First of all, I want to talk about the bravery of the disabled athletes, who are a true source of inspiration for me. Therefore, I’m going to present you Jim Abbott and Esther Vergeer, the two people who, for me, best represent this notion of courage and determination.

So, Jim Abbott was born on the 19th of September 1967 in the U.S.A. Unfortunately, he was born without a right hand, but that didn’t stop him from becoming one of the most famous professional baseball pitcher. Indeed, he played at the Paralympics in 1988, where he won a gold medal.
Let’s talk about Esther Vergeer. She was born on the 18th of July 1981 in Netherlands. In fact, she is a dutch professional disabled tennis player, actually, the best wheelchair tennis player of all time : she is almost undefeated with 97 % wins. However, her disability occured at the age of 7 years old : she had a stroke and became paraplegic.

To conclude, I chose these two athletes because they are for me, the most inspiring people. First, Jim Abbott make us understand, in one of his quotes, that it’s not the disability that define someone but it’s how they deal with the challenges that the disability present them with. Then, I opted for Esther Vergeer, first because she plays the same sport than me which is really inspiring and also because she can play it perfectly, which demand power, endurance and strategy, despite her disability. They show us that, althought they are disabled, the real force is in the spirit and nothing is impossible if you believe in what you do.