Minda Dentler: What I learned when I conquered the world's toughest triathlon
ميندا دينتلر: ما تعلمته عندما تغلّبت على أصعب سباق ثلاثي في العالم
A record-setting triathlete, Minda Dentler is a polio survivor committed to inspiring people to move beyond their fear of failure and achieve their goals. Full bio
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like a never-ending barren hill.
up to a town called Hawi
إلى مدينة اسمها (هاوي)
measuring almost 98 degrees.
of the bike portion
events in the world.
in our family living room.
في حجرة عائلتنا المعيشية.
orange and brown sofa,
ذات طراز السبعينيات،
pushed themselves to their limit
from the sidelines,
or handing out water at local races.
في السباقات المحلية.
to be able to compete, but I couldn't.
لكنني لم أستطع.
hospital in high school.
all by myself
for a job in management consulting,
للعمل في وظيفة للاستشارات الإدارية،
to the sport of hand-cycling,
تعرفت على رياضة العجلات اليدوية،
an Ironman World Champion,
الحائز على لقب "الرجل الحديدي"،
race in the sport,
it's like the Super Bowl of triathlon.
فهي مثل كأس العالم للسباق الثلاثي.
for a wheelchair athlete like me,
in the Pacific Ocean,
في المياه المفتوحة للمحيط الهادي،
in lava fields --
في حقول الحمم البركانية،
and it's pretty desolate --
وهي موحشة إلى حد ما،
of 140.6 miles using just your arms
باستخدام يدي فحسب
had ever completed the race
seemingly impossible cutoff times.
من المستحيل مواكبته.
of that 15-mile climb,
بعد صعود 24 كم،
to make that swim in my time limit
في الوقت المحدد لي
and I handed it over to a race official.
وسلّمتها لأحد المسؤولين عن السباق.
and my husband Shawn
to drive me back to town.
إلى البلدة.
I began to cry.
the Ironman World Championship
my family and people at work
I had assumed or planned?
to Shannon about the Kona "disaster,"
عن "مصيبة (كونا)"،
be realized when you're ready to fail."
أن تتحقق إلا عندما تكونين مستعدة للفشل."
in order to move forward,
لكي أتقدم إلى الأمام،
that I had faced insurmountable odds.
I contracted polio,
التقطت عدوى شلل الأطفال،
from the hips down.
left me at an orphanage.
تركتني والدتي في ملجأ للأيتام.
by an American family,
I underwent a series of surgeries
من الجراحات
with leg braces and crutches.
بواسطة تقويم الساقين والعكازين.
with my disability.
about wearing a back brace and leg braces,
وتقويم للساقين،
under my pants.
heavy braces on my legs
أن التقويم السميك والثقيل للساقين
of the very few individuals in the US
في الولايات المتحدة
by polio today.
حتى يومنا هذا.
in developing countries
في الدول النامية
medical care, education,
أو التثقيف
like I have had in America.
that, had I not been adopted,
wouldn't be in front of you today.
friends and competitors,
went off promptly at 7am.
في تمام السابعة صباحاً.
staying in between bodies,
وحافظت على موقعي بين الآخرين،
every so often
and he carried me out of the water.
when Shawn had told me I had managed
أنني استطعت
to complete the 112-mile bike course.
طوله 180 كم.
in seven- to 10-mile segments in my mind
بين 11 إلى 16 كم
as we benefited from a little tail wind.
بفضل بعض الرياح الخلفية.
I was in serious time jeopardy
and less than 90 minutes,
a few sizable hill climbs.
that time cutoff again.
مرة أخرى.
my internal voice aside that said,
"Minda, you better focus.
and your effort."
as though my life depended on it.
وكأنها مسألة حياة أو موت.
competitors to make the bike cutoff."
أكملوا سباق الدرجات في الوقت المحدد."
for 10-and-a-half hours.
went pretty quickly,
to the bottom of Palani hill,
that looked like Mt. Everest
لكنه كان يبدو مثل جبل إفرست
were ready at their stations
just so I wouldn't tip backwards.
إلى الخلف.
the top of that hill,
15-mile stretch onto the Queen K Highway,
يتجه إلى طريق (كوين كيه) السريع،
on one push at a time.
لكل دفعة على حدة.
onto Ali'i Drive.
and I was overcome with emotion.
was 14 hours and 39 minutes.
commitment to myself,
that completing the Ironman
but preventable diseases,
لكن يمكن الوقاية منها،
afflicted by vaccine-preventable diseases.
التي يمكن الوقاية منها بالتطعيمات.
to eliminating one of those diseases
للقضاء على واحد من تلك الأمراض
more than 350,000 children a year
تصيب أكثر من 350000 طفل بالعجز كل عام
40 cases an hour.
وهو 40 حالة في الساعة.
have reported a total of only 12 cases.
عن إجمالي 12 حالة فحسب.
have been immunized against polio,
ضد شلل الأطفال،
paralyzed like me,
بدون التطعيم،
in the poorest communities of the world.
حول العالم.
and dangerous places,
في الأماكن النائية والخطرة،
بالنسبة لي:
two-and-a-half-year-old daughter Maya.
التي عمرها عامين ونصف.
or kick a ball across the grass.
that I see her do at her age
do at that age.
في نفس ذلك العمر.
من تطعيم شلل الاطفال.
in the room to prepare the shot,
to document the moment.
welling up with tears.
would be very different from mine.
with the crippling disability of polio,
شلل الأطفال،
and I chose to get her immunized.
أن أحصّنها.
with one question:
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Minda Dentler - Athlete, activistA record-setting triathlete, Minda Dentler is a polio survivor committed to inspiring people to move beyond their fear of failure and achieve their goals.
Why you should listen
Minda Dentler's life is one of inspiration, courage and determination. As an infant in India, she contracted polio, resulting in the paralysis of her legs, and was left at an orphanage. When she was three, she was adopted by an American family which enabled her to receive the medical care necessary to be able to walk with leg braces and crutches.
Undeterred by her disability, Dentler became an independent woman with the intention and drive to face and overcome the many obstacles she has encountered throughout her life. As an adult, she discovered athletics and threw herself into the sport of triathlon. In 2013, she became the first female wheelchair athlete to complete the Ironman World Championship, in Kona, Hawaii.
Dentler is an athlete, speaker, advocate and mother. She has been featured on CNN, Forbes and NBC. She has written for Huffington Post and TIME, advocating for the eradication of polio. She was a 2017 Aspen Institute New Voices Fellow. She works for a large global insurer and, with her husband, is raising a young daughter. She's committed to inspiring people to move beyond their fear of failure and achieve their goals.
Minda Dentler | Speaker | TED.com