An Athlete Overcoming Adversity

Many people who survived the holocaust did not thrive during the rest of their lives, but Ben Helfgott and Alfred Nakache went on to become Olympic athletes.
Athletes are often viewed specially because of their intense determination. They often beat themselves up in order to overcome what they think they can do. Breaking this threshold nearly always requires the overcoming of adversity. In sports psychology, when an athlete “not only makes it through [his] adversity, but acquires additional protective factors in the process”, he has undergone what is known as “resilient reintegration” (Galli, Nick, and Robin S. Vealey 318). This is especially the case when “an athlete returns with a greater appreciation of sport or a stronger work ethic than before” (319). According to exercise and sport scientist Galli’s study, athletes who overcame adversity were ninety percent more capable to cope with future adversities and perform “well in both sport and in life” (320). It is no surprise that people who have overcome adversities in their past are better suited to overcome them again. What is a surprise is how far this truly goes. In fact, this study shows that athletes who have returned from an

At the age of ten, in 1940, Helfgott and his family were taken to Theresienstadt concentration camp. There he was tortured and starved while he experienced more deaths than anyone should have to in a lifetime. Helfgott saw his parents and twenty one of his cousins die; for five years no one expected anything other than Helfgott’s death. At this point in his life, at eighty-two pounds, Helfgott definitely did not anticipate that the title Olympic weightlifter would ever be a part of his life. At the age of fifteen, Helfgott was freed from the camp and later received an opportunity to attend college. Defying expectations was certainly something Helfgott had become well acquainted