Name:
Cheri Blauwet
Nationality:
USA
Occupation:
Medical Doctor, Retired Professional Wheelchair Racer
Sports career:
I began racing when I was 14 years old, in high school. Initially, I was the only athlète with a disability on my athletics team, and I would train with my able-bodied teammates. I soon learned that there was an adpative sport called wheelchair racing – I got involved and soon started to race in régional compétitions, then national, and then international. My first Paralympic Games was in Sydney, Australia, when I was 20, and I went on to compete in three Paralympics and multiple international marathons.
Achievements:
- Winner, 2003 and 2004 New York City Marathon
- Winner, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2008 Los Angeles Marathon.
- Winner, 2004 and 2005 Boston Marathon
- Gold Medal, 2004 Athens Paralympic Games: 800 meters
- Bronze Medals, 2004 Athens Paralympic Games: 5000 meters and Marathon
- Earned M.D., Stanford University School of Medicine
- Currently a resident physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Havard in General Internal Medicine, to be followed by training at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Why do I believe in APAID?
I truly believe that sport and physical activity are the most powerful tools that we have to show the world the abilities of individuals with a disability. Sports, inherently, turn stereotypes on their head and provide captivating, exciting images of the power and energy that are within both our bodies and minds. While decreasing stigma, sports also improve both the physical health and mental health of adults and children with disabilties and provide a socially constructive way for us to stay healthy and build upon our talents. View Cheri promoting APAID on TV.
My best experience with APAID:
While working with APAID in Kampala in the Spring of 2009, I was able to see first-hand the almost instantaneous conversion of several children from being shy and withdrawn to emerging as active, independent, and empowered young people. It was simply amazing to watch this unfold in front of my eyes. One day, one of the program participants pushed up to me in his chair, tapped me on the arm, and when I turned my attention to him, flexed his muscles and said “I believe I am strong.” Moments like this occurred almost daily, leaving me with an intense sense of fulfilment and a huge smile on my face.
Biography:
Cheri Blauwet was born and raised on a farm near the small town of Larchwood, Iowa. She sustained a spinal cord injury in a farming accident as a young child, however, was immediately encouraged to be active, involved, and to see disability as simply another way of living rather than as an impairment. Upon entering high school, her track coach encouraged her to join the track team when he learned that Iowa held sanctioned wheelchair events at the state finals. By her sophomore year she had set records at the state level and began competing nationally. In the fall of 1998 Cheri began her academic and racing career at The University of Arizona. She became the captain of the wheelchair track and road racing team and continued to realize her athletic potential. In 2000, she became a name on the international scene, bringing home 1 silver and 3 bronze medals from the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney, Australia. Since then, she has achieved resounding success on the international elite racing circuit
As a result of these wins, she was nominated for the 2003 Women’s Sports Foundation Sportswoman of the Year, in addition to two consecutive nominations, in 2004 and 2005, for the ESPY award in the category Best Athlete with a Disability. Cheri was also a nominee for the 2005 Laureus World Sport Award within the category “World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability.”
Ultimately, Cheri sees sports as one platform through which she can promote disability rights and empowerment at an international level. In 2004, she was named a winner of the 2004 Paul Hearne Leadership Award, given to 3 emerging leaders annually by the American Association of People with Disabilities. She has also done work at the International Paralympic Committee, promoting international sporting opportunities and a mechanism for international development, and with Rehabilitation International, a large multilateral disability rights member organization with both governmental and non-governmental representatives. She is a published author on the topic of “The Paralympic Movement: Promoting Health and Human Rights through Sport.” Currently, Cheri is a fifth year medical student at Stanford University. Her ultimate goal is to pursue physical medicine and rehabilitation and to promote physical activity and social empowerment as a means of achieving better physical and mental health for all individuals.
In her spare time, Cheri enjoys nothing more than exploring San Francisco, breathing the fresh California air, and booking plane tickets to far off and exotic places. She loves adaptive sport because it instantaneously reverses stereotypes surrouding disability. Also, as she says, it gives her an excuse to travel, meet fascinating people, encounter eclectic experiences, and make passers-by in the street do a double-take.