If I had not been dyslexic, I wouldn't have needed sports. I would have been like every other kid. Instead, I found my one thing, and I was never going to let go of it. That little dyslexic kid is always in the back of your head.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
If I wasn't dyslexic, I probably wouldn't have won the Games. If I had been a better reader, then that would have come easily, sports would have come easily... and I never would have realized that the way you get ahead in life is hard work.
My greatest gift in life was being dyslexic. It made me special. It made me different. If I had not been dyslexic, I wouldn't have needed sports.
But I was very much into sports when I was a child.
I was a dyslexic kid.
By the time I was 8 years old, sports had pretty much taken over my life.
If I was born again, I would be able to do any sport because I would have time to learn.
Sports have always been a big part of my life. At school, I played a lot of different sports, and I was competing with other schools. I did everything: running, volleyball, basketball, soccer, Olympic-style gymnastics, and more! My history with sports gave me good concentration, focus, strength, and motivation to stay healthy.
I was dyslexic, I had no understanding of schoolwork whatsoever. I certainly would have failed IQ tests. And it was one of the reasons I left school when I was 15 years old. And if I - if I'm not interested in something, I don't grasp it.
For me, sports is a big part of my life. It helped me through high school. It helped me get better grades, because if you don't have good grades, you can't play sports.
The one advantage of being dyslexic is that you are never tempted to look back and idealise your childhood.