Dana Mathewson, the handling player in a wheelchair in the American team in San Diego, California, is preparing to establish her country at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. Classified No. 1 in the United States, No. 8 on a foreign scale in double and No. nine in Simple, Dana has made a logo in the global scene with out of competition actions. His impressive race includes the Pan American Santiago 2023 games in single and double gold medalist, a quarter of the United States in 2017, and Wimbledon’s Double Championship in 2022. Having been a key player in the 200nine World Cup team to 2011 and 2015-2022, Dana is a leading force in train in a wheelchair.
Dana was diagnosed with rare autoimmune disease, transverse myelitis, at the age of 10, which led her to use a wheelchair for mobility. While he was in the hospital, his mother took the initiative to explore the adaptive sports that Dana can try. Dana, first, experienced rugby and basketball, but when he tried tennis, anything click. It was like a better adjustment.
At age 13, Dana attended her first tennis camp in Coronado, California, near her hometown of San Diego. There he met national and former paralympic coaches of the American team. Knowing them was a turning point for Dana, while beginning to see them as models, illustrating what you can get thanks to tennis. Before attending the clinic, he had never noticed or heard of tennis in a wheelchair, however, delight gave him the confidence and emotion that despite everything promoted it to a competitive game.
While Dana approached the university era, she was recruited through the University of Arizona, where she contributed and perfected her skills. With that of their coaches and their mother, who identified their perspective to excel even at the upper levels, Dana has had priority over the professional scene. He began establishing ambitious objectives, especially at the festival at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.
Dana’s mother, her greatest defender and a key explanation why for her good fortune, either in tennis and life. When reflecting on the role of her mother in the formation of her trip, Dana shared: “She never let my disability describe me. ” Instead of shitting her daughter, Dana’s mother encouraged him to be proactive about her situation. After being discharged from the children’s hospital, Dana’s mother reminded her that there were responsibilities that were waiting for her at home. When Dana responded with surprise, asking: “Are you really talking?” His mother replied: “Yes, your arms are still working. They will be emptied in Dishher. ” Dana now considers this maternal as pivots, knowing that even if she had a disability, that did not mean that she was incapable. This mental state, instilled through his mother, shaped Dana’s attitude and prepared him for good fortune personally and as a professional adult.
A vital impediment to all tennis, adaptive and valid players is the monetary charge of supporting a professional career. Although classified more productive athletes can work well, many others have problems doing everything they spend. The prices of the coaches and other expenses are high. For Dana, it was a difficult burden to succeed when her professional career began. Tennis professionals go from 20 to 30 weeks along the way every year, which can be traced and requires significant sacrifices, adding time far from those enjoyed. Its source of income largely depends on daily performance.
Another challenge for Dana and adaptive athletes such as her was to win the same point of respect as her valid counterparts. Athletes with disabilities such as Dana do not obtain the popularity they deserve for their ability and hard work. “Most other people do not know that words games means being parallel to the Olympic Games,” Dana said. “Many other people think that” it means paraplegic, which is understandable, but that is not the case. “It is very important to provide adaptive athletes with the same respect and the same understanding as valid athletes, since they exercise equally hard, adhere to similar diets and exercise both in the gym.
A moment of immense gratitude and achievement for Dana occurred in the Wimbledon 2022 championship, where he won the double name with Yui Kamiji. As oppressed, Dana faced a difficult war in terms of classification. She entered the adjustment with an undeniable objective: play well. After winning the first 6-1 set, Dana began to feel a feeling of pride and emotion, knowing that the name was at hand. Dana and Yui won the name 6-1, 7-5, surpassing the very classified duplicate team of Diede de Groot and Aniek Van Koot. Thinking at that time, Dana said: “I didn’t know when we won that he would be the first American wheelchair tennis player to win a primary. ” Winning a main name, especially double, is something special for Dana.
In 2023, Santiago for Pan American Games, Dana was selected to be the popular carrier of the US team, a role that described as “one of the most great things and the greatest honors” of his life. Having lost in the past at the Pan American Games in 2019, Dana decided to obtain a greater result in Santiago. In the last game, Dana faced a formidable opponent in the Colombian Angélica Bernal. Pushing the game, Dana gave everything, winning the name 6-3, 4-6, 6-2. Subsequently, it fell into tears of joy, detecting the scope of the demanding situations that had triumphed to succeed at this point.
At the end of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, Dana focuses on his procedure than the result. “Everyone can say that he needs a gold medal; of course, we all need it, and I am not an exception. I need to be on the podium. But I think more than anything, I just need to compete. When I rival, intelligent things are sometimes happening,” Dana said. He is preparing for intelligent fortune through the creation of small realistic objectives than giants and highs, because those attainable objectives are more productive for it as anxhalet. Before her games, she remembers “competing well, having confidence, be brave. ” Although Dana appreciates the competitive results, he now focuses on the game that in the undeniable victory. “Playing well is a victory,” she says. “If I present myself and take a photo as planned, it is a victory. “
Dana emphasizes hard work, loving the game and maintaining her own definition of success, instead of exhausting her trust only with victories and losses. In general, athletes are judged hard for their performance, and tension can have consequences for consistency and quality. In particular, in American culture, the mentality of running hard and of being as productive as imaginable at any time occasionally neglects the importance of rest and success of self -assessment. Dana illustrates a professional athlete who has selected to dictate her own path for superior performance, decorate rest and describe the achievements according to their own conditions.
In the Paralympic Games of Paris 2024, Dana is proud of the opportunity to establish the United States team and hopes to raise awareness about wheelchair tennis, and all adaptive athletes deserve the same attention and the same as their valid counterparts. “I am an athlete, one of the same things that someone who plays tennis on his feet. He looks different, of course, but once you look at him, the strategy is almost identical, and the regulations are the same. ” Dana expects to be an ambassador of wheelchair tennis, prioritizing respect and equity so that long -term athlete generations obtain the same popularity as valid athletes. “I have noticed the emotion of tennis in a wheelchair worldwide. I hope that the next 2028 is a catalyst for change, and we will see more emotion for the American team in the Paralympic Games. The US team. UU. It is the US team.