Around the Institute

A Conversation with Olympic and Paralympic Athletes

April 22, 2013

Geared to the youth of the Roaring Fork Valley, the conversation featured:

Gary Hall, Jr.: Board of Directors, National Youth Sports Health & Safety Institute
Olympian, Swimming
Gary’s accomplished athletic career includes 10 Olympic medals (1996, 2000, 2004) and induction into the Swimming Olympic Hall of Fame. In 2012, Gary was inducted into the United States Olympic Hall of Fame. Diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, Gary is an ardent advocate for diabetes care.

Nancy Hogshead-Makar: 4 time Olympic medalist, swimming
Undefeated in dual meets in high school and college, Nancy went on to become a world-class lawyer and advocate for girls and women in sports, appearing on national news shows including 60 Minutes, Fox News, CNN, ESPN, NPR, and MSNBC.

Jackie Joyner-Kersee:  First Lady of the Heptathlon
6 time Olympic medalist, heptathlon
When she was born on 3 March 1962, she was named Jacqueline after the wife of U.S. President John F. Kennedy because, in the words of her grandmother, “Someday this girl will be the First Lady of something”. She was right.

Michelle Kwan: the Most Decorated Figure Skater in U.S. History
 5 World Championships, 9 U.S. championships, 2 Olympic medals
In the nearly 100-year history of U.S. figure skating, no American man or woman has won more world titles, national titles or Olympic medals.

Sarah Reinertsen: Ironman athlete, Paralympian, “Amazing Race” Competitor
In 2005 Sarah became the first woman to finish an Ironman on a prosthetic leg, in 2006 she earned the ESPN ESPY for best female athlete with a disability. Her book “In A Single Bound” is an honest, touching and funny memoir about how a feisty, one-legged girl struggling to fit in with her two-legged friends grows up to become a world-class athlete and TV personality.