拓展与应用

Jean Driscoll

  Jean Driscoll can go faster in her wheelchair than the world's best marathoners' can run!

  In April, Jean finished the Boston Marathon in 1 hour 34 minutes 22 seconds. That's about 33 minutes faster than the winning male runner! She competes on the track, too. She was second in the 800-meter wheelchair demonstration race at the 1992 Olympics.

  Jean doesn't like to be told she's brave. “I'm not in sports because I'm courageous,” she says. “It's because I'm a competitive person!” Jean was born with spins bifida, a birth defect that damages the spine. She began to use a wheelchair to get around in high school. Then she tried wheelchair soccer and was amazed. “Players banged each other and fell out of their chairs,” she says. “It was fun.”

  Jean tried other wheelchair spots. At the University of Illinois, her wheelchair basketball team won two national titles.

  Now Jean coaches and teaches. She tries to get people to set goals. “When I sign my autograph,” says Jean,” I write, “Dream big and work hard.”

  Winford Haynes

  Winford Haynes was about 7 years old when a doctor told him he had a disease that would make him blind before he turned 30. The disease is retinitis pigmentosa, which makes the retina deteriorate.

  Winford, age 39, is blind now. But he doesn't think about it much——he's too busy! He teaches physical education at a school for blind adults and teaches judo to blind and sighted people at a youth center in Alamorgordo, New Mexico.

  Winford also competes in track and judo. “Judo is a good sport for a blind person because you use your sense of touch,” says Winford.

  At the 1992 Summer Paralympics, Winford finished fourth in the 200-meter dash and sixth in judo.

  “What I do is a statement to my students,” he says, “it says,” You have lost your vision. It's no reason to stop living. If you want to do soothing, find a way to do it.”

Question for discussion

When Driscoll signs her autograph, she writes “Dream big and work hard.” What do you think of this advice? Why?

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