| | | | | | | | | | | الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية | المعرض | حوار | |
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| | They encouraged me to follow my calling, develop my talents and pursue my dreams. And they encouraged me to contribute these... |
| As a child and young adult, I certainly knew that I had a love of sport and a desire to give back to these communities somehow. I never could have imagined, however, that one day I would go on to compete in the Olympic Games or become the first American woman elected to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as well as the first African American elected. |
| | I first discovered my love of sport at the age of four when I learned to swim. That summer my parents decided it was time for my brother to learn to swim. By default I ended up spending a lot of time going to pools and to state parks to swim in the lakes. It was a wonderful time. It wasn’t until I was seven or eight, however, that I had a chance to take part in competitions and join a team. That was when I first participated in a swimming team at Frederick Douglas Public Park. |
| | I arrived at Connecticut College and I was determined to try out for the basketball team. This was largely due to the fact that back in Indiana “Hoosier Hysteria” – Indiana’s fanatical love of high school basketball – was a very real thing for the boys, but did not apply to girls’ basketball. So, even though I didn’t really know that much about the sport, I tried out for the team. The coach said to me, “Anita, take the high post.” I thought to myself, “I don’t know what that is . . . |
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| | My true athletic calling, however, came to me my sophomore year in college when I was introduced to rowing. It was just an opportunity presented. I was walking across campus and I saw this strange looking vessel. I enquired into what it might be and asked the man standing by it, “What is that?” He replied, “It’s for rowing and you’ll be perfect for it!” I immediately thought to myself, “This guy is giving me a line. I’ve never been perfect for anything. شاهدي القصة بٲكملها » |
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