In order to protect Linda, her parents didn' t encourage her twin sister to compete. At the University of Illinois, spraining an ankle while walking, she met her future coach, Brad Hedrick, who tried to recruit her for the women's wheelchair basketball team. I was petrified. That confidence carried her through college, law school and six years of world competition. Despite her success, she was not allowed to compete at Barcelona because only five women showed up.
All people see is the chair.
She wants to be treated as a peer, not patted on the head or put on a pedestal. When people first meet me, they're surprised I finished law school. I have 'X' amount of world records, but it doesn't make a difference. People don't understand that it takes the same abilities for me to be a good athlete as Jackie Joyner-Kersee. But that doesn't stop the butterflies before a race.