Posted on 06/13/2008 9:59:52 AM PDT by Bushwacker777
"For the 33-year-old mother of three, securing a slot on the U.S. Olympic team was the culmination of a quest that began more than a decade ago — and has been punctuated by huge disappointments, months of intractable pain caused by a herniated disk, back surgery and lessons learned from her autistic son.
Despite the toll lifting has taken on her body and the pain she has endured, the former gymnast says she loves the sport.
...
Roach's Olympic quest has been both complicated and enriched by her son Drew, who is autistic. Not long after Drew was diagnosed three years ago, Roach went into a near depression.
A devout Mormon, she prayed her son would get better. When he didn't, she went to her bishop in tears. He told her to stop focusing on what Drew couldn't do. "
(Excerpt) Read more at npr.org ...
Nice story and she looks awsome !!!!!
npr?
oops forgot the “e” in awesome
Some women say the same thing about childbirth.
Great story though.
"If you could crawl into my body and truly enjoy the sense of accomplishment, you would do it, too!" she says.
Years ago (maybe the 50's or 60's) I read a cheap dime novel either detective or sci-fi ... or both .... about the Russians had developed a program and a drug that pushed athletes on, ond on, and on, and on ... and the principle was, if an athlete did nothing but train, he or she could/would be a super human and ... I'm not sure I remember correctly ... but the super training I DO remember.
One scene in the book was an athlete, I think a woman, that had transgreesed somehow, or had missed something or made a mistake ... I forget ... but she was punished by witholding the drug and locking her in a room/cell that kept her from training and she was reduced to a blubbering mess of a human being, not unlike a junkie that will do anything ... twice ... for a fix.
That was the first thing I thought of when I read the above quote.
I cringe to think of this lady, after herniated disk and back surgery, lifting all the weight!
She could probably lift more if she wasn't wearing golf shoes.
Despite the toll lifting has taken on her body and the pain she has endured, the former gymnast says she loves the sport.
“Some women say the same thing about childbirth.”
Childbirth is a sport? How exactly does one score that?
:)
She went natural with the second child and every time I saw the seismograph they hooked her up to spike up, I stepped back from the bed, yelling "breathe" from across the room.
Like a watermelon seed contest, I suppose.
“Like a watermelon seed contest, I suppose.”
Yeah, I guess a weightlifter babe could probably get a good loft on one. Don’t know about accuracy though...
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