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Sholeh: Olympians shatter stereotypes

| August 2, 2012 7:23 AM

The Olympic Games teem with inspiring stories. All Olympians possess admirable traits by definition - perseverance, strength (of mind and body), and the determination necessary to get them to the opening of the 2012 Olympics in London this month.

Nevertheless, a few take "inspire" to new heights, breaking barriers of prejudice, war, poverty, and other difficulties. One doesn't have to be an athlete to be moved. Comparing our own lives, they also serve as a reminder that "problems" can be relative.

Poverty

Gladys Tejeda (age 26, Peru) ran her first race just for kicks 10 years ago with borrowed tennis shoes. She'd never heard of the Olympics; her family's mud-brick home didn't include a TV until 2007, when they watched the Beijing games. She loved to run - to the store or herding her family's farm animals barefoot. Encouraged by villagers one race at a time, the lightning-fast Tejeda caught the attention of a trainer in 2009, leading her to London.

Gender

As a young girl in a tiny and conservative village in India, Geeda Phogat (now 23) tussled secretly with her sisters. Girl babies in her state are often selectively aborted as undesirable. They often marry as children and dress in loose cotton pajamas. They don't wear track suits and wrestle. Her non-traditional father encouraged and coached her, but her community was less than pleased and chastised her (although their tune began to change after her first national gold medal). Yet here she is: India's first female Olympic wrestler.

Believe it or not, at 71, Hiroshi Hoketsu is not the oldest Olympian ever to compete. Swedish shooter Oscar Swahn was 72 when he competed at the 1920 games. Nor is this Hoketsu's first Olympics; the Japanese dressage competitor also competed at the 1964 Games. Small of stature and understated, he is still as healthy as a horse. Healthier in fact than his own horse, Whisper, whose illness nearly prevented their participation in London this week.

Political strife

Mohamed Hassan Mohamed (22, Somalia) has lived with war most of his life. The road he trained upon was so plagued by sniper fire it was called "the road of death." He once fled war to Yemen, surviving days on a crammed little boat without food or water. He didn't have the equipment, personal trainers, special diet, and other benefits of his competitors, but he never considered that suffering. "My life is good," the 1,500-meter runner told Christian Science Monitor correspondent Abdiaziz Ibrahim.

One of the many side effects of sexual abuse is to feel weak, broken. Suicidal thoughts are par for the course, often for a long time and especially for a teenager. Kayla Harrison (21, U.S.) has been there. Her abuser? A coach and family friend. That's a double whammy; trusting another judo coach would have felt impossible for many. Yet Harrison is in London, ready to compete, thanks to her mother's decision to move and two Massachusetts coaches with impeccable ethics.

So many Olympians throughout history have blasted stereotypes and defied expectations. Perhaps simply to be an Olympian is to defy expectations, certainly the laws of averages. Each is inspiring. So as spectators watch the games in the coming days, to have the full experience is to consider not only comparative distances, times, strength, and skills, but to remember the lives and experiences that brought each one - and the game itself - to this point.

Sholeh Patrick is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Contact her at sholehjo@hotmail.com.