A young man from South Africa beat the odds to clinch a gold medal at the Rio Olympics. Born prematurely 4 years ago, the doctors had predicted he would suffer a disability if he lasted more than 24 hours but he prove them wrong.
He also made his mother and other members of his family proud. His mother was also involved in track and field events back in her days but she could not go further because of apartheid rule back in the days.
Odessa Swarts, a track-and-field athlete who competed provincially in South Africa, couldn't qualify for the national team, let alone the summer Olympics, because of her ethnicity while the country was under apartheid. She never got the chance. But her son is making up for it. According to CNN.
Her son, Wayde did not only participate at the Olympics, he broke a world record and no one is prouder than his mother right now. For someone who could not follow her dreams, for someone who was told her son would end up with a disability, she is so blessed to see him achieve this feat.
He said
"I was totally blind on the outside lane. I remember hitting the 200 mark and still feeling there's not much people around me, and I got to the last 100 meters and I'm like, 'I still don't feel anyone close to me,'" van Niekerk told CNN in an interview.
It was such an impressive moment that the world's fastest man, Jamaican Usain Bolt, climbed the stands of the stadium and embraced him.
Recalling his birth, his mother said;
"He was born (prematurely) at 29 weeks. I went into labor at 28 weeks and there was no stopping him," his mother told CNN.
"He was very skinny ... he was just flesh and bone. We were told if he makes it through the first 24 hours, he will have a disability," Swarts said. "Today he's standing on the world stage. Who would have ever thought?"
No comments:
Post a Comment