Sheryl Shade: Hi, Aimee. Mullins: Hi.
SS: Aimee and I thought we’d just talk a little bit, and I her to tell all of you what makes her a distinctive athlete.
AM: Well, for of you who have seen the picture in the little bio — it might given it away — I’m a double amputee, and I was born without fibulas in legs. I was amputated at age one, and I’ve been running like hell ever since, all the place.
SS: Well, why don’t you tell them how you got to — why don’t we start there? Why don’t we start there?
AM: I’m a senior in in the Foreign Service program. I won a full academic scholarship out high school. They pick three students out of the every year to get involved in international affairs, and so I won a full ride to Georgetown I’ve been there for four years. Love it.
SS: Aimee got there, she decided that she’s, kind of, about track and field, so she decided to call someone start asking about it. So, why don’t you tell story?
AM: Yeah. Well, I guess I’ve always been involved sports. I played softball for five years growing up. I skied competitively throughout school, and I got a little restless in college because I wasn’t anything for about a year or two sports-wise. And I’d never on a disabled level, you know — I’d always against other able-bodied athletes. That’s all I’d ever known. fact, I’d never even met another amputee until I was 17. I heard that they do these track meets with all disabled runners, I figured, “Oh, I don’t know about this, but before I judge it, let me go what it’s all about.” So, I booked myself a flight to in ’95, 19 years old and definitely the dark candidate at this race. I’d never done it before. I went on a gravel track a couple of weeks before this meet to see how I could run, and about 50 meters was enough for me, panting heaving. And I had these legs that were made of a wood and plastic compound, attached Velcro straps — big, thick, five-ply wool socks on — you know, the most comfortable things, but all I’d ever known.
And I’m up there in Boston people wearing legs made of all things — carbon graphite and, you know, shock absorbers in and all sorts of things — and they’re all looking me like, OK, we know who’s not going to win this race. And, I mean, I up there expecting — I don’t know what I was — but, you know, when I saw a man who was missing an entire go up to the high jump, hop on one leg to the jump and clear it at six feet, two inches … Dan O’Brien jumped 5’11” in ’96 Atlanta, I mean, if it just gives you a comparison of — these truly accomplished athletes, without qualifying that word “athlete.” And so I decided to this a shot: heart pounding, I ran my first race and I beat national record-holder by three hundredths of a second, and became the new national record-holder my first try out.
And, you know, people said, “Aimee, you know, you’ve speed — you’ve got natural speed — but you don’t have any or finesse going down that track. You were all the place. We all saw how hard you were working.” And I decided to call the track coach at Georgetown. And I thank god didn’t know just how huge this man is in the track and world. He’s coached five Olympians, and the man’s office is lined floor to ceiling with All America certificates of all athletes he’s coached. He’s just a rather intimidating figure. I called him up and said, “Listen, I ran race and I won …”
(Laughter)
“I want to see if I can, you — I need to just see if I can sit in on some of practices, see what drills you do and whatever.” That’s all I — just two practices. “Can I just sit in and see what you do?” And said, “Well, we should meet first, before we decide anything.” know, he’s thinking, “What am I getting myself into?” So, met the man, walked in his office, and saw these posters and magazine covers of he has coached. And we got to talking, and it turned to be a great partnership because he’d never coached disabled athlete, so therefore he had no preconceived notions what I was or wasn’t capable of, and I’d never been coached before. So this like, “Here we go — let’s start on this trip.”
So he started giving me days a week of his lunch break, his free time, and I would up to the track and train with him. So that’s how I met Frank. That was fall ’95. But then, by the time that winter was rolling around, said, “You know, you’re good enough. You can run on our women’s track team here.” I said, “No, come on.” And he said, “No, no, really. can. You can run with our women’s track team.” In the spring of 1996, with my goal making the U.S. Paralympic team that May coming up full speed, I the women’s track team. And no disabled person had done that — run at a collegiate level. So don’t know, it started to become an interesting mix.
SS: Well, on your to the Olympics, a couple of memorable events happened Georgetown. Why don’t you just tell them? AM: Yes, well, you know, I’d won everything as far as the meets — everything I competed in — and, you know, in Georgetown and knowing that I was going to have to get used to seeing backs of all these women’s shirts — you know, I’m running against the next Flo-Jo — and they’re all at me like, “Hmm, what’s, you know, what’s going here?” And putting on my Georgetown uniform and going out there knowing that, you know, in order to become better — and I’m already the best in the country — know, you have to train with people who are inherently than you.
And I went out there and made to the Big East, which was sort of the championship race at the end of the season. was really, really hot. And it’s the first — I had just gotten these new legs that you see in that bio, and I didn’t realize at that that the amount of sweating I would be doing in the sock — it acted like a lubricant and I’d be, kind of, pistoning the socket. And at about 85 meters of my 100 meters sprint, all my glory, I came out of my leg. Like, I almost out of it, in front of, like, 5,000 people. And I, mean, was just mortified — because I was signed up the 200, you know, which went off in a hour.
(Laughter)
I went to my coach: “Please, don’t make do this.” I can’t do this in front of all those people. legs will come off. And if it came off at 85 there’s no way I’m 200 meters. And he just sat there like this. My pleas on deaf ears, thank god. Because you know, the man from Brooklyn; he’s a big man. He says, “Aimee, what if your leg falls off? You pick it up, you put the damn thing back on, and the goddamn race!”
(Laughter) (Applause) And I did. So, he kept me in line. He kept me on right track.
SS: So, then Aimee makes it to the 1996 Paralympics, and she’s all excited. Her family’s down — it’s a big deal. It’s now two that you’ve been running?
AM: No, a year.
SS: A year. And don’t you tell them what happened right before you go your race?
AM: Okay, well, Atlanta. The Paralympics, just a little bit of clarification, are the Olympics for with physical disabilities — amputees, persons with cerebral palsy, and athletes — as opposed to the Special Olympics, which deals with people with disabilities. So, here we are, a week after the Olympics and at Atlanta, and I’m just blown away by the fact that a year ago, I got out on a gravel track and couldn’t run 50 meters. so, here I am — never lost. I set new records at the U.S. — the Olympic trials — that May, and was that I was coming home with the gold. I also the only, what they call “bilateral BK” — below knee. I was the only woman who would be doing the long jump. I just done the long jump, and a guy who was two legs came up to me and says, “How do you do that? know, we’re supposed to have a planar foot, so we can’t off on the springboard.” I said, “Well, I just it. No one told me that.”
So, it’s funny — I’m three inches within world record — and kept on from that point, you know, I’m signed up in the long jump — signed up? No, made it for the long jump and the 100-meter. And I’m sure of it, you know? made the front page of my hometown paper that delivered for six years, you know? It was, like, this is my time for shine. And we’re the trainee warm-up track, which is a few blocks away the Olympic stadium. These legs that I was on, which I’ll out right now — I was the first person in the world on these legs. I was guinea pig., I’m telling you, this was, like — talk about a tourist attraction.
Everyone was taking — “What is this girl running on?” And I’m always around, like, where is my competition? It’s my first international meet. I tried to get it of anybody I could, you know, “Who am I running here?” “Oh, Aimee, we’ll have to get back to you on one.” I wanted to find out times. “Don’t worry, you’re doing great.” is 20 minutes before my race in the Olympic stadium, and they post the sheets. And I go over and look. And my fastest time, which was the world record, 15.77. Then I’m looking: the next lane, lane two, is 12.8. Lane is 12.5. Lane four is 12.2. I said, “What’s on?” And they shove us all into the shuttle bus, and all the women are missing a hand.
(Laughter)
So, I’m just, like — they’re looking at me like ‘which one of these is not like other,’ you know? I’m sitting there, like, “Oh, my god. Oh, my god.” You know, I’d never anything, like, whether it would be the scholarship or, you know, I’d won five golds I skied. In everything, I came in first. And Georgetown — was great. I was losing, but it was the best training because this Atlanta. Here we are, like, crème de la crème, there is no doubt about it, that I’m going to big. And, you know, I’m just thinking, “Oh, my god, my family got in a van and drove down here from Pennsylvania.” And, you know, I was only female U.S. sprinter. So they call us out and, know — “Ladies, you have one minute.” And I putting my blocks in and just feeling horrified because there was this murmur coming over the crowd, like, the ones who are close to the starting line to see. And I’m like, “I know! Look! isn’t right.” And I’m thinking that’s my last card to play here; I’m not going to beat these girls, I’m going to mess their heads a little, know?
(Laughter)
I mean, it was definitely the “Rocky IV” sensation of versus Germany, and everyone else — Estonia and Poland — was in this heat. And gun went off, and all I remember was finishing last and back tears of frustration and incredible — incredible — this of just being overwhelmed. And I had to think, “Why did I do this?” If I won everything — but it was like, what was point? All this training — I had transformed my life. became a collegiate athlete, you know. I became an athlete. And it made me really think about how the achievement getting there. I mean, the fact that I set my sights, just a year and months before, on becoming an Olympic athlete and saying, “Here’s my life going in direction — and I want to take it here for a while, just seeing how far I could push it.”
And the fact that I asked for help — many people jumped on board? How many people gave of their and their expertise, and their patience, to deal with me? And that was this collective — that there was, you know, 50 people behind me that had joined in this incredible experience of to Atlanta. So, I apply this sort of philosophy now everything I do: sitting back and realizing the progression, how far you’ve come at this day this goal, you know. It’s important to focus on a goal, I think, but also the progression on the way there and how you’ve as a person. That’s the achievement, I think. That’s the real achievement.
SS: Why don’t you show your legs?
AM: Oh, sure. SS: You know, show us than one set of legs.
AM: Well, these are my pretty legs.
(Laughter)
No, are my cosmetic legs, actually, and they’re absolutely beautiful. You’ve got to up and see them. There are hair follicles on them, and I paint my toenails. And, seriously, like, I can wear heels. Like, guys don’t understand what that’s like to be able just go into a shoe store and buy whatever want. SS: You got to pick your height? AM: got to pick my height, exactly.
(Laughter)
Patrick Ewing, who played for Georgetown in the ’80s, comes every summer. And I had incessant fun making fun of him in the training room because he’d in with foot injuries. I’m like, “Get it off! Don’t about it, you know. You can be eight feet tall. take them off.”
(Laughter)
He didn’t find it as humorous as did, anyway. OK, now, these are my sprinting legs, made of carbon graphite, I said, and I’ve got to make sure I’ve got the socket. No, I’ve got so many legs in here. These are — do want to hold that actually? That’s another leg I have for, like, tennis and softball. It has shock absorber in it so it, like, “Shhhh,” makes this neat sound you jump around on it. All right. And then this is the silicon sheath roll over, to keep it on. Which, when I sweat, know, I’m pistoning out of it.
SS: Are you a different height?
AM: In these?
SS: these.
AM: I don’t know. I don’t think so. I may be a little taller. actually can put both of them on.
SS: She can’t stand on these legs. She has to be moving, …
AM: Yeah, I definitely have to be moving, and balance a little bit of an art in them. But without the silicon sock, I’m just going to try slip in it. so, I run on these, and have shocked half the world these.
(Applause)
These are supposed to simulate the actual form of sprinter when they run. If you ever watch a sprinter, ball of their foot is the only thing that hits the track. So when I stand in these legs, hamstring and my glutes are contracted, as they would be had had feet and were standing on the ball of my feet.
(Audience: made them?)
AM: It’s a company in San Diego Flex-Foot. And I was a guinea pig, as I hope to continue to be in every form of prosthetic limbs that come out. But actually these, I said, are still the actual prototype. I need get some new ones because the last meet I at, they were everywhere. You know, it’s like a big — it’s come circle.
Moderator: Aimee and the designer of them will be at TEDMED 2, we’ll talk about the design of them.
AM: Yes, we’ll that.
SS: Yes, there you go.
AM: So, these are the sprint legs, and I can my other…
SS: Can you tell about who designed other legs?
AM: Yes. These I got in a called Bournemouth, England, about two hours south of London, and I’m the only in the United States with these, which is a because they are so beautiful. And I don’t even mean, like, because of the and everything. For me, while I’m such a serious athlete on the track, want to be feminine off the track, and I think it’s important not to be limited in any capacity, whether it’s, you know, your mobility even fashion. I mean, I love the fact that can go in anywhere and pick out what I want — shoes I want, the skirts I want — and I’m hoping to to bring these over here and make them accessible a lot of people. They’re also silicon. This is really basic, basic prosthetic limb under here. It’s like a foot under this.
(Laughter)
It is. It’s just stuck in this position, so have to wear a two-inch heel. And, I mean, it’s really — let me this off so you can see it. I don’t know how good can see it, but, like, it really is. There’re veins on the feet, then my heel is pink, and my Achilles’ tendon — that moves a little bit. And it’s really amazing store. I got them a year and two weeks ago. And this just a silicon piece of skin. I mean, what happened was, two years ago this man in Belgium saying, “God, if I can go to Madame Tussauds’ wax museum and see Hall replicated down to the color of her eyes, so real as if she breathed, why can’t they a limb for someone that looks like a leg, or arm, or a hand?” I mean, they make ears for victims. They do amazing stuff with silicon.
SS: Two ago, Aimee was up for the Arthur Ashe award at the ESPYs. And she came into and she rushed around and she said, “I have buy some new shoes!” We’re an hour before the ESPYs, and she thought she’d gotten a two-inch heel she’d actually bought a three-inch heel.
AM: And this poses a problem for me, it means I’m walking like that all night long.
SS: For 45 minutes. Luckily, the was terrific. They got someone to come in and saw off the shoes.
(Laughter)
AM: I to the receptionist — I mean, I am just harried, Sheryl’s at my side — I said, “Look, do you anybody here who could help me? Because I have problem … ” You know, at first they were going to write me off, like, “If you don’t your shoes, sorry. It’s too late.” “No, no, no, no. I’ve got these special feet that need a two-inch heel. have a three-inch heel. I need a little bit off.” They didn’t want to go there. They didn’t even want to that one. They just did it. No, these legs are great. I’m actually going back in a of weeks to get some improvements. I want to get legs like made for flat feet so I can wear sneakers, because can’t with these ones. So… Moderator: That’s it.
SS: That’s Mullins.
(Applause)