Track and field Paralympic gold medal winner April Holmes speaks at an event “It’s Your Race, Take the Lead,” which visited UCLA Tuesday.
April Holmes tripped and fell 30 meters before the finish line in the 200 meters at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games.
Bloodied and bruised, Holmes picked herself up and went on to win the gold medal in her next event, the 100 meters, later that day.
“You may fall down in your lives,” Holmes said. “But I challenge you to get back up.”
In 2001, Holmes lost her left leg in a train accident. She then decided to pursue an athletic career as a Paralympic runner.
Holmes and two Olympic athletes shared their stories as part of the U.S. Olympic Committee Road Show, sponsored by Deloitte LLP, an audit, financial advisory, tax and consulting firm.
UCLA’s Anderson School of Management was the 13th stop on the 17-campus tour, which began Sept. 1. The tour aims to inspire business students across the nation, while at the same time promoting Deloitte.
Students decked out in business attire filled Korn Convocation Hall and listened to Holmes, Evan Lysacek and Mariel Zagunis talk about reaching their Olympic goals.
Holmes advised students to identify their goals. She said she printed out a picture of a gold medal and looked at it every day to remind her of what she was working toward.
Lysacek, a 2010 Olympic gold medalist in figure skating, said that instead of partying in Spokane, Wash., after the U.S. Olympic Trials, where he did not perform to his expectations, he flew back to Los Angeles to train for 30 days in preparation for the Olympics.
Mariel Zagunis, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in fencing, said she knew she wanted to go to the Olympics when she was 10 years old.
After being named an alternate for the 2004 Athens Summer Olympic Games, Zagunis continued to train and when a Nigerian fencer pulled out, she went on to realize her dream and win a gold medal.
Third-year business economics student Christina Yu said she enjoyed hearing more Olympians speak about their experiences and plans to apply for a summer internship with Deloitte.
At the end of the presentation, business and undergraduate students in attendance had the chance to meet the Olympians and Paralympian, as well as network with Deloitte recruiters.
Business student Courtney Mayeda said she enjoyed listening to the Olympians. She added that the event was a change of pace from other events put on by Deloitte at the business school.
Amabelle Cardenas, a recruiter for Deloitte, said the firm will be back near the end of January to do interviews for summer internships for both graduate and undergraduate students.
The interviews will be conducted through the undergraduate UCLA Career Center and the Anderson School career center, she added.