Warsaw Athlete Headed To Paralympics

Every four years, athletes from around the world converge in a selected city to compete in the Summer Olympic Games.

This year, the Olympic Games will be in Sydney, Australia. And this year, the 2000 Paralympic Games will be held in Sydney, too, in October.

Warsaw will be represented in the Paralympic Games by Lori Miller, who will be competing for the U.S. Paralympic Team in tandem cycling.

Born in Warsaw in 1975, Miller is a 1993 Warsaw Community High School graduate and a 1997 University of Notre Dame graduate.

Qualifying for the Paralympic Games is a major achievement for Miller, who has been totally blind since age 2 due to retina blastoma. However, she has been successful in many areas for most of her life.

"I've been an alternate in two past Paralympics for another sport, goalball," Miller said. She also qualified for world competition. However, "This is the first time it's happened that I get to go. It's a big event for me."

She also previously placed in cross country mountain bike racing, won tournaments in goalballing as well as won silver, bronze and gold medals in national goalballing championships. She enjoys roller skating, skiing, horseback riding, rock climbing, cycling, bowling and playing the flute and piano.

In 1998, she was named to represent the United States at World Championships for the Blind in Madrid, Spain. But that year, she was out most of goalball season. She was diagnosed with a rare form of breast cancer and had to have surgery, causing her to lose strength in her upper body.

She had to find something new to keep busy and active. She found cycling.

"It was really important to me because it kept my mind off all the negatives," Miller said.

She said it helped her keep going and she learned something new. "I decided cycling is my sport," she said.

To train for the Paralympics, Miller trains and races with locals Dave Neff, Jeff Noffsinger and Alan Alderfer, who serve as her "pilots."

"It's wonderful," Miller said. "They all work it around their work schedule. ... I've been very, very lucky. I couldn't do it without them."

For the Paralympics, Miller will ride with a pilot from Seattle, Kenny Williams, whom she met at world competition in 1998. The two made an agreement in December of that year to race together for the Sydney Paralympics. On April 23, they flew to Dallas, Texas, for the cycling Paralympic trials, where they earned their spot on the U.S. Paralympic team.

"My ultimate goal is to bring home a medal and represent the U.S.," she said. She said she also has personal goals to meet.

The qualifying road race is in Indiana in July. A 40K time trial, she knows it will be hot and humid and an overall tough competition. That's her next goal.

In August and September, she will have to regroup and concentrate on the Paralympics. She is taking the summer and fall off from her graduate work at Western Michigan University to train for the competition.

"For me," she said, "the timing is perfect. I have the time to pour into my goals."

She also said, "I'm a three-time cancer survivor, so along the way I'm promoting cancer awareness and I think it's really important." She said people can survive cancer and live a long life.

Another object for Miller this summer will be to raise money for her cycling season and her participation in the Paralympic Games. The overall cost will be more than $40,000 for Miller this year.

She received one training grant from the Indiana Sports Corp. for the season for $2,500. Last year, Nelson Beverage provided her with donations and, she said, Rob and Nancy Gast of Tarkio Transit have helped her with bike maintenance.

But with many costs ahead of her, she knows she will have to do some major fund-raising.

Regardless, she will continue to reach her goals as is evident by her personal motto: "Don't let anyone else set your limitations."