7 Extremely Inspiring Athletes

Athletes inspire us! Apart from inspiring those who plan to take sports as a career, there are so many life’s lessons that sportsmanship teaches a person. It teaches you to fight for what you want. It teaches you that nothing can be earned without sheer hard work and perseverance. It teaches you never to give up. And it also teaches you that nothing is impossible. There are so many wonderful things that these athletes below have taught us. Here are 7 extremely inspiring athletes you would love to read about.

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Bethany Hamilton

1. Bethany Hamilton

This American professional surfer is most famous for surviving a shark attack. In an unfortunate tragedy, Bethany Hamilton lost her left arm. However, she never let this shortcoming pose as a barrier for her love to surfing. She has written an autobiography that was published in the year 2004, about her inspiring story. It is called “Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board.” The movie, "Soul Surfer" is also based on her. She is not just an inspiring athlete, but an icon for the youth!


Photo Courtesy: Noah Hamilton

Michelle Kwan

2. Michelle Kwan

She is a proud winner of the Olympic medal, two times. She has also won World Championship, five times. And Michelle Kwan has won the United States championship nine times! This is enough evidence for the fact that she has taken the sport of figure skating by storm. She alone is responsible for bringing this sport into highlight and giving it the respect that it truly deserves. She is a learning example of a graceful athlete by showing magic, femininity and creativity while she beautifully glides around the ice rink.


Photo Courtesy: Arabani

Michelle Wie

3. Michelle Wie

She started playing golf professionally when she was only 16 years old. However, her love affair with gold started when she was only 4 years old. She made headlines when she had won the United States Women's Open at the young age of 13 years. She is fondly nicknamed as, "The Big Wiesy" for her beanstalk 6'1" stature. She is not just a great athlete, but also has a brain. She was a student of Stanford University. However, she had to drop out of it so that she could focus on golf.


Photo Courtesy: Keith Allison

Melissa Stockwell

4. Melissa Stockwell

Melissa Stockwell is a famous and inspiring American war veteran, paratriathlete, a former swimmer, a Purple Heart recipient, paralympian and an above the knee amputee. She was the first woman soldier to lose a limb in the Iraq war. She lost her limb when a roadside bomb exploded during a convoy. However she did not let this affect her spirit. She said, “I can really do anything I want to do, missing leg or not.” She trained herself to compete in the Paralympic Games for the United States in 2008. For this, she became a record holder for the 100 meter freestyle and also for the 100 meter butterfly in swimming.


Photo Courtesy: MilitaryHealth

Lisa Leslie

5. Lisa Leslie

Lisa Leslie is one of the most prominent faces among women who play basketball. She has again and again blazed trails while on and off the court. In the year 2009, she became the first player to score 6000 points in her career. In the year 2011, her fans voted her as one of the Top 15 players in the history of Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). And she truly deserves it as she has broken a number of records at WNBA. She also is guilty of winning the regular season of Most Valuable Player (MVP), All-Star Game MVP and also a playoff MVP, each of them in the very same season.


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Jennie Finch

6. Jennie Finch

Jennie Finch is one of the most prominent and well-known softball players ever! Her extremely good pitching skills were one of the main reasons why the United States team was able to win an Olympic gold medal in the year 2004. She was the one who brought a kind of femininity to the sport that was non-existent before. She is truly an icon not just for her impressive athletic skills, but also for her elegance, beauty and grace.


Photo Courtesy: C5813

Alice Coachman

7. Alice Coachman

Alice Coachman is famous for making history as the first women to win a gold medal at the Olympics in the year 1948. What she is most appreciated for is, overcoming the adversity for an African-American person to participate in sports. Her love for sports still continues as she encourages young and aspiring athletes through her non-profitable organization.


Photo Courtesy: thestrugglecontinues-robin.blogspot.in

So here we had seven wonderful awe-inspiring women you could learn so much from. Hope you liked the article and found it inspiring!