing with the Arizona Mountaineering Club.

His quest for adventure began to take shape after he and a team of friends climbed Denali, the tallest peak in North America.

"I thought how amazing to make your life like this great adventure and just go around and be on every continent climbing the tallest peak," he remembers.

After scaling four of the seven summits, he set his sights on Everest.

"A lot of the Himalayan experts said the ice is so hard up high, you can't throw your ice ax down into the snow so you cannot stop if you fall," Weihenmayer says. "You can't think at high altitude. Above 26,000 feet, you're in the 'death zone' so your brain doesn't work very well. So it wouldn't be a good place for a blind person."

But he never lost hope.

"They were judging me on the basis of one thing that they knew about me and that was being blind. But they didn't realize that there are a dozen other attributes that contribute to whether you're a good mountaineer or not," he says.

Weihenmayer put together a strong team, received funding from the National Federation of the Blind and set out on his most dangerous and deadly expedition.

"You gotta keep an open, clear mind throughout the whole experience. You get beat down one day, just completely crushed, and you gotta wake up the next day and do it all over again," he says.

Despite his critics, in 2001, Weihenmayer became the first blind person in history to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

"You can't even believe it in a way that you're standing up there. You're with your team, and yeah, there might be a few tears. You hold your flag and you get your photos but then you have to turn around and get down," he recalls. "You gotta get down alive."

Weihenmayer not only made it down the mountain, he went on to climb the remaining seven summits in 2008.

Always seeking new adventures, Weihenmayer spent the next six years training to kayak the 277 miles of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon.

"Sitting above a rapid knowing that in the next two minutes you're going through absolute insanity ... it was a very different experience from climbing," he says.

Weihenmayer used waterproof Bluetooth radios to communicate with his guide. He and nine other paddlers made it through the Grand Canyon in 20 days.

"I'm not just doing these things so I can prove that blind people can do this or that. That's kind of shallow," he says. "You do it because that's living fully."

Weihenmayer is using that mantra to help others. He co-founded the nonprofit No Barriers in 2005 to help people overcome obstacles through educational programs, adaptive activities and transformative experiences.

"No Barriers is about really figuring out how to tap into whatever we've got inside of us and then build the tools and the community around us to break through barriers, live with purpose and be the person you're meant to be," he says.

Throughout his life, Weihenmayer has been featured in three documentaries and written three books: "Touch the Top of the World," "The Adversity Advantage" and "No Barriers," which will be available in February 2017.

The now 47-year-old, who lives in Colorado with his wife and two kids, also uses his story to inspire others through motivational speeches.

"It really takes this mindset of not being afraid to turn into the storm," he says. "In our lives all of us in a way are climbing blind."

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'All of us in a way are climbing blind' | CNN

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Erik Weihenmayer is redefining what it means to be blind. He's breaking down barriers in his own life and helping others do the same.

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Erik Weihenmayer: The Only Way to Climb Everest Is to Go Do It

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Erik Weihenmayer: The Only Way to Climb Everest Is to Go Do It

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Video: Blind Adventurer Reaches New Heights

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Video: Blind Adventurer Reaches New Heights

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Story highlights

Erik Weihenmayer has scaled the seven summits and braved the violent rapids of the Colorado River - in the dark.

But his greatest challenge started at 4 years old when he was diagnosed with a rare eye disease called juvenile retinoschisis. For almost 10 years, Weihenmayer was faced with an inevitable truth: One day he wouldn't be able to see the world around him.

By his freshman year in high school, Weihenmayer was blind.

"I wanted to be with my friends and going on dates," he says. "I was afraid that I wasn't going to be able to participate in life."

But his parents refused to let him sit on the sidelines.

"My dad would sweep me out into the world and I'd get beat up a little bit and shattered," he recalls. "And my mom would build me up and my dad would sweep me out again. And that's a hard thing to do as a parent."

Before losing his sight, Weihenmayer couldn't participate in physical sports because it would damage his retinas, making his sight get worse at a faster pace. In a way, going blind allowed him to start his life.

He joined the wrestling team and went all the way to the National Junior Freestyle Wrestling Championship in Iowa.

"Wrestling really changed my life because it was the first time as a blind person that I was a part of something bigger than me," Weihenmayer says.

He also learned how to rock climb.

"I remember loving rock climbing because it's a stable rock face. It's not moving, hopefully, and you're just feeling your way up the rock face," he says.

After graduating from Boston College, Weihenmayer moved to Phoenix to be a teacher. He spent every weekend rock climbing with the Arizona Mountaineering Club.

His quest for adventure began to take shape after he and a team of friends climbed Denali, the tallest peak in North America.

"I thought how amazing to make your life like this great adventure and just go around and be on every continent climbing the tallest peak," he remembers.

After scaling four of the seven summits, he set his sights on Everest.

"A lot of the Himalayan experts said the ice is so hard up high, you can't throw your ice ax down into the snow so you cannot stop if you fall," Weihenmayer says. "You can't think at high altitude. Above 26,000 feet, you're in the 'death zone' so your brain doesn't work very well. So it wouldn't be a good place for a blind person."

But he never lost hope.

"They were judging me on the basis of one thing that they knew about me and that was being blind. But they didn't realize that there are a dozen other attributes that contribute to whether you're a good mountaineer or not," he says.

Weihenmayer put together a strong team, received funding from the National Federation of the Blind and set out on his most dangerous and deadly expedition.

"You gotta keep an open, clear mind throughout the whole experience. You get beat down one day, just completely crushed, and you gotta wake up the next day and do it all over again," he says.

Despite his critics, in 2001, Weihenmayer became the first blind person in history to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

"You can't even believe it in a way that you're standing up there. You're with your team, and yeah, there might be a few tears. You hold your flag and you get your photos but then you have to turn around and get down," he recalls. "You gotta get down alive."

Weihenmayer not only made it down the mountain, he went on to climb the remaining seven summits in 2008.

Always seeking new adventures, Weihenmayer spent the next six years training to kayak the 277 miles of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon.

"Sitting above a rapid knowing that in the next two minutes you're going through absolute insanity ... it was a very different experience from climbing," he says.

Weihenmayer used waterproof Bluetooth radios to communicate with his guide. He and nine other paddlers made it through the Grand Canyon in 20 days.

"I'm not just doing these things so I can prove that blind people can do this or that. That's kind of shallow," he says. "You do it because that's living fully."

Weihenmayer is using that mantra to help others. He co-founded the nonprofit No Barriers in 2005 to help people overcome obstacles through educational programs, adaptive activities and transformative experiences.

"No Barriers is about really figuring out how to tap into whatever we've got inside of us and then build the tools and the community around us to break through barriers, live with purpose and be the person you're meant to be," he says.

Throughout his life, Weihenmayer has been featured in three documentaries and written three books: "Touch the Top of the World," "The Adversity Advantage" and "No Barriers," which will be available in February 2017.

The now 47-year-old, who lives in Colorado with his wife and two kids, also uses his story to inspire others through motivational speeches.

"It really takes this mindset of not being afraid to turn into the storm," he says. "In our lives all of us in a way are climbing blind."

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'All of us in a way are climbing blind' | CNN

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Erik Weihenmayer is redefining what it means to be blind. He's breaking down barriers in his own life and helping others do the same.

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Touching the Top of Everest - 1st blind ascent