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Athletes in Impossible Is Nothing

Gilbert Arenas: Basketball Player

NBA All Star

“When no-one else believes in you – believe in yourself.”

“Hi, I’m Gilbert Arenas and this is my story,
When I entered the NBA,
the first 40 games of my career I sat on the bench.
They said I was gonna play zero minutes.
You know I just think they didn’t see the talent that I had.
They thought I was a zero.
Instead of sitting there being bitter,
I just practiced, practiced.
If no one believes in you,
Anything you do is a positive.
It wasn’t even about basketball any more,
It was about proving them wrong,
Now the reason I wear No. 0 is because it lets me know that I need to go out there and fight
every day,”
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Josmer Altidore: Soccer player

Major League Soccer player at age 17

“Push yourself further, and you find out what you’re really made of.”
“I’m Jozy Altidore
And this is my story.
When I was five,
I kicked the ball too hard.
Parents were afraid I would hurt the other kids.
So I had to play with the eight-year-olds.
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My weapon was gone. I was scared.

But you just got to fight for every loose ball.
You know, that's what it’s about at any age.
Now I’m playing in the MLS at age seventeen.
I’m still taking on all the big guys,
That’s when you find out what you’re really made of.”
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David Beckham: Footballer

England Captain 2000 – 2006

“You will go through tough times. It’s about coming through that.”
“My name is David Beckham and this is my story.
I still look back to ‘98,
Of course I wish it hadn’t have happened,
How I sort of reacted as a young boy,
I think I cried for about 5 or 10 minutes literally,
I’m feeling goose bumps now.
I was having death threats,
I never felt safe for 3.5 years.
It can knock a person down so much that they just go under,
After I scored the goal against Greece,
All of the sports writers, they just stood up and started clapping me,
To have that from the harshest critics,
That was a huge thing,
You will go through tough times,
It’s about coming through that.”
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Asmir Begovic: Football Goalkeeper
U-20 National Team Canada

“No matter how bad things get, make the most of what you've got.”
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Yohann Diniz: Race Walker

2006 European Champion 50 km Walk

“Keep moving forward and do what you love.”

“I am Yohann Diniz and this is my story,
When I started out practicing speed walking it was difficult,
Nobody shared my passion and I ended up training by myself,
Little by little I realized that what others thought didn’t matter,
Of course winning the European Championships was great,
But what’s really great is not doing what others expect from you,
It’s to reach your dream.”
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Everest Boys: Rob Gauntlett & James Hooper

Youngest Britons to climb Everest

“If you keep on putting one foot in front of the other, you¹re going to get to where
you need to be.”
“We’re Rob and James and this is our story,
When we were 16 we saw this article about Everest,
We looked at each other and said “why not?”,
People laughed at us and thought we were crazy,
There was a 25% chance that one of us wouldn’t come back,
You’re gasping for air,
There’s a mile drop each side,
If you keep on putting one foot in front of the other,
You’re gonna get to where you need to be,
It doesn’t stop here,
We want to become the first ever to travel from pole to pole,
Using only man power.”
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Allyson Felix: 200 M Sprinter

World Champion

“People putting you down can drive you to do things you didn’t even think you
could do yourself.”
”My name is Allyson Felix and this is my story,
I started out playing Basketball,
And they coined me with the name chicken legs,
And so I wasn’t too happy about that,
That I felt like, you know, even though my legs are skinny, I can still be strong,
Well I came out for the track team,
And kind of wanted to prove everyone wrong.
After that I started racing against professional runners,
And just really just making some of my dreams come true
People putting you down can drive you to accomplish things that maybe you didn’t think that
you could yourself.
Being called chicken legs - I just use it all as motivation.
I still get called it now.”
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Andrés Guardado: Soccer player

Mexican National Team

“The things you fear, you just fear them in your head.”
“I am Andrés Guardado and this is my story,
There was a moment in the World Cup,
A fear of not being able to deliver,
In a big stadium with lots of people seeing you,
You have to enjoy it as you have,
With your friends,
In the street with two rocks as goalposts,
The things you fear, you fear them in your head.”
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Yelena Isinbayeva: Pole Vaulter

First woman to clear five meters

“Where you start isn’t necessarily where you end up.”

“I am Yelena Isinbayeva and this is my story,
Since when I was a kid I dreamed of being the great Olympic champion in gymnastics,
But that’s very difficult for me because I was so tall,
Now gymnastics is finished for me.
My coach asked me: do you want to try pole-vault,
I say: What? What is it please?
When I started to do pole-vault they say,
OK in future you will jump five meters,
First I say are you crazy,
I improve myself every year,
Now I have 19 world records,
Where you start isn’t necessarily where you end up.”
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Jonah Lomu: Rugby Player

New Zealand All Black 1994 – 2002

“You have to fight for every step of the way to your impossible.”
“My name is Jonah Lomu and this is my story.
When I sat down with one of the top kidney specialists,
And he turned and said to me,
You are facing life in a wheelchair,
That was tough to accept.
If anything I didn’t accept it.
For a guy who used to run around the world playing rugby,
And then chained to a machine for 8 hours,
6 nights a week,
I had to look deep down inside me and
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I found the power within.

In the space of 3 years,
I’ve got out there, played rugby, when I shouldn’t have.
I had to fight for every step to get there.”
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Lionel Messi: Footballer

FIFA U-20 World Cup Champion

“Sometimes bad things can turn out good.”

“My name is Lionel Messi and this is my story,
When I was 11,
I was diagnosed with a growth hormone problem,
But being smaller than the others, I was able to be more agile and that helped me play 'my'
football,
And I learned how to play football below the others and with the ball on the ground,
Because that is where I felt the most comfortable,
Now I realize,
Sometimes bad things can turn out quite good.”
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Peng Shuai: Tennis player

Chinese Federation Cup Team

“Your biggest challenges will make you stronger.”

“I am Peng Shuai and this is my story,
I faced the biggest challenge when I was 12,
I had to either operate on my heart,
Or give up my tennis, which I love,
Since then, I have gone on to face even more challenges,
Each time they only make me stronger,
Thanks to the 12-year-old me,
That little girl who decided to face the challenge,
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Of giving her whole heart to her beloved tennis.”

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Kathryn Smolen: Runner

Boston Marathon

“You can always go further, you just have to find out what gives you an extra
push.”
“I’m Kathryn Smolen and this is my story.
I lived at the bottom of a big hill.
I would run up the hill and that would be it.
That’s really when I started using music to help me run.
Just to finish one track felt like an accomplishment.
You build up from there
and add a couple of songs, a couple of miles.
It’s unbelievable.
Like, I would’ve never told you I’d be running the Boston Marathon.
You can always go further than you think you can,
You just have to find out what gives you an extra push.”
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St Margaret’s: Under-13 Football Team

“Even a small victory is a good place to start.”

“I play for St Margaret’s and this is our story,
The first time we played we lost 19:0,
Next games we lost 16:0, 8:0, 20:0, 5:0, 6:0, 10:0.
Then there was this one weekend,
We lose again: 6:1.
We were happier than the team that even won the match.”
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Ian Thorpe: Swimmer

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Winner of 5 Olympic Gold medals

“If you have determination, whatever the challenge is, you can overcome it.”
“My name is Ian Thorpe and this is my story,
Most people find it hard to believe,
But when I was a kid I was allergic to chlorine,
You could say it was like my Kryptonite,
I’d often probably go to training when I was too sick,
I just had huge sinus headaches in chlorine pools,
I think it helped me develop my passion and my drive in the pool,
I was willing to get constantly sick,
It was a difficult thing, but it made me realize how much I enjoyed it,
I didn’t learn anything from any of the successes that I had,
I learned everything I know about myself today,
From how I got there and what I had to sacrifice,
If you have determination,
Whatever the challenges out there,
You have the potential within yourself,
To be able to overcome it.”
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Tsuyoshi Nishioka: Baseball player

Stolen base king for 2 consecutive years (2005, 2006)

“By taking risks you can go further.”

“I am Tsuyoshi Nishioka and this is my story,
To tell you the truth,
There was a top baseball school,
That I always wanted to go to,
But they didn’t think I was anything special,
That was the turning point,
I wanted to prove them wrong,
I guess I learnt that if you pursue the route that you believe in,
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You can be No. 1 in the world.”

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Jeremy Wariner: 400m Sprinter

Olympic Gold Medalist

“You’ve got to start somewhere, you’ve got to finish somewhere, and you’ve got
to be focused doing it.”
“My name is Jeremy Wariner and this is my story.
As a little child,
I was hyper,
Always chasing around,
I just feel like I was born to run,
I ran for school,
I ran for college,
And now I run for my country.
Even if I am 70 I still want to at least try and run a little bit.
Some people say why do you run?
I ask, why did you stop?”
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Ma Xiaoxu: Footballer
2006 Asian Female Player of the Year

“The best way to make a challenge easier is to make yourself stronger.”

“My name is Ma Xiaoxu and this is my story,
When I first started to play football,
It came to me easily,
My first time in the national team,
I wasn’t even 16 years old yet,
I practiced for some time,
Then I was sent back,
It was hard work,
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But I wasn’t going to let it stop me,

Now I realize that.”

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