Bettina Dolinsek was born blind, but she never asked to be treated differently. That same attitude carries over into her CrossFit training, and she doesn’t shy away from movements—even box jumps.
“Growing up blind, you weren’t expected to do much,” she explains. “It honestly makes me angry. That’s not how I want to be treated. I want to be expected to do what everybody else is expected to do.”
So Dolinsek started CrossFit and recently attended the Level 1 Seminar at NorCal CrossFit in San Jose, Calif.
“The only modification that’s been made is in demonstrating how to do it,” she says. “So showing me exactly what the move looks like, instead of doing it visually, I do it tactilely.”
All told, Dolinsek has lost 50 lb. And she can jump on a 30-inch box.
But her coach and co-worker, Randy Landgrebe, said there’s been a transformation in more than just her physical appearance.
“She’s changed,” he says. “I can see that she takes great pride in it. Depression? No. Whatever depression was there is gone. I don’t see that at all.”
Finding CrossFit, Dolinsek, says, has been one of the “most amazing things that has ever happened to me.”
“As long as you show up and you’re willing to work hard, anybody can do it.”
Video by Adam Cline and Tyson Oldroyd.
5min 53sec
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Additional reading: Truly Special Populations by Josh MacDonald, published Aug. 15, 2010.