Rudy Garcia-Tolson is an athlete on the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Paralympic team. He competed at the 2004 Summer Paralympics

2004 Summer Paralympics

The 2004 Summer Paralympics were held in Athens, Greece, from September 17 to September 28. The twelfth Paralympic Games, an estimated 4,000 athletes took part in the Athens programme, with ages ranging from 11 to 66. Paralympic events had already taken place during the 2004 Summer Olympics as...

 in Athens

Athens

Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

 and in the 2008 Summer Paralympics

2008 Summer Paralympics

The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games, the thirteenth Paralympics, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to September 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao....

 in Beijing

Beijing

Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

 in swimming

Swimming (sport)

Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...

.

Biography

Garcia-Tolson was the subject of The Final Sprint's December 2006 "Success Story"; a monthly column that aims to highlight remarkable and factual accounts of runners who have overcome major obstacles and/or changed their lives via running.

Garcia-Tolson lives by a simple motto: "A Brave Heart is a Powerful Weapon." He was born with rare, multiple birth defects – a combination of crippling Pterygium Syndrome, a club foot

Club foot

A club foot, or congenital talipes equinovarus , is a congenital deformity involving one foot or both. The affected foot appears rotated internally at the ankle. TEV is classified into 2 groups: Postural TEV or Structural TEV....

, webbed fingers on both hands, and a cleft lip and palate.

At age five, after 15 operations, he told his parents he wanted to move on; he would rather be a double amputee than continue to put up with what his life had become. He had both legs removed above the knee.

When Garcia-Tolson was eight years old, he told the world he would swim in the 2004 Paralympic Games. He was true to his word and won the gold medal in the 200 meter individual medley and broke the world record for his class.

In 2008 Beijing Olympics, when he was 20, he won the gold medal at the Paralympics, setting a new world record.

Garcia-Tolson continues to swim as a member of the U.S. Paralympic Elite Team. He has completed numerous triathlon

Triathlon

A triathlon is a multi-sport event involving the completion of three continuous and sequential endurance events. While many variations of the sport exist, triathlon, in its most popular form, involves swimming, cycling, and running in immediate succession over various distances...

s individually, and won several prestigious awards, including the Arete Courage in Sports Award and the Casey Martin Award from Nike

Nike, Inc.

Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...

. Garcia-Tolson has helped Challenged Athletes Foundation

Challenged Athletes Foundation

The Challenged Athletes Foundation is an organization that provides grants for training, competition and equipment needs to people with disabilities.- History :The Challenged Athletes Foundation was founded in 1997....

(CAF) raise more than $6 million to ensure his challenged peers have the same opportunities he did.

Major Achievements

• 2008: Gold medal, 200m individual medley; bronze medal, 100m Breaststroke SB7
• 2007: World record, 200m Individual Medley - U.S. Paralympics Open Swimming Championships, College Park, Md.
• 2006: Gold medal, 200m Individual Medley - International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Swimming World Championships, Durban, South Africa
• 2006: Completed Ford Ironman World Championship 70.3, Clearwater, Fla.
• 2005: Third place, 100m Breaststroke - Visa Paralympic World Cup, Manchester, United Kingdom
• 2005: First place, 200m Individual Medley - U.S. Paralympics Open Swimming Championships, Minneapolis, Minn.
• 2004: Gold medal, 200m Individual Medley - Paralympic Games, Athens, Greece
• 2003: Named one of Teen People Magazine's "20 Teens Who Will Change the World"