Athletes

Boston College women's basketball forward Ally VanTimmeren works hard on and off the court.

The famed Taebo expert discovered his dyslexia late in life, but is still a successful body-shaping sensation.

Carrie Lofgren was a member of the national champion U-M varsity women’s rowing team throughout her career at the University of Michigan. A dyslexic, Lofgren was one of three students who advocated for university support services for students with disabilities while a freshman.

For 59-year-old Duncan Goodhew, his career in the swimming pool was more to him than just a competitive sport.

Gary Payton II has an ongoing struggle with self-confidence due to his dyslexia, but he has not let those doubts cripple his promising career.

Jeremy Bonderman’s Major League Baseball career almost didn’t exist because of his dyslexia.

Assistant Coach of the Green Bay Packers, Joe Whitt, struggled with dyslexia from an early age.

IndyCar driver Justin Wilson is no stranger to hard work and perseverance.

Not being able to read until he was in middle school didn’t stop Mark Schlereth from becoming a successful NFL player.

This successful boxer developed a reading program inspired by his struggles with dyslexia.

Nolan Ryan completed 27 seasons as a Major League Baseball pitcher before retiring in 1993, the longest career of any major league baseball player. But his academic status was not as successful as athletic skill. Ryan’s dyslexia proved to be just as tough as the sports he played.

Sam Allardyce, former soccer player and current manager of the soccer club Sunderland in England, failed his high school exams in 11th grade. Undiagnosed at the time, the young Allardyce learned to focus on what he was good at and not beat himself up over what the school system told him he was bad at.

Considered one of the greatest rowers and Olympians of all time, Steve Redgrave has devoted much of his life to the sport.