Today I’m excited to welcome Loretta Claiborne to the Seasoned Athlete Podcast. Loretta was born in 1953 with physical and intellectual disabilities and did not walk or talk until four years old. Doctors told her mother that Loretta belonged in an institution because she would never survive in the "regular" world.
Loretta, a Special Olympics athlete, is a gifted motivational speaker who shares her life story that carries a heart-felt message of acceptance and hope worldwide for all people with different abilities. Her mother refused and chose to raise her the same as her other children. Despite her [different] abilities, which led to years of being bullied, teased, and hostile retaliation, she credits the Special Olympics as her positive force that turned her life around.
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We discuss:
How the special Olympics has impacted her life.
The various mentors that have helped her throughout her life.
Why age and physical ability should never stop you from going after your dreams.
How she has found healing and freedom through running.
All of the ways she has committed her life to activism.
… and more!
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Here are some highlights.
How she got into running
“I started running in 1966 and then the next year or so they decided, girls can run in the hallway. The girls really went to bat and we all got together and we walked down to the small field, what we called the metal field, and the guys were running and us girls were just standing there waiting for them to get finished, we didn't say anything to the principal, then we all gathered around the track. I don't think we ever got up to run, but I remember some kids picking on me, and my cousin said, ‘You know what, I'm tired of you all messing with her. We're gonna have her running a mile against you. And the first run, I started lapping them.”
How women were treated in sports in the 60’s and how it continues today
“It was amazing that the women were told, This is not what you do, but I started karate, I remember going to a tournament, my sense took us to a tournament, I was the only girl, the Tartu, and there was no place for the girls to get dressed, it was all for the males. Girls were like second fiddle people.”
Her parting piece of wisdom
“Keep your faith, even when times are hard. Keep moving, and don't let nobody tell you just because you're a Seasoned Athlete, that you can't do this and you can't do that. Remember the more you move the better off you'll be. Age is just a way of thinking.”
Learn more about Loretta here.
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