Disabled Women Push Barriers in Sports
By Kristin Bender, WeNews, August 11, 2006

Disabled women lag behind their male counterparts in competing in sports events. But opportunities and recognition are gradually expanding and one Paralympic swimmer is training for 2008 in Beijing.

When people ask wheelchair racer Jean Driscoll, the eight-time champion of the Boston Marathon in the wheelchair division, about the obstacles faced by female athletes with disabilities, she talks about Sharon Hedrick.

In 1984, Hedrick, a wheelchair track competitor, won two gold medals in the inaugural wheelchair exhibition at the Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles. In doing so, Hedrick also broke the 800-meter women's wheelchair race record by almost three seconds.

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