A Leap（跳跃）to Honor
Leaping on a narrow balance beam（平衡木） is not easy. But Lola Walter, a 13-year-old gymnast, is an expert at it.
To perfect her skills, Lola36for four hours a day, five days a week. At the state championships in March, she finished sh out of 16 girls.
That’s especially impressive, 37she is legally blind, born with a rare condition that causes her eyes to shift constantly. She often sees double and can’t _38how far away things are.
When she was little, her mom39that even though she couldn’t see 40, she was fearless. So her mom signed her up for gymnastics when she was three. She loved the41right away and gymnastics became her favorite.
Though learning gymnastics has been more42for her than for some of her tournaments, she has never quit. She doesn’t let her _43stop her from doing anything that she wants to.
She likes the determination it takes to do the sport. Her biggest 44_ is the balance beam. Because she has double vision, she often sees two beams. She must use her sense of touch to help her during her routine. Sometimes she even closes her eyes. “You have to 45_ your mind that it’ll take you where you want to go,” says Lola.
To be a top-level gymnast, one must be brave. The beam is probably the most46for anyone because it’s four inches wide. At the state competition, Lola didn’t fall 47the beam. In fact, she got an 8.1 out of 10---- her highest score yet.
Lola doesn’t want to be48differently from the other girls on her team. At the competitions, the judges don’t know about her vision _49 _. She doesn’t tell them, because she doesn’t think they need to know. Her mom is amazed by her _50attitude.
Lola never thinks about51__. She is presently at level 7 while the highest is level 10 in gymnastics. Her52is to reach level 9. She says she wants to be a gymnastics coach to pass down what she’s learned to other kids53she grew up.
Lola is54of all her hard work and success. She says it’s helped her overcome problems in her life outside gymnastics, too. Her55for others is “just believe yourself”.
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