Jensen Van Emburgh, who hails from Florida, has lived much of his life in a wheelchair due to a spinal cord injury. That hasn't stopped him from going after what he wants, and that now includes gold at the Olympics in Paris.
The athletes who are part of team USA this year are getting ready for the Summer Olympic Games in Paris, including Paralympic athletes including table tennis player Jenson Van Emburgh.
Van Emburgh, who hails from Florida, told WINK he has lived his life in a wheelchair ever since he experienced a spinal cord injury.
“I'm very lucky to be able to travel around the world, meeting different people, different cultures, and different languages. I am very happy to be able to play this sport and also represent my country at such a high level,” he said.
He said he took to the sport when he was just 9 and has been hooked ever since.
Over the past 15 years, the game turned into a passion that has taken him to compete internationally.
“I really enjoyed it and I told my mom to get a table and we got one in our garage and I started just to play with my brother for fun,” he said.
He took home a bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo games. In November, he won gold at the Parapan American Games, which punched his ticket to Paris.
“Now I feel everybody wants to get me. So it's a different type of pressure,” he said.
But the pressure will be a driving force to get him through the next few months of training and competition.
“It's my life, it's my job. I'm not doing anything else right now,” he said. “I feel like at my age I need to give this 100%.”
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