Zitat des Tages von Lee Pearson:
Paralympics has always had to push the media into it being about sport and not focusing on the disability.
When people chat to me about my childhood and getting into horses, they're like, 'Was it like the birds sang and the sun came out? Was it an amazing experience?' I'm like, 'No, it was rubbish. I was frightened. I was pretty unbalanced, and most ponies took advantage of me.'
I'm just a genetic freak, but it has never stopped me from doing whatever I want to.
I couldn't pedal a bike as a child, so I had a donkey instead. I loved the power and freedom it had.
I think it's phenomenal and expected that Paralympians will take on able bodied people more and more. In dressage, it happens all the time. But there are very few adaptions, and they are never allowed to give you an advantage.
I feel lucky that I found my talent, not unlucky that I was born with a disability. When I'm on a horse, I'm more worried about what the riding hat is doing to my hair than what my bent legs and arms are doing. What riding has given me is respect.
You know that the world is a better place when people can come up to a severely disabled person and say: 'Well done. You are an inspiration.'
Before taking up dressage, I'd distanced myself from the Paralympics because I hadn't wanted to be defined by my disability. Then when I grew up and got an office job, things started to change. I'm actually allergic to horses, but I'm even more allergic to paperwork!
I've dominated past competitions, but I've sweated blood and tears for every medal. I take nothing for granted, and I'm fully focused on doing my best.
For me, Paralympic sport isn't about being the best human being. It's about being the best human being with that particular level of disability.
My life's been surreal from start to finish.
I just love the development of horses, getting into their brains, making them more athletic and powerful, responsive, and I'm rubbish at everything else.
My motivation is paying the mortgage. No joke. Honestly. I still suffer with nerves and think, 'Why am I putting myself through this torture?' It's not actually the love of winning - it's that building of a partnership with a horse. Just riding horses every day keeps me going. And that threat of losing the mortgage.
I'm a gay disabled man who has become very successful. I don't get up in the morning and think I'm inspirational; I just get up thinking that I love horses.
If you try singling me out to my mother, she'll be down your throat. She has three sons, and she's equally proud of us all.
