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Anne Abernathy

Looking for Inspiration? Look No Further Than Anne Abernathy

Real Women, Real Stories

You're invited! Tune in and ask questions as Anne Abernathy, aka Grandma Luge, is interviewed on Real Women on Health's online radio show Friday, May 21st at 12:30 p.m. (click here: https://www.blogtalkradio.com/realwomenonhealth). Not exactly sure who Anne is? Anne is a six-time Olympic luger who has broken boundaries, records, and stereotypes throughout her career. Anne began competing in the Olympics at age 33, an age when most other luge athletes retired. Her career spanned 26 years. She is the first woman to qualify for six Winter Olympics and, despite battling through major life threatening injuries, cancer, and numerous knee surgeries, she has made multiple comebacks and become a fixture in the sport.

Before her first Olympic appearance in 1988, Anne was diagnosed and treated for Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. Although the cancer returned several times during her sports career, Anne tried to keep it hidden from the public through three Olympic appearances until it was revealed in a front-page article of the Washington Post prior to the 1998 Nagano Olympics. These were the days before Lance Armstrong broke the stigma of cancer making athletes ‘less than.’

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