Paralympic Gold Medalist Rudy Garcia-Tolson on Inspiring Young Athletes: 'The Real Disability in Life Is a Negative Attitude'

After both of his legs were amputated at age 5 due to a congenital birth defect, doctors told Rudy Garcia-Tolson he would never be able to walk or run.

Just one year after his life-changing surgery, Garcia-Tolson began swimming, and within three years, he was running and competing in triathlons.

He competed in his first Paralympics at age 16, swimming to gold in Athens in 2004. Since then, the Bloomington, California, native has won three more Paralympic medals and become the first above-the-knee double amputee to complete an Ironman Triathlon.

Now, as he begins his fourth Games in Rio, the veteran swimmer is relishing his role as a mentor to younger athletes.



"I love to lead by example," Garcia-Tolson, 27, says. "I feel like my mission is to show people the real disability in life is a negative attitude."

Born with popliteal pterygium syndrome, a rare condition in which the webbing of the skin limits mobility, Garcia-Tolson endured 15 surgeries before having his legs amputated above the knee at age 5.

"I remember I was given the decision to have the amputation and be able to run and do more with prosthetics or stay indoors my whole life," he says. "With that mentality, even at 5 I felt like, 'Let's cut these chains off and go!' "

After taking up swimming at age 6, Garcia-Tolson set a goal for himself – to beat an able-bodied swimmer in a swim meet.

"When I joined my first able-bodied swim team, I was the only kid on the team with no legs. Everyone referred to me as the boy with no legs and I never enjoyed that," he says. "So I made it my goal to beat a kid with legs because I didn't want people to think my legs were the reason I couldn't be fast."

A few months later, Garcia-Tolson achieved his goal and knew he wanted to keep swimming – and defying expectations. At age 16, he won a gold medal at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens and set a new world record for the 200-meter IM.

He went on to win gold again in Beijing and silver in London and currently holds more than 10 swimming records in his class. At 27, he says he's accepted the fact that his body "doesn't act the same as it did when I was 15," and now relishes his role as a mentor and role model through his work with the Citi StandForProgress campaign.

"When I was growing up, I had no mentors who I could look to to learn how to skateboard, run or ride a bike. I had to figure it all out myself," he says. "It's important for me to be that role model for a new generation so they can know they won't feel held back by any limitations that are placed on them."

Garcia-Tolson also works to make sure athletes with disabilities can have access to the equipment they need to excel. To date, he's helped raise more than $50 million for the Challenged Athletes Foundation, a nonprofit that provides equipment and training to people with physical challenges.

"I've found one of the biggest joys in life is motivating and inspiring others," he says. "It goes a long way and becomes like a snowball effect – you never know who that inspiration will reach next."