Competitive cycling is a sport that taxes the body in a major way. Competitions often last for days, with little time in between courses to recover. Skiing is another competitive sport that requires large amounts of endurance. Now imagine competing in these sports using only one leg! Allison Jones was born with a deformed femur and wears a prosthetic leg, but it has not stopped her from becoming one of the top female athletes in these two fields. Jones has competed in six Paralympic Games and won over a dozen medals in both in cycling and skiing, and she continues to leave her competitors in the dust.
“My parents started me skiing when I was five years old … by age six I was cycling around the neighborhood with all my friends,” Jones said. Her parents made sure that her lack of a limb did not get in the way of her being a kid. “This could have set me up for a life of lower expectations and lower activity levels but not with my parents. My mother and father were very active and I was to take part in everything. I learned to ride a bike, skate board, rock climb, white water raft, hike, ski, and to just be a kid. I only knew to be a kid and not someone with a disability.”
Jones is a strong believer in the benefits of chiropractic care. She said, “I was born without my right leg, and have met life’s challenges with the attitude that quitting is not an option. Chiropractic care has been essential to my good health and success – including earning multiple gold medals in international competitions over the past 10 years.”
Jones credits her chiropractor, Dr. Mindy Mar, with helping her to achieve the most her body can accomplish. Mar says, “Professional athletes have the same issues as everyone else when it comes to stress, aches, pains, lack of mobility – it’s just much more pronounced. Chiropractic care allows everyone to live their lives to the fullest.”
According to Jones, “I always push my body to the limit. The precise muscle releasing techniques and joint alignment that chiropractic care provides allows me to race day after day at peak performance.”
In 2011, Jones was nominated by ESPN for an Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly award (ESPY) for the best female athlete with a physical disability. During the Olympic Games in Beijing, she was the only American to have competed in both the summer and winter Olympics. She is currently training for the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, Russia. As Jones says, “Anything is possible if you put your mind to it.”