For A U.S. Hurdler, Bronze Means More Than Gold
Aries Merritt, a gold winner in 2012 won a bronze this week.
He is very proud of this victory because he won while he had a kidney transplant the next week. His kidneys had been functioning at 20% for a while and he was scheduled to receive a kidney from his sister. He has a disorder called collapsing FSGS. It is a very rare disease, which causes kidney failure. It has weakened his career by a lot, because he cannot eat as much protein or potassium. He has lost 6 pounds since 2012.
Merritt missed his 2012 world record by .24 seconds this week, which is pretty large in the event that he was competing in, the 110 meter hurdles. He hopes that his surgery will allow him to compete in the 2016 Olympics, as he is already 30 years old and will soon be dropping out of his prime.
Merritt says that he is very happy with the bronze and values it much more than his gold medal, which he earned when he was perfectly healthy and not under other stress.
I wish him luck, as his case sounds really sad. He is a great runner, yet cannot compete due to issues that are out of his control.
He is very proud of this victory because he won while he had a kidney transplant the next week. His kidneys had been functioning at 20% for a while and he was scheduled to receive a kidney from his sister. He has a disorder called collapsing FSGS. It is a very rare disease, which causes kidney failure. It has weakened his career by a lot, because he cannot eat as much protein or potassium. He has lost 6 pounds since 2012.
Merritt missed his 2012 world record by .24 seconds this week, which is pretty large in the event that he was competing in, the 110 meter hurdles. He hopes that his surgery will allow him to compete in the 2016 Olympics, as he is already 30 years old and will soon be dropping out of his prime.
Merritt says that he is very happy with the bronze and values it much more than his gold medal, which he earned when he was perfectly healthy and not under other stress.
I wish him luck, as his case sounds really sad. He is a great runner, yet cannot compete due to issues that are out of his control.
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