Olympians often face large obstacles to get to the Games. Two athletes discussed their struggles Thursday in the Union’s Saltaire Room.
The event, hosted by the Associated Students of the University of Utah’s Diversity Board, “The Heart of a Champion,” was attended by about 50 people.
The athletes, U.S. Paralympian Candace Cable and Ethiopian Olympian Fatuma Roba, addressed the specific challenges they have faced in their lives.
“Adversity isn’t really a word I think about because I like to look at the opportunities I have with this wheelchair,” said Cable, who broke her back in a car accident in 1975.
However, one of the biggest challenges Cable faces is ignorance. Because she competed in the 2002 Paralympics, she was able to meet President Bush. A fellow Paralympian delivered a speech, and after the speech many came up to Cable to mistakenly congratulate her for the speech, which she did not deliver.
“People still just see the cover of others, we need to look beyond that,” she said.
Although Roba is able-bodied, she faced her own challenges. In 1996, Roba became the first female African Olympic gold medalist. She began her running career when she had to run the 10 km distance from her home to her school every morning and afternoon. That was incredibly difficult for her because she was running 20 km a day at the age of 15, she said through her translator, Prince Stefanos Mengesha.
Mengesha is currently doing humanitarian work in Ethiopia, and Roba has joined his work. Along with non-profit organizations, they are attempting to alleviate hunger in villages.
“Ethiopian athletes have been trying to change things on a local level, but we haven’t done any real international outreach,” she said.
Cable is also working to improve her community.
“In the Lake Tahoe area, a group of citizens in wheelchairs has come together to make the place more accessible with gutter cuttings and ramps,” she said.
She also has to fight as a woman in sports. In road racing, she has fought to get the same prize money as men, and she also said women aren’t as well sponsored as men.
“Women just aren’t taken seriously in sport,” she said. “If I were in charge, I would see more all-women things. Women often don’t feel really comfortable excelling in a combined arena.”
Roba would take a different approach to improving women’s status in athletics.
“I think that solidarity is required,” she said. “It’s very important for women to come together.”