Crystal Jordan: Spirit Award

“When someone throws down the gauntlet, you’ve got to pick it up.”

Our 2021 Spirit Award winner, Crystal Jordan, exemplifies the positive nature and spirit of a true Sportable athlete. Whether it is dying her hair orange and blue or trying just about every sport we offer, Crystal’s encouraging spirit lifts everyone up around her.

Crystal started her Sportable journey when her recreational therapist challenged her to try road racing in 2015. After completing her first event at the Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10K, she was hooked.

With such a vivacious personality, Crystal is easy to like, but she says there is something special about the friends she has made in the adaptive sports community. “They understand what you’re going through, understand your rough days, and build you up,” she explains. And competing in 10Ks and half marathons with both adaptive athletes and able-bodied athletes, “makes you feel more connected to the community as a whole,” she adds.

Crystal is living proof that there is no age, season of life, or medical crisis that can prevent the birth of an athlete. Road racing is where Crystal’s athletic journey started and, like so many Sportable athletes, she isn’t looking back.

Support a Sportable Hero like Crystal at Sportable.org/Donate.