The Power of Never Giving Up with Brian Bell

In this episode of the Started With A Dream Podcast presented by 9INE POINT, Brian Bell joins our host Jacolby Gilliam as he recounts his story as a Paralympics gold medalist. Brian is a pro wheelchair basketball player and 2x Paralympic gold medalist. Brain shares with us today, his uplifting and inspiring story as a young athlete that lost a leg and his path to success despite all odds.

Brian starts off by discussing his dream as a young athlete that wanted to play football and how this dream changed when he was involved in an accident that changed his life. He talks about how he never gave up and how he continues to enjoy sports with a prosthetic leg. He describes how he found interest in basketball and decided to go all in despite not being big enough. His motto “back-to-back cuts to back-to-back goals” motivated Brian to not only work hard to make the national team but also win gold at the Paralympics. Brian believes you can achieve anything you set your heart to do and calls on athletes with disabilities to try everything and stay determined.

Key Points:

• Brian’s goal as a young athlete
• A ghastly accident that changed Brian’s life
• How Brian processed it all and chose a new path
• Enjoying sports with a prosthetic leg
• Brian describes his comeback first game; the challenges and the thrills that came with it
• You have to try everything as a young athlete with a disability
• Finding love in another sport
• Take advantage of the tools put in place to improve your skill
• Brian discusses deciding to go pro
• The power of teamwork and dedication
• Shining the light on adaptive sports 
• Brian’s advice to his younger self
• Brian describes his experience after making the USA team
• Winning gold at the 2016 Paralympics

Quotes:

“Finding sports again, and that support network from friends and family helped tremendously.”

“If you're younger and you have a disability, I will say just try everything.”

“I try to maximize as much of my flaws as possible to be a more well-rounded basketball player.”

“Back-to-back cuts to back-to-back goals.”

“If you really want to accomplish it, put in the extra work, make sure that you put in all the hours, make sure that you maximize all of the different areas that you can use to increase skills.”

“Even though I was not the biggest guy out there, I was able to use my speed, my skills, and intelligence, to level out some of the more fiscally gifted athletes or older athletes at the time.”

“I am going to represent my country at the world stage and be able to compete against the best of the best in my sport. It was just a surreal, amazing feeling.”

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