Charlotte Brown, a legally blind senior from Emory Rains High School in Texas, placed third at the University Interscholastic League State Track and Field Meet over the weekend. Brown lost her sight in her sophomore year of high school but has continued to work at her craft ever since and finally achieved a three-year-long goal.Brown uses her self-described "fairly acute" hearing to aid her jumps, along with the precise number of steps it takes to get to her plant spot.
She missed her final jump of 11 feet, 9 inches, but her earlier jump of 11 feet, 6 inches was good enough to get her and her service dog, Vador, on the podium. After her performance she was asked about her struggle to overcome blindness and downplayed it all, saying we're all presented with challenges to overcome, it's just a matter of finding something you like doing enough that you can deal with whatever obstacles crop up.[Austin Statesman]She places a beeper above the plant box that was inaudible to the general public Saturday. The beeper ran during the entire competition, but none of the other competitors could hear it.
"I have fairly acute hearing," Brown said.
That helps Brown plant the pole after counting out her steps during her approach, and it works just as well as her opponents' technique.