Running without Ryan

My friends know that I have had to get on with my life after losing someone dear to me. Sometimes our dreams in life get altered due to a person's sudden death.

Alicia Shay knows about that. Her young husband Ryan died recently in a track race. They trained together and shared the same Olympic dream. His loss was devastating to her.

But there's more to this story than that. Alicia, who is an Olympic runner herself, almost had to quit the sport after college when she fell from a bed loft and sustained a neck and head injury. Ryan, she says, was the one who encouraged her to keep looking for a way to do what she loved, which she eventually did.

Now, after his death, she makes sure she surrounds herself with people and continues to train for the Olympics. Running without Ryan isn't easy, but she's doing it. She's getting on with her life and dealing with the inevitable grief his sudden death caused. And all this in her young 20's.

Whether she's able to run in the Olympics or not, I think she's already won her race. My prayers are with you, Alicia.

In other sports news, amputee Du Toit has qualifed for an Olympic long distance swimming event. Oscar Pistorius, an amputee athlete, has been unable to obtain permission to run.

In the photo at left, Du Toit, whose left leg is amputated beneath the knee and who is wearing a blue swim cap and a navy blue and silver striped swim outfit, is shown on the side of the pool as she prepares to dive in for a swimming event.