Smile, smile and smile, that's what you see on the face of Paralympian Erin Popovich, the "Michael Phelps" at the pool of Paralympics.
Popovich is on a program of Goodwill Tour in Beijing on Aug. 1-5 organized by the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC). She visited a local sports school, Shichahai Sports School, along with other five U.S. Olympic hopefuls and USOC chief of sport performance Steven M. Roush.
Popovich is the most active athlete in the tour in spite of being handicapped. Popovich was born with achondroplasia, a genetic disorder of bone growth that is evident at birth. It is the most common of the group of growth defects characterized by abnormal body proportions. Affected individuals have arms and legs that are very short, while the torso is more near normal size.
The deformation of body has not stopped her becoming a top swimmer. Popovich won a whopping six medals -- three golds and three silvers, and set four world records in the process. Then in the 2004 Athens Paralympics, Popovich put together the most impressive performance of any athlete, grabbing seven golds out of seven events including two relays.
As a dwarf, Popovich can not move that fast, but she is filled with passion on sports. On Friday's visit to Shichahai Sports School, a cradle of Chinese world and Olympic champions, Popovich played badminton and table tennis with the students there.
She could handle the shuttle cock well and smiled a lot whenever she hit it back, but the table tennis was too much for her to control. The ball missed the table again and again. And she was curious staring at the little pixie, shook her head and smiled.
Popovich admitted the hardship of training as a professional. "It's very tough to train from technique to strength, but swimming brings me a lot of pleasure at the same time," said Popovich, adding she would like to compete in eight events in the Beijing Paralympic Games.
According to Popovich, sports brings her happiness. On the other hand, her smile and optimism brings her confidence and passion in sports and out of sports. The smile also provides her the energy living a normal life and then a glorious life .
"I don't want to retire after the Beijing Games," said the 22-year-old. "If it's possible, I'd go to the 2012 London Paralympics."
Popovich aspires to study medical science and become a doctor after she leaves the pool.
She is now a student at Colorado State University, where she takes her training for the 2008 Paralympic Games.
Source: Xinhua
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