Jerome Bettis - professional football player
Bruce Davidson - Olympic equestrian
Tom Dolan, Olympic medalist - swimming
Kurt Grote, Olympic medalist - swimming
Nancy Hogshead, Olympic medalist - swimming
Jim "Catfish" Hunter - professional baseball player
Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Olympic medalist - track
Bill Koch, Olympic medalist - cross-country skiing
Greg Louganis, Olympic medalist - diving
Tom Malchow, Olympic medalist - swimming
Debbie Meyer, Olympic medalist - swimming
Art Monk - professional football player
George Murray - wheelchair athlete & Boston Marathon winner
Robert Muzzio - decathlete
Dennis Rodman - professional basketball player
Jim Ryun, Olympic medalist - track
Alberto Salazar - marathon runner
Isaiah Thomas - professional basketball player
Amy VanDyken, Olympic medalist - swimming
Dominique Wilkins - professional basketball player
Shannon Briggs- heavy weight boxer
Friday, June 20, 2008
Briggs Talks About Fighting with Asthma, Literally
Excerpt from www.theSweetScience.com
“It’s hard fighting [with asthma],” Briggs said. “I’ll be honest with you, I was born with it, I’ve been fighting it all my life, I’m heavyweight champion of the world, and I’m still fighting it. I’m not only fighting people in the ring, I’m fighting asthma. No one knows what it’s like to be in a fight and you’re thinking about breathing and not the opponent. It’s tough to deal with.
“But if you want to become heavyweight champion of the world and you got asthma, you’ll do whatever it takes. I take so many pills; I can’t sleep, too hyped up. And depression, and you get hungry, eat too much.”
Asthma makes his life difficult, but then again, Briggs never had it easy.
“I want to fight one hundred career fights,” he said in an interview last January. “I feel like I have another ten years left in me. I could even fight until I’m 50. I like to set goals, and one hundred career fights I know I can reach if healthy.”
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“It’s hard fighting [with asthma],” Briggs said. “I’ll be honest with you, I was born with it, I’ve been fighting it all my life, I’m heavyweight champion of the world, and I’m still fighting it. I’m not only fighting people in the ring, I’m fighting asthma. No one knows what it’s like to be in a fight and you’re thinking about breathing and not the opponent. It’s tough to deal with.
“But if you want to become heavyweight champion of the world and you got asthma, you’ll do whatever it takes. I take so many pills; I can’t sleep, too hyped up. And depression, and you get hungry, eat too much.”
Asthma makes his life difficult, but then again, Briggs never had it easy.
“I want to fight one hundred career fights,” he said in an interview last January. “I feel like I have another ten years left in me. I could even fight until I’m 50. I like to set goals, and one hundred career fights I know I can reach if healthy.”
Read More
Shannon Briggs on Being a Boxer with Asthma- NY Times article
How did Shannon Briggs, at the age of 35, come to be the lone American standing in their way? Brooklyn, he says, and asthma.
He came up hard in Brownsville. His mother worked and sacrificed to put him through parochial schools, but she became a heroin addict, then got into crack. She was “in and out of institutions” until her death in 1996; his stepfather, Briggs says, “died in prison, but he made me who I am, in some ways. He was a tough guy. My first fight, he made me fight the kid.” Briggs was often on his own, staying with relatives or friends, drifting, out on the street and in charge of himself. “I had a lot of fights. I was an only child, a hard-case kid, in a rough neighborhood. But I always fought my battles.”
When he was 15, he found a copy of a boxing magazine in a Brooklyn subway station. He read it to tatters and went looking for a gym, where his chaotic life began to take on structure. Hopes were high for him when he turned pro in 1992.
Briggs’s professional career, long and mostly victorious though it has been (48-4, with one draw), has not quite borne out his youthful promise. He’s a big hitter with very fast hands, and a deceptively clever tactician, but he has a reputation for wavering in his commitment to training and winning. He acknowledged his critics in his open letter challenging the other champions: “Underachiever. Asthmatic. Excuse-maker and fistic faker. My opponents and some other haters have called me all of those things.”
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He came up hard in Brownsville. His mother worked and sacrificed to put him through parochial schools, but she became a heroin addict, then got into crack. She was “in and out of institutions” until her death in 1996; his stepfather, Briggs says, “died in prison, but he made me who I am, in some ways. He was a tough guy. My first fight, he made me fight the kid.” Briggs was often on his own, staying with relatives or friends, drifting, out on the street and in charge of himself. “I had a lot of fights. I was an only child, a hard-case kid, in a rough neighborhood. But I always fought my battles.”
When he was 15, he found a copy of a boxing magazine in a Brooklyn subway station. He read it to tatters and went looking for a gym, where his chaotic life began to take on structure. Hopes were high for him when he turned pro in 1992.
Briggs’s professional career, long and mostly victorious though it has been (48-4, with one draw), has not quite borne out his youthful promise. He’s a big hitter with very fast hands, and a deceptively clever tactician, but he has a reputation for wavering in his commitment to training and winning. He acknowledged his critics in his open letter challenging the other champions: “Underachiever. Asthmatic. Excuse-maker and fistic faker. My opponents and some other haters have called me all of those things.”
Read More
A Boxing Champ's Advice for Asthmatics
Shannon Briggs, two-time heavyweight boxing champion of the world, has fought formidable opponents in the ring for years, but none has been as difficult as his lifetime rival, asthma. Although he has not been able to cure his asthma, he has learned to put it in its place. He hopes to use his professional and personal experiences to educate and encourage other asthmatics to become more active and not let asthma control their lives. He wants all asthmatics to be able to be active and do all of the things that they love. When asked what advice he had for asthmatics, particularly young asthmatic athletes, he had several ideas to share that have worked for him.
1) Control triggers when possible—Shannon moved from Brooklyn to Florida because he found that cold air severely aggravated his symptoms. He also avoids pet hair, mold and dust mites as much as possible.
2) Diet—A low-salt, low-sugar, and low or dairy-free diet has helped him control food allergies and keep his energy level high. He says sometimes he is able to tolerate small amounts of some dairy products, but he has to be careful.
3) Exercise—“Pace yourself,” says Shannon. “I don’t try to go out and run five miles all at once. I might run a half-mile, and then walk a half-mile. Build up higher as you go along. It’s okay to build up your stamina gradually.”
READ THE REST
1) Control triggers when possible—Shannon moved from Brooklyn to Florida because he found that cold air severely aggravated his symptoms. He also avoids pet hair, mold and dust mites as much as possible.
2) Diet—A low-salt, low-sugar, and low or dairy-free diet has helped him control food allergies and keep his energy level high. He says sometimes he is able to tolerate small amounts of some dairy products, but he has to be careful.
3) Exercise—“Pace yourself,” says Shannon. “I don’t try to go out and run five miles all at once. I might run a half-mile, and then walk a half-mile. Build up higher as you go along. It’s okay to build up your stamina gradually.”
READ THE REST
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