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You Can Be Anything

Presented By

Sky Brown

Thematic 1

Sky Brown

When you skate you don't really have rules. You can just be creative with it. For me, it feels like I'm flying in the sky. I wanna go as high as I can.

Madison de Rozario

Even if you've been in a chair most of your life, it's still so different from an everyday chair. I just loved that I could get out there on my own, it was fast, and it was independent, and I was getting better every time I did it.

Madison de Rozario

Aly Raisman

I love gymnastics. It was my dream from a very young age. That was always the driving force to continue. Now I’m really just trying to take care of myself and get to know who I am outside of the gymnast.

Thematic 2

Sky Brown

Since I was little I feel like girls were kinda scared. I don't want girls to think that he's a boy so he can do it. Think that I'm a girl so I can do it. I wanna push boundaries and show that I can do what boys can do, and you can do it too.

Madison de Rozario

I think we're at this point now with women in sports and in parasport realizing that there's no one particular mold. I think it's about creating space for other athletes to grow authentically how they are, to allow themselves to thrive.

Aly Raisman

In fifth grade and in seventh grade, I would get made fun of for being too muscular. If I let it get to me too much, then I would have quit gymnastics, which makes me so angry for all the other girls that might be quitting their sports because they’re getting made fun of and bullied.

Thematic 3

Sky Brown

I want to show that age or size doesn't matter. Don't care what people tell you sometimes, because if I can do it you can do it too. You can be anything you wanna be. Just believe in yourself.

Madison de Rozario

Everything that you are is enough. If all your body does is provide a home for you, then that is enough. If all you are is just who you are then that is enough You don't have to be anything more than that.

Aly Raisman

It's really important to remember that there's going to be setbacks, and if you make a mistake or it doesn't go as well as you wanted to, that's O.K. As long as you have that mentality and you continue to work hard, be the best version of yourself, I really think that you can be anything that you want.

Photos by: Kohjiro Kinno for The Players' Tribune (Brown); Nicole Boliaux for The Players' Tribune (Raisman); Conrad Golovac for The Players' Tribune (de Rozario)

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By The Players' Tribune