1 . I had been swimming for years but was ready to quit. My _________ reason was that I kept receiving “Honorable Mentions”, just because I showed up.

One day before a big swim meet, I decided to _________ the news to my grandma that I was _________ the swim team. When I told her, she said, “Baby, remember: Quitters never win and winners never quit.” I was _______   to say anything but “Yes, ma’am.”

The next day we arrived at the swim meet late, _________ my group. My coach _________ I swim with the older group. I knew she was _________ me in the race so our journey to the meet would not be wasted, and she had no expectations that I would _________ anything but eighth place as there weren’t nine _________.

As I was __________ the board, my grandmas words rang in my head. I shut my eyes and took a deep breath.

SPLASH! I swam harder than ever. After a little while, I was __________ to find that I had a half-body length ________ over others. However, they soon __________ the gap. Halfway through the race, the girl to my left almost ________ me. Right then, the powerful words __________ again in my ears. I __________ my arms and legs and used every last bit of __________ to swim the last 50 meters.

I made it! Narrow victory as it was, I did win my first real __________ that day. Everything felt like a dream as I stood on the winner’s __________. Back at home, I __________ replaced all the “Honorable Mentions” on my shelf.

2 . I am a champion. I have won medals in three different sports and was proud to represent Canada at the international level in basketball. I _______ five days a week, working with top quality coaches and mental performance consultants to be at my _______ in my sport. By the way, all that is _______ the Special Olympics.

I was born with a(n) _______ disability. The older I got, the _______ it became for me to keep up with everyone else. _______ I joined in the Special Olympics, I was shy, not confident and didn’t have many friends so I felt _______. When I got there, _______, everyone was very encouraging, supportive, and let me be myself without being _______. Now, I have ________ it all the way to the World Games. Being a Special Olympics athlete ________ my pride and dignity.

I’m here giving this talk not because I’m a ________ case. I am here because there is still a big ________ with the way many people treat people like me. The world does not ________ us as champions. Not long ago, we were ________ and hidden away. And in too many cases, people with intellectual disabilities like me are ________ to the wider population.

I am here today to challenge you to look at us as ________. I am no longer hidden and bullied. Now, I have dreams and achievements in my sport and I am ________ a career as a personal trainer. I would like to leave you with one final thought. “Sports have the ________ to change the world.” The Special Olympics are giving us a place to be confident, meet friends and get to feel like and ________ champions.

3 . Everybody wants what’s best for their kids, but nobody knows what that is. It might be succeeding, but it might be_________.

Many of us who played youth sports remember the defeats far more_________than the victories. You just don’t _________with teammates after a win like you do after a loss. That’s when you learn to express and accept empathy(共鸣). I’ve_________this as a member of the hockey(冰球) parent. In the course of this second career, I have_________a coach and cheer leader while watching my son promoted.

In his third season, his team_________lost over three straight games, won a gold medal and made a deep_________in the league. There was_________, happiness and boasting(自夸). He improved as a_________but didn’t much change as a person.

For that, you need to__________. The next year his team lost 40 of their first 50 games. For a time, I worried that these setbacks would__________his love of the game that he’d hate hockey and__________. But that didn’t happen. As__________as it got, the losing was clarifying. It__________the kids who were in it more for the__________than for the game. The losing separated__________players from “show ponies”. Besides, the kids were learning the game in a way only losing can__________, appreciating the__________of every position on the ice.

This new team had character and could never be counted out, no matter the__________. They had learned the most important__________: You can lose without being beaten.

4 . Thomas Panek made history this week when he became the first blind person to complete the New York City Half Marathon with guide dogs and no human assistance.

With about two thousand people around _______ the game, a group of blind people _________their New York City Marathon at 9:00 this Wednesday. _______ it was still a little cold as it was raining _______, the people without their sight ran fast with the help of their _________. Falling down sometimes, they _________ up and went on running, which was attractive, _______ and encouraging.

Of course, some few dogs didn't _________their hosts in the right way. As a result, those _______ didn’t finish their task, but they were really________ . In the end, only about twenty blind people ________ their destination. Among them, Panek did the __________, who got the first place in the game.

With the ________ of his three dogs named Waffle, Westley and Gus, which __________ leading him throughout the 13.1-mile race, Panek ________ the finishing line in just over 2 hours 20 minutes.

The game __________ at about 12:00, and many people were so __________ by the sport spirit of the blind people that they were not __________ to leave the spot. When asked about his feeling of the game, “no matter what __________ is, " said Panek, 48, who is CEO of Guiding Eyes for the Blind, "don't let __________ tell you that you can't."