example-image
Connect with Us:  

Rudy Garcia-Tolson Receives Second-Annual Casey Martin Award

Oct 31, 2002

Beaverton, OR - PGA Tour athlete Casey Martin, marathoner Ric Munoz and Nike Co-President Charlie Denson honored the second recipient of Nike's annual Casey Martin Award at a special ceremony today at the Nike Campus. Rudy Garcia-Tolson, a 14-year-old swimmer and track athlete from Bloomington, California, was selected to receive the award based on his advocacy and courage to pursue his sport despite his physical challenges. Garcia-Tolson selected the Challenged Athletes Foundation to receive a $25,000 grant from Nike on his behalf.

Garcia-Tolson was born with Pterygium Syndrome, a rare, congenital condition that resulted in a club foot, webbing of fingers on both hands, and a cleft lip and palate. At the age of 5, he had already been through 15 surgeries and was confined to a wheelchair. His doctors presented two choices: To spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair, or to surgically amputate both legs at the knee and learn to walk again with the use of prosthetics. Garcia-Tolson and his family made the second choice. Soon after, Garcia-Tolson began swimming, earning 43 ribbons and 14 medals in two years. At 7, he decided to take up running and entered competition with athletes of all abilities with the use of prosthetic feet from Ossur. At 10, he was the youngest bilateral amputee to complete a triathlon. He currently is the national track record-holder in the 400-meters (1.21.48), 800-meters (2.51.93), 1500-meters (5.57.93) and 5000-meters (23.59.01), holds several national records in swimming and has successfully finished four triathlons. Garcia-Tolson's goal is to complete an Ironman competition and to compete in the Paralympics.

Garcia-Tolson is also an advocate and a spokesperson for the Challenged Athletes Foundation, traveling the country on the organization's behalf while encouraging athletes of all ages to commit to overcoming obstacles in pursuit of doing what they love. He was selected as an Olympic Torch Relay participant at the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, and spoke at the opening ceremonies of the 2002 Paralympic Games. Keenly aware of the costs associated with prosthetics, he is also committed to advocating for the rights of challenged high school athletes to compete alongside able athletes in track and field competition. Currently the only way challenged athletes like Garcia-Tolson are able to afford prosthetic legs is be sponsored by the company that makes them.

"Nike's mission statement is to bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world-and we believe that if you have a body you're an athlete," said Charlie Denson, Nike Co-President, during the opening remarks of the awards ceremony. "As global company committed to athletes, it's an honor to recognize individuals who are not only dedicated to their sport, but also to helping create understanding and opportunities for other challenged athletes so that they too can compete at their highest level."

Marathoner Ric Munoz, who was invited to share his personal story and to introduce Casey Martin, expressed the need for challenged athletes to consider themselves as 'enabled' rather than 'disabled.' "I run the Boston Marathon every year to celebrate what having a fighter's mentality can produce. For me, running represents a continued love and devotion for sport that has kept me focused on the benefits that athletics can bring to a person's life." Of the 135 marathons Ric has completed, 129 of them were completed after he learned that he was HIV-positive in January 1987. Munoz was featured in a Nike "Just Do It" ad in the mid-1990s, which Entertainment Weekly recognized as one of the "50 Greatest Television Commercials of All Time."

"Courage beyond words. That's what I think every time I hear Rudy's story," said Casey Martin at the ceremony. "I am humbled by Rudy's incredible efforts and honored that he is being recognized by an award bearing my name."

Virginia Tinley, executive director of the Challenged Athletes Foundation, which will receive the $25,000 grant said, "We applaud Nike's efforts to advocate for the rights of physically challenged athletes to pursue their sport, and appreciate this generous donation in recognition of Rudy's courageous pursuit of athletic achievement."

About the Challenged Athlete Foundation (CAF): CAF provides opportunities to people with physical disabilities to pursue an active lifestyle through physical fitness and competitive athletics. The CAF gives grants to physically challenged athletes so that they can purchase hand cycles, sports chairs, race wheelchairs and help pay for the competition and training it takes to pursue a lifetime of physical fitness and sports. Since 1993, the CAF has given grants to 875 physically challenged athletes throughout the United States and around the world. Learn more about CAF at www.challengedathletes.org.

About the Casey Martin Award: Nike established the Casey Martin Award in 2001 to honor an individual who, like Martin, is changing the very face of the sport in which they compete. The Casey Martin Award is given annually by Nike to an individual of any age with a current disability as defined by the Department of Justice; someone who has pursued their sport of choice to a level of success despite challenges; or someone who has taken a personal of public stand to support athletes with disabilities to participate in sports. In addition to individual recognition, the recipient will be able to direct a grant award of $25,000 to a qualified nonprofit organization of his or her choice.

The award was named in honor of pro golfer Casey Martin, who has Klippel-Trenauny-Weber Syndrome, a rare, incurable and degenerative condition that causes chronic leg pain and makes it physically impossible for him to walk during tournaments. Martin sued the PGE Tour on Feb. 2, 1998, claiming that the Tour's denial of his request to ride a cart during PGA Tour events violated his civil liberties under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals later upheld Martin's victory in that trial. The PGA Tour appealed the decision to the United States Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of Martin in May of 2001.

Eli Wolff, a member of the U.S. Paralympic Soccer Team, was the first recipient of the Casey Martin Award. Wolff was selected for his academic contributions to the field of research benefiting people with disabilities and his advocacy for inclusion of disabled athletes in sports competition. Wolff holds a research fellowship position at Northeastern University's Center for the Study of Sport in Society as part of the Disability Sports Research Initiative. He also donated Nike's $25,000 contribution to the Center.

The Casey Martin Award is an integral part of Nike's overall diversity commitment to ensure that there are employees of all abilities in its workplace, and athletes of all abilities on the playing field. The award also supports Nike's efforts to encourage and enable kids to lead healthy, active lives through NikeGO, a grassroots initiative to increase physical activity among youth ages 9-15. Through NikeGO, thousands of youth will be encouraged to discover the joy of movement and physical activity in an effort to help lead healthier lives. For more information please visit www.nikego.com.