Paralympian Swimmer Morgan Stickney Gets Inspiring Message From Katie Ledecky

Look at those shiny things. Do you wear those all the time? I think I'd break my neck. Two of them. Two gold medals. And what were they both for? The 400 meter freestyle and then a 4 by 100 medley relay. Amazing. Amazing. The race was super close, right? What did you go deep down inside to pull through and win it what was it? Honestly, I just did my last flip turn and I knew I was pretty close. I really just put my head down and I was like give it everything you got. You have a chance of getting a gold medal right here. And so that's what I did and I was shocked when I hit the wall. So you can see her? I couldn't. You couldn't see her? The whole last 50 I couldn't see her, and so it was a complete shock when I hit that wall. Because she was so close to you would think that you would see. Can you tell how close you guys are? I couldn't. Typically on a flip turn you can, but when you're just swimming you can't. Wow. And it's not really good to look at the other people. They tell you not to. Yeah. You've got to just focus on yourself. So you grew up with both legs, until you were 15 years old? 14. 14 years old. So you lost one leg and then the second leg. Because you were a swimmer before. Yeah. And you decide that's not going to stop me I'm going to continue to swim? Yeah. So I was an elite athlete. And when I was 14 years old I was top 20 in the country and the mile. And so I loved swimming it was a huge part of my life and unfortunately I had an injury. And we did surgery after surgery and there was nothing they could do, because I got a major staph infection. And they told me the only thing they could do is amputate my leg. So we did that and as a family we just decided to move forward. And that's what we did. I got back into swimming. I got into para swimming. And I was national champion in two events. And things were just looking up. And then the next month I was hopping three steps with my prosthetic off and my right foot shattered completely. And so we saw doctors and everything and they realized that I have an extremely rare vascular disease that I don't get blood flow from mid calf down. And so the only thing they could do was amputate my remaining leg. Did you think that you would ever get back in the pool after that? Absolutely not. People always told me they were like, you're going to get back in the pool and everything. And I was like, how do you swim with no legs. You can't do it. Yes you can. You did it. N/A How exhausting is that? Because you use, when you were swimming before with legs, you're using your legs to kick. So now it's all arms. How much more exhausting is that? Oh my gosh. The first time I got in the pool I started kicking right away because my kick was a huge part of my stroke. And I didn't move anywhere. If anything I moved backwards. So it was a huge shock to me. And so I only had a year to train for Tokyo. What? Oh my God. I gave it everything I got. I was training three to four times a day during quarantine. I'm really happy with where I'm at, but I still have a long way to go. Not really. You won the Olympics. Two gold medals. And I know you have a lot of celebrities that are reaching out to congratulate you. Who's been reaching out? Yeah. Kris Jenner reached out to me, which was so amazing. It was so cool to be able to hear from her. And then also Katie Ledecky reached out to me, which was just amazing because ever since I was a young swimmer I've always looked up to her. Well I think that we maybe have a little message for you. Hey Morgan. It's Katie Ledecky here. I just want to say a big congratulations on your performance in Tokyo. You inspired so many people. So enjoy these moments celebrating with your family and friends. It's an honor to be your teammate and I can't wait to congratulate you in person. N/A All right. We're going to take a break. More with Morgan after this. And so you're going to go for the next Olympics as well, right? Obviously. Yeah. N/A And we were talking during the break. You've been a fan of the show and I love that you're here. It's been such an honor to be able to just follow your journey and be able to be here. I've been watching you since I was in elementary school. So to be here on the stage is just absolutely incredible. I'm glad I waited one more year. I'm glad I'm here. All right. So you're going to keep swimming so we wanted to give you some new swim gear. N/A I'm sure you'll wear that Oh Yeah. For sure. These little diamond studs are really going to help me swim fast. Yeah, that's right. Look at that hat. There's nothing wrong with that hat. N/A

Share your thoughts