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.
You do not have to persuade others to help you; all you need do is believe you are what you want to be and then let the world (which is nothing more than yourself pushed out) go to work to make your assumption possible.
The world takes us at our own valuation. It believes in the man who believes in himself, but it has little use for the timid man: the one who is never certain of himself, who cannot rely on his own judgment, who craves advice from others, and is afraid to go ahead on his own account.
The block of granite which was an obstacle in the pathway of the weak, became a stepping-stone in the pathway of the strong.
I was built this way for a reason, so I'm going to use it.
Let people say whatever they like, stick to your own convictions, and rest assured, the world will be at your feet. They say, "Have faith in this fellow or that fellow", but I say, "Have faith in yourself first", that's the way. Have faith in yourself-all power is in you-be conscious and bring it out. Say, "I can do everything."
You are the power in your world! You get to have whatever you choose to think!
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