Loretta Claiborne - Special Olympics Athlete, World-class runner and motivational speaker.

<div>Loretta was one of 9 children, and lived with her single mum and siblings. Loretta was born partially blind and intellectually challenged, she was unable to walk or talk until the age four. Through the support and commitment of her mum, Loretta eventually began to speak, walk and soon started to follow her big brother into running. </div> <div> </div> <div>After being introduced to the Special Olympics her life started to change. She introduced President Bill Clinton at the 1995 Special Olympics World Summer Games has won multiple medals in dozens of its events, and also holds the current women's record in her age group for the 5000 meters at seventeen minutes.</div> <div> </div> <div>Loretta has also crossed the finish line of twenty-six marathons, twice placing among the top one-hundred women in the Boston Marathon. Loretta holds a 4th-degree black belt in karate, communicates in four languages, including American Sign Language, and holds three honorary doctorate degrees from Quinnipiac University, Villanova University, and York College of Pennsylvania, making her the first person with an intellectual disability known to receive such honours, according to Special Olympics Incorporated.    </div> <div> </div> <div>Today, Loretta is a celebrated athlete who was honoured in 1996 with ESPN's <a href= "http://espn.go.com/espys/2013/story/_/page/asheclaiborne/loretta-claiborne-receives-arthur-ashe-award" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl= "https://www.google.com/url?q=http://espn.go.com/espys/2013/story/_/page/asheclaiborne/loretta-claiborne-receives-arthur-ashe-award&source=gmail&ust=1601687361428000&usg=AFQjCNGXQaLSZWCkeOP6cWo9jYgDwvhM9A">ESPY Arthur Ashe Award for Courage</a>. Her life story was told in Walt Disney Productions <a href= "https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0232002/" target="_blank" rel= "noopener" data-saferedirecturl= "https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0232002/&source=gmail&ust=1601687361428000&usg=AFQjCNHXxSrHLlaWCuzmsSPeRuyvO1bV2w">The Loretta Claiborne St