Dani Aravich.Photo: Tom Pennington/Getty Images for Team USA
“I think I just wanted to hop into the next thing, and obviously Beijing was so soon after, that I feel like I have to — while I want to give myself rest or vacation, you got your eyes on that, you got to keep going towards that,” she explained. “I’d say my mindset to Tokyo was actually quite different than my mindset going into Beijing, because Tokyo, I didn’t feel as confident in my event I was doing — I was pretty new to it and just felt inexperienced.”
Her goals for Tokyo, she said, were just to have a good race and to “feel good about it.” But for Beijing, Aravich — who was born without her left hand and forearm — is dreaming big.
Since qualifying, “there’s definitely stress, and I get overwhelmed sometimes, but I’m trying to just think, ‘Whenever you’re overwhelmed, just think about your training, focus on the training and the rest will come.’ "
Dani Aravich.Tom Pennington/Getty Images for Team USA
She’s had to “sacrifice” a lot to make this happen, but Aravich said it’s “all worth it.”
“I left a full-time stable job in order to take part-time little jobs while trying to train and training is so expensive, so expensive and then training for two sports, between travel and equipment, it’s just a lot,” explained Aravich. “So I think all of it will mean that it was all for something. All the sacrifices and stuff were for something.”
To learn more about all the Paralympic athletes, visitTeamUSA.org. Watch the Winter Paralympics, beginning March 4, on NBC.
Karen Mizoguchi
source: people.com
