at the White House gala in December  2001

The story of Loretta Claiborne asks us to see human beings as special people. Loretta is an inspiration to each of us. Only in living in the pain and joy of Loretta's passion for life, will we see and touch the deepest parts of others and ourselves in new and creative ways. 

chezsuzanne.com

loretta claiborne

York -  Pennsylvania 1953

sgma.com

nata negli Stati Uniti da una famiglia povera di sette figli cresciuti dalla sola madre; ipovedente e con un modesto ritardo mentale, non fu in grado di parlare e di camminare fino ai quattro anni. Riuscì infine ad uscire parzialmente da questa penosa condizione - i medici corressero la sua vista, anche se le rimase un notevole strabismo - e pian piano cominciò anche a correre, spinta dal fratello. Da quel momento non si è più fermata, diventando un'atleta, una maratoneta capace di concludere 25 maratone riuscendo anche a piazzarsi due volte tra le prima cento donne nella maratona di Boston.
Non è stata la corsa l'unico sport della sua vita, anche se ad essa la Claiborne deve molto. Ha praticato il karaté, lo sci, il golf, la pallacanestro, il nuoto, il bowling e il pattinaggio su ghiaccio. Anzi, dopo una vita spesa a correre, la Claiborne da qualche anno ha abbandonato la maratona e si è dedicata proprio a questo sport, partecipando agli Special Olympics World Games invernali, vincendo nel 2005 la medaglia d'argento, e partecipando, all'età di 55 anni, alle gare di singolo e di danza nei Giochi 2009 che si sono da poco conclusi. "Non sono una campionessa" - ha commentato - "ma il pattinaggio mi piace moltissimo".
www.artonice.it/?q=it/node/6731

Loretta Claiborne a "Super Champion" at Harley-Davidson Meeting

.....The theme of the conference was "Full Throttle." ......
The Super Champions were asked to speak about what enabled them

to achieve their goals.

 No matter what I do

if it is running a race doing my sports in Special Olympics

 knitting a project or helping others

I always go   'full throttle'  !
      specialolympics.org

Games' figure skater: 'I didn't think I had a voice'
Loretta Claiborne, now a Special Olympics board member, was once rejected as an athlete.
"I was the one who went to the principal and said, 'We need to have a track team,' " said Claiborne, a 55-year-old Special Olympics figure skater competing in the 2009 World Winter Games this week in Idaho. "Everyone's afraid they're going to get their toes stepped on, so they used the dummy, which was me.
idahostatesman.com - 2009

Where There’s a Will: Having already dominated the world of running (she’s even finished in the top 100 women at the Boston Marathon twice), a pumped-up Claiborne has decided to lace up the skates and compete at the Nagano Games. Although the fourth-degree black belt in karate dedicates part of every day to training, Claiborne also manages to volunteer her time to teach knitting to members of her local community and inspire anyone who knows her name.

Some people got mad at me but I said that’s the problem in our society. We look at the big picture and not the small picture. I’d rather have somebody who’s committed than somebody who’s very very good at something but not committed

Loretta Claiborne mourns friend Eunice Shriver
Local athlete said she owes many of the joys in her life to Eunice Kennedy Shriver, her friend who founded the Special Olympics.

I didn't think I deserved to be in a painting with Mrs. Shriver said Claiborne, the York native who has competed in six Special Olympics World Games, winning medals in running, bowling and figure skating.

jeeff frantz - ydr.inyork.com - 2009

.

Proud to have Claiborne as our ambassador
"My job is to go out and help build support for Special Olympics Claiborne said in her book, "In Her Stride." "We're changing negative attitudes about people with intellectual disabilities."
ydr.inyork.com - 2009

eunicekennedyshriver.org/letters/letter/43

Night of Heroes
Loretta Claiborne to deliver keynote address at Special Olympics Delaware’s ‘Night of Heroes at UD Clayton Hall.
Loretta Claiborne is the middle of seven children raised in a poor, single-parent family. Born partially blind and with a mild intellectual disability, she was unable to walk or talk until age 4. Eventually, though, she began to run. And before she knew it, she had crossed the finish line of 25 marathons, including twice placing among the top 100 women in the Boston Marathon.
She's carried the torch in the International Special Olympics, won medals in dozens of its events, and also holds the current Special Olympics women's record (17 min.) in her age group for the 5000 meters.
Although she loved to run, and even used her speed and strength to protect herself in fights against cruel classmates, she credits Special Olympics with helping her realize that her tremendous athletic talent could also be used to change lives beyond the track.
Today, Claiborne is a celebrated athlete who was honored in 1996 with ESPN's ESPY Arthur Ashe Award for Courage. Her life is recounted in the Walt Disney Productions film “The Loretta Claiborne Story,” and between the covers of “In Her Stride,” a biography published by WorldScapes.
Considering all of Claiborne's achievements, these are just small steps in her life's mission to show that persons with mental and physical disabilities are equal to those without.
Claiborne runs every day — often about five miles, even when she plans to go only three or four. Why? Just for the joy of it, the joy of the moment. It's how she lives her life.

I don't really look toward the future

because you don't know what tomorrow will bring

You have to live your life for today
delawareonline.com - 2009 dec 3

Loretta Claiborne visited York County School of Technology and delivers anti-bullying message to York County tech students  -   she asked to name the worst weapon on their bodies.    They guessed.    Fists ?  Legs ?  Elbows ?
'You're wrong' she said before someone called out the correct answer -- their mouths.
'You think things don't hurt somebody but what comes out of this mouth is awful Because you use it before you think'
she said .

ydr.com - 2012

https://youtu.be/0XXqr_ZSsMg  - let's talk ...   2012