2 . Jessica Long, from Baltimore, Maryland, USA is a champion by all definitions of the word. She is one of the world’s most decorated swimmers. Jessica was the youngest athlete to win a Paralympics (残奥会) medal. But her path to becoming a champion has been anything but easy.

Jessica was born in Irkutsk, Russia with a severe and rare disease — fibular hemimelia (腓侧半肢畸形). This means that part of her leg bones was missing or abnormal. Because of that, her young mother placed her in a Russian orphanage (孤儿院), fearing she could not care for Jessica.

Fortunately, she was adopted by an American family when she was 13 months old. She required 25 different surgeries to help her leg condition. But unfortunately, both of her legs had to be removed when she was just 18 months old. Jessica learned to walk with artificial legs. As a child, she took to sports including gymnastics, cheerleading, ice skating, biking and rock climbing.

She began swimming at her grandparents’ house when she was 6. She started competitive swimming about 4 years later. She did really well in swimming. Shortly after she started competing, Jessica was selected as Maryland’s Female Swimmer of the Year with a Disability. Even though Jessica was annoyed with her physical limitations, she was encouraged to enter her first Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece. She won three gold medals in swimming at 12! But she did not rest on her success.

Jessica has gone on to win 23 medals for Team USA at the Paralympics! While she began her career out of anger and annoyance, she now has a positive force on a mission to inspire the next generation of Paralympians! Her attitude and growth have been keys to her success. Jessica always believed she could do anything. As she says, “The only disability in life is a negative attitude.”