Chris Waddell: Pushing Potential By Defying Limits
BIO: Chris is a seven-time Paralympian and one of Team USA’s most successful two-sport athletes. Chris competed in both winter and summer sports earning a total of 13 Paralympic medals. Upon retiring from competition, Chris has worked as a track and field and skiing analyst for NBC’s Paralympics coverage. He’s the first paraplegic to ascend Mount Kilimanjaro and a member of the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame. His foundation, One Revolution, changes perceptions of disabilities through education and storytelling.
WHEN DID YOU FIRST RECOGNIZE THE POWER OF YOUR VOICE?
I joined a group I had no desire to join. I had a skiing accident. My ski popped off, and I ended up falling. I broke two vertebrae and damaged my spinal cord. I became an advocate [for the disabled] when I went back to school two months after my accident, and nobody had interacted with somebody in a wheelchair. I, not knowing anything, had to educate them because they knew less than I did. So, it really started there.
Being an athlete gave me a bigger platform and a different platform. The idea of disability was something that I saw in the hospital, but what I saw on the playing field, on the slopes, and on the track was so different. It was reflective of what we can accomplish as human beings. I tried to create a new narrative about what disability means. If I went 70 miles an hour on one ski, that picture didn't fit with the picture of somebody in a wheelchair. I was like, ‘Good! Now we have a starting point. Now that we have a starting point, we can find what we have in common as opposed to what we don't.’
One of the things for me is not necessarily changing perceptions about what it means to be disabled as it is what it means to be human. I'm trying to figure out how I can affect what's happening in the disabled world in a way that makes people as comfortable as possible. Sport is a great way for people to be comfortable because you're essentially sharing the same sort of objective passion, love.
HOW DO YOU USE THE POWER OF YOUR VOICE?
I'm still recognizing the power of my own voice because it's easy to diminish my voice. For all of us, it's easy to think, ‘Who am I to have something to say?’ I think that talking to kids is a great way to understand that power of voice.
We do a lot of school presentations through my foundation, One Revolution. I’ve been to more than 1,000 schools and talked to over 400,000 kids. We have an assembly program called “Nametags” that looks at the labels that we put on ourselves, and others, which are often our limitations. ‘I can't do this because I'm too tired. I'm too busy. I'm too poor, I'm not in good enough shape.’ Whatever it is. We've got all these excuses.
The One Revolution motto is: It’s not what happens to you. It's what you do with what happens to you. It's intentionally universal because it applies to you as much as it does to me. Our successes are reflections of what we do when things go wrong. We all face challenges. That’s where the resilience comes from. During the presentation, we have the kids chant the motto four times. Then, we encourage them to see obstacles as an opportunity for growth. The idea is to get them to start seeing and appreciating things differently, seeing and appreciating people differently. And empowering their voices. That’s a big part of it.
The ultimate goal of what I hope to accomplish is to help people see me, see themselves, and see other people for the first time, to see our potential rather than our limitations. I think we come at each other with such a subjective view. We don’t allow ourselves to be surprised.
WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR OTHER ATHLETES LOOKING TO USE THE POWER OF THEIR VOICES TO MAKE AN IMPACT?
Making an impact is about being courageous, about being willing to step forward. The only way that I can be impactful is by being as honest and as vulnerable as I can. If I'm telling you what I think you need to know, I'm giving you a processed story. But, if I'm letting you play a role in the evolution of that story, then it's more powerful. For me to do that, I have to be willing to share that hardship, being willing to show the struggle along the way. Then there’s something for the audience to latch on to and say, ‘Oh, that's about me. That's how I can relate.’ It seems so easy when somebody else does it, but much harder when we do it ourselves.
When you're speaking for yourself, it can be really daunting. But, if you're speaking for someone else, if you have a goal that's bigger than yourself, then you're more willing to be empowered.
WHAT DOES ATHLETES’ VOICES MEAN TO YOU?
Athletes were always my heroes. They continue to be my heroes. They're the people who have the greatest voices in my mind. Sport, in so many ways, is a microcosm of life. It plays out in such a short period of time that we get to see the beginning, middle and end where in our lives it's much harder to see that beginning, middle and end. Athletes are the people who put themselves on the line. The people who say, ‘I'm going to try to be the best in the world. I'm willing to risk embarrassment, or public ridicule for a dream.’ Those are the people I want to hear from.
People also need to recognize that having a voice is like having a muscle. You need to develop that muscle. It doesn't just happen. You have to prepare. You don't just show up. I've done a lot of presenting, but there are times where I open my mouth and surprise myself! We need to be able to get to the point where we help athletes with something to say to learn how to build their message. It's like jazz in some ways. Athletes’ Voices can help athletes who want to speak out, composing a score for their journey to become more effective advocats. The athletes can then improvise a bit within that framework and find their own unique genius!
