Special Olympics Chief Inspiration Officer Loretta Claiborne first met her mentor, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, in '72 after running a Special Olympics race. “I was upset and angry over my race,” Claiborne said during a presentation at the '19 SBJ Game Changers conference. “This woman walked by and she said, ‘How are you?’ She must have read my mind. She knew I was angry. She talked to my coach.” Claiborne did not think much of the interaction until eight years later while running in a Marine Corp mini marathon in the DC area. Toward the end of the race, with the finish line in site, Claiborne tripped and fell. “That woman, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, came up to me and said, ‘You’re a good runner. I like how you run,’” said Clairborne. "I said, ‘But I didn’t win.’ She said, ‘That’s not the point of it. You did your best.’”
Quotable: "In the Olympics, their model is fastest, highest and strongest. Our model is, let us win. If we cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt. It’s about inclusion. I feel included when I’m at the dance and dancing. If I’m at the dance and I’m just looking -- or at someone’s house and I’m just being talked about -- I feel excluded.”
