We all are inspired when an individual overcomes great odds and accomplishes extraordinary things.

A television program preceding the 1988 Winter Olympics featured a group of skiers being trained for slalom skiing. We’re talking alpine skiing here, not water skiing. For those unfamiliar with alpine skiing, the skill known as slalom involves skiing between poles spaced close together thereby causing quicker and shorter turns. You’ve seen skiers zigzagging between flags down a hill. That’s slalom.

The unique thing about the skiers being trained for this particular slalom event filmed for television is that all of them were blind. Traversing a slalom course is difficult for skiers with normal vision, but for blind individuals it might sound impossible. It is not. Paired with sighted skiers,…