Most Inspirational Sports Stars To Motivate You

Playing sports requires determination, pain, and sacrifices, but despite those, it’s rewarding. However, what happens when a tragedy, hardship, or accident leaves you in an impossible situation? The following athletes could have given up but decided to succeed against all odds!

All of the most inspirational sports stars on the list have achieved something incredible, motivating us as well. They say getting up after crushing defeats makes an athlete a champion. The following people proved that anything is possible! The list could go on and on, but let’s see whose stories we chose for this article!

Most Inspirational Sports Stars – Roy Englert

Who said you can’t stay fit over a certain age? Roy Englert started running at age 60 after reading a book that said exercise was the key to health and long life. Thirty-seven years later, he is living proof of this theory. Roy lives in a retirement home and works out on a treadmill two to three days a week at a fitness center. In 2019, he set the world record at 5000 meters for the age group between 95 and 99. However, it was a long road to setting the record. 

The war veteran had never been big on sports. After serving as a naval officer for three years and participating in the Normandy landings, he built a successful career as a lawyer. His first training session required an enormous effort on his part though it was only a quarter mile.

However, with regular training, Roy increased the distance, so much so that at the senior competition at Georgetown University, he competed in two categories and won a gold and a silver medal. It was his first competition, and the success motivated him to continue.

For the next several decades, Englert and his wife, Helen, traveled around America to participate in competitions. Helen died in 2014 after 65 years of marriage. Eventually, Roy remarried, and now his second wife accompanies him to the events. In addition to the 5k record, he holds records in the 800 and 1500-meter races. He is still a member of several competing teams, though, not surprisingly, there are not many races in his age group.

Bethany Hamilton is One of the Most Inspirational Sports Stars!

Bethany Hamilton’s name often comes up when talking about inspirational sports stars, and for good reason! The young professional surfer and mother of three, who lost her entire left arm as a teenager in a horrific shark attack, is a role model for all of us. If you check out her career and pictures at online sportsbook sites in the UK, she doesn’t look like someone who was hindered by her injury. 

One would think that after such a trauma, the young girl’s dreams of professional surfing would remain dreams. However, she was back on a surfboard a month after the shark attack.

Although she practically had to learn to surf again with one arm, at first, she used a longer and more solid board, Bethany was already competing at the beginning of 2004, and the same year she took home a gold medal. Bethany’s story spread around the world in no time. She also wrote a book about the attack and how she returned to surfing, taking solace in it.

In 2011, her story was made into a movie called Soul Surfer. It is a fun fact that we can see Bethany Hamilton herself in the surfing scenes in the film. She has appeared in countless talk shows and given just as many motivational speeches. Her faith helped her through the worst part of her life, but her unbelievable inner strength and determination rewarded her with a spectacular life. You can check out her upcoming competitions at 20Bet Sportsbook and read about the 2023 WSL Women’s Championship predictions!

Nikki Hamblin and Abbey D’Agostino

Nikki Hamblin, from New Zealand, tripped and fell during the 5000-meter heat. The American athlete, Abbey D’Agostiny, who was running right behind her, could not avoid colliding with Hamblin, injuring her knee as a result of the fall. The next seconds made them one of the most inspirational sports stars on many online sportsbook sites in the UK. D’Agostiny comforted the sobbing Hamblin until both tried to continue, but the American runner’s knee couldn’t handle her weight. 

This time, Hamblin was trying to help, but G’Agostiny told her to keep running because she couldn’t keep pace. Eventually, Abbey also completed the distance, even with an injury, and the two women embraced at the finish. That is sportsmanship at its finest, folks! The judges allowed the two sporting competitors to the final, but only Hambling could compete. D’Agostiny tore her knee ligament.

Most Inspirational Sports Stars – Zion Clark

Zion Clark’s story is probably the most unique and motivating on the list, if not anywhere. He was born without the lower part of his spine and legs, weighing only 1,36 kilograms. Everything he got in life destined him to fail, and yet he became one of the most inspirational sports stars. Clark could have lived his life feeling sorry for himself or using alcohol and drugs to escape, but he decided to make the best of it against all odds! He spent the first sixteen years of his life in foster care, so you can probably imagine what he must have endured during his childhood.

He grew up mentally, emotionally, and physically abused. No one cared for him until he turned seventeen. Kimberly Hawkins changed his life after she adopted Zion, giving him the motherly affection and support he deserved. That was when he discovered wrestling too, which defined his life.

At Massillon High School, he met Dil Donahue, who became not only his coach but also a father figure. It is incredible what two persons’ support could do, and Zion Clark’s success is proof of that.

At the beginning of his career, he still got bullied and felt out of place, but persistence and determination brought him success. Several colleges wanted him on their wrestling teams. In the end, he chose Kent State, where he studied business management and played sports.

Nowadays, a small team helps him train, and a documentary was made about his life as well. He is a motivational speaker and influencer. Moreover, in 2021, he set a Guinness World Record in the 20-meter hand-walking with 4,87 seconds. If it’s not enough, Clark wants to become the first American athlete to participate in both the Olympics and the Paralympics. Follow his career at 20Bet Sportsbook!

Alex Zanardi Never Gives Up!

It’s hard to decide whether he is lucky or unlucky! In 2001, former Formula 1 driver Alex Zanardi suffered a horrible accident during the EuroSpeedway Lausitz race. The two-time champion, while exiting the pit lane, slid through the grass onto the track where cars came at high speed, and Alex Tagliani crashed into his car.

The impact destroyed the entire front of his Mo Nunn Racing ‘66 Reynard-Honda. The doctor described Zanardi’s injuries as if he had stepped on a land mine. His legs literally exploded after both arteries got severely damaged.

On the way to the hospital, Zanardi’s heart stopped twice, and after the life-saving surgery, he was kept in a coma for days. When the 34-year-old competitor woke up, he had to face the fact that both of his legs were missing. However, instead of being angry and depressed, he was grateful for his life, and not only that. Losing both legs and 75% of their blood would easily destroy anyone’s spirit of competition but not Zanardi’s. Shortly after his accident, he became interested in hand cycling. After a month of training, he already finished fourth in the 2007 New York Marathon handcycle race. 

People still hold Zanardi’s name in high esteem in the motor racing world. Fifteen years after his tragic accident, he has not sunk into anonymity at all. Instead, he keeps inspiring professional and amateur athletes today, especially after winning two times at the London and once at the Rio Paralympics. He had another life-threatening accident during a race in 2020, after which he spent 18 months in the hospital, and if that is not enough, a fire at his home damaged the machines needed for his recovery so he required treatment again.

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