Perhaps we need to redefine our idea of role models; they're not always elite athletes whose success might seem too distant or unachievable. Sometimes it's our friend who just smashed her first 10k, or our Zumba teacher who is enthusiastic, encouraging and real.
Interpretation
Role models can be everyday people who inspire us through their achievements and support.
In this quote, Tanni Grey-Thompson emphasizes the importance of redefining who qualifies as a role model. Rather than solely focusing on the elite and famous figures, she suggests that we should also acknowledge the achievements of ordinary individuals in our lives, such as friends or teachers, who motivate and uplift us by their genuine efforts and relatable successes.
In practice
In a motivational speech to encourage young athletes.
I wouldn't have had a sporting career if it hadn't been for the volunteers who agreed to coach me, as a teenager, growing up in south Wales, at a time when others were telling me that wheelchair racing wasn't really athletics.
As a disabled person I have to think and plan far more than anyone else. If I want to catch a bus I have to consider whether the ramp works, whether there will be someone in the one space who doesn't want to move. It can be a constant worry.
Disability sport came about largely because of exclusion, because mainstream sport didn't want disabled people to be part of it.
If all you're doing is grinding for the man, it's going to burden you. Once you say, 'Hey, I'm grinding for the man, but I'm putting money away, and this is part of my exit strategy,' you're working for you.
I said, 'I'm going to the United States to study with Stella Adler and do movies because nobody here has done it and my passion is films.' But I came here and I didn't speak English, I didn't have a green card, I didn't know I had to have an agent, I couldn't drive, I was dyslexic.
I was in that part of the class that made the top half possible.
I like to solve problems. I know it is a skill set, but it's also an obligation. I grew up with parents who believe that you don't simply complain: you try to find solutions and fix what's in front of you.
Set your target and keep trying until you reach it.
Our elevation must be the result of self-efforts and work of our own hands. No other human power can accomplish it. If we but determine it shall be so, it will be so.
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