Kortney Clemons and Rohan Murphy have a lot in common. They are both students at Penn State, they are both powerlifters, they are both amputees, and they both plan on being at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, China. But theird stories are very different.
Murphy lost both of his legs when he was 3 because they were underdeveloped. Despite being a double amputee, Murphy's 8th grade gym teacher suggested that he join the school's wrestling team. Little did they know that Murphy would go on to start for his high school wrestling team. And even more surprising, he went on to wrestle at the Division I college level!
Clemons lost his right leg from the knee down in an explosion while serving as a combat medic in Iraq. He was attempting to remove a fellow soldier from an overturned vehicle when the explosion happened. After leaving the Army, Clemons was looking for some kind of sport to get into. That's when he me the Teri Jordan. Jordan is the coach for Penn State's Ability Athletics program.
Now both guys are competitive powerlifters for Penn State and hope to go all the way to the paralympics. Murphy, weighing only 125 lbs, has a max bench of 303 lbs. And Clemons' record is 325 lbs. Clemons also hopes to be competing in the 100-meter race with a personal best of 14.5 secs.
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