EXCLUSIVE: U.S. Paralympic Runner April Holmes On Sharing Gold With Fellow Americans

by UInterviewSeptember 13, 2012, 12:00 amNews >

U.S. Paralympic runner April Holmes, 39, won her gold medal in the T44 100m event in 2008's Olympic games in Beijing — a couple of steps up from her 2004 Athens bronze medal win, and while her legs — one artificial from a train accident she had in 2001 — took her far, her positive attitude took her even farther.

"There are so many people along the Olympic journey that I believe helped me get to the top of the podium," Holmes told Uinterview.com in an exclusive interview. And that includes the medical staff who cared for her after her leg was amputated and the doctor who first introduced her to the idea of being a Paralympian. "They encourage you. They’ll say, 'I’m cheering for you.' They’ll say, 'Go Team USA.'"

Holmes has an interesting approach when it comes to her gold medal, too, taking it wherever she goes so people can see it and passing it around the rooms for audiences to see when she has speaking engagements. "People are like, 'I never held a gold medal before.' I think to myself, of all the Olympians that you may have seen, none of them have ever thought to pass their gold medal around? But to me, with the promise I made to God, you give it to me and I’ll pass it around and let the world see it," she told us.

Check out Uinterview's full exclusive with U.S. Paralympic rummer April Holmes here:

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