267. Victoria Arlen, ESPN Host, Paralympic Gold Medalist & Speaker

Hurdle

Emily Abbate

Health & Fitness

5 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 18 September 2023

⏱️ 67 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Victoria Arlen is no stranger to hurdles. At age 11, the now-ESPN host developed two rare conditions known as transverse myelitis and acute disseminated encephalomyelitis. As a result, she quickly lost the ability to walk, speak, eat, and move. She slipped into a vegetative state, and her parents were told numerous times that they should “let go” and that their daughter would never be the same.

Fast forward four years, and Victoria beat all odds to make a miraculous recovery. She returned to life, albeit in a wheelchair, and soon found success as an athlete scoring a gold medal in the 100-meter freestyle at the 2012 London Paralympic games, as well as her dream job at ESPN — reporting for the X Games and Special Olympics.

In today’s episode, she talks about the biggest miracle of all: defying the odds yet again and after spending nearly a decade in a wheelchair paralyzed from the waist down, to learn how to walk — and ultimately dance and run. She talks about her stint on Dancing With The Stars, the non-profit she started with her mother to help others get a second chance at life, and how she stayed optimistic even in her darkest days.

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MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Hurdler Meet-up in Berlin: 9/23, Saturday, 1 p.m. at Charlie’s Beach (Schützenstraße 2, 10117 Berlin, Germany)

Victoria’s Victory Foundation

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Even if I don't make it till tomorrow,
0:03.3	at least today, I'm going to be happy.
0:07.0	And at least today, if I don't make it,
0:10.2	I'm gonna have the excitement
0:12.4	about what tomorrow could possibly be.
0:14.8	Good morning. Good afternoon. Good evening. Emily, a body here. You are listening to episode 267 of Hurtle.
0:36.5	A wellness-focused podcast where I connect with everyone from your favorite athletes to top experts
0:41.2	in industry CEOs about their highest highs, toughest moments, and everything in between.
0:46.4	We all go through hurdles in life and my goal through these discussions is to empower you
0:51.4	to better navigate yours and move with intention so that you can stride toward your own big potential.
0:57.7	And of course, have some fun along the way.
1:02.0	For today's conversation, I am sitting down with Victoria Arlin.
1:06.8	She's a host for ESPN as well as a speaker and a Paralympic gold medalist.
1:13.9	Her story is truly, I use this word, trust me, listening back to this episode, I realize a bit much remarkable.
1:22.9	And that is such an understatement.
1:24.5	And that is because at age 11,
1:27.5	Arlin developed two different rare conditions that I won't even attempt to pronounce right now.
1:33.4	And those rare conditions caused her at the time to lose her ability to speak,
1:39.5	her ability to eat, her ability to walk, and her ability to move.
1:44.6	She slipped into a vegetative state from which recovery was thought to be extremely unlikely.
1:51.7	And she shares in our conversation today the multitude of times that doctors told her parents
1:58.5	that everything looked really, really grim.
	...

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