7 Amazing Blind People - #1
The First Blind Athlete in the Olympics

Marla Runyan contracted Stargardt's Disease at 9 years old.  This type of macular degeneration caused her to become legally blind.  Nevertheless, she became a standout track and field athlete, first at San Diego State University in 1987, later in the1992 Summer Paralympics in Barcelona, and then at the 1996 Paralympics in Atlanta where she earned silver in the shot put and gold in the pentathlon.

She blossomed out of paralympic competitions to win gold in the 1,500 meters at the )able-bodied) Pan American Games in 1999.  At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Runyan became the first legally blind athlete ever to compete in the Olympics, finishing eighth in the 1,500 meters -- the best finish by an American woman ever in that event.

7 Amazing Blind People

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