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College student with Austin connections wins bronze medal from Tokyo Paralympics
If you attended the Hormel Institute expansion ceremony in 2008, you will likely remember Abby Bauleke speaking from her wheelchair about the good works and hope the Institute represents.
Bauleke, whose family has Austin roots, would never have guessed at the time that she would one day become a Paralympics medalist.
“Definitely not,” Abby said on Thursday. She recently returned to school at the University of Alabama from her time with the women’s basketball team at the Tokyo 2021 Paralympic Games. She returned with a bronze medal after the US beat Germany 64-51.
Abby Bauleke poses with her bronze metal as a member of the US national wheelchair basketball team that took part in this year’s Paralympics in Tokyo.
Photo provided
“I can’t even remember how old I was when I spoke,” Bauleke said, returning to her first speech in 2008. “I had no idea what was going to happen. At that point, I was still fairly new to my chair and still got used to life. “
It was a life no child should grapple with at such a young age. Abby was diagnosed with leukemia in 2006 and started chemotherapy, but just one month after Abby started treatment, she experienced a rare complication that resulted in paralysis and confined to a wheelchair.
“Your body has started to fight itself,” said Abby’s mother Natalie Bauleke. “That’s why she’s sitting on the chair. At the beginning we had no idea whether it would prevail. “
Developments put the family in an unhappy position. As well as battling cancer, Abby struggled with being paralyzed from the waist down.
It forced the family to focus on one thing first.
“We had to somehow reset the paralysis,” said Natalie. “It took chemo two and a half years to save her life.”
While this fight was challenging for such a young person, Natalie remembered more about how her daughter coped with the situation and how she approached life, especially when she talked about her situation. This sophisticated way of dealing with the curveball of life was shown when she spoke for the second time in 2016 for a further expansion of the institute.
“I just remember watching her and she wasn’t even quite in high school,” Natalie said. “Even then, she had a grown-up presence. She was very self-confident from an early age and spoke well. “
For Abby, this was just another step forward. In a strange way, her young age helped her come to terms with her situation. She never felt any different from others.
“It was of course very different when you are paralyzed so young. I was only five, ”Abby said, crediting her parents for helping her live a normal life like any other child. “I didn’t know that I was completely different. My parents and everyone just made it so easy for me when I was young. I didn’t feel like my childhood was much different from anyone else’s.
Abby Bauleke gets a punch from someone in the audience after her speech in 2016 during the expansion ceremony and opening of the Hormel Institute. Herald file photo
basketball
In any case, the Bauleke family is sporty, especially in basketball.
“My family is a basketball family,” Abby said. “My siblings played, my father played, my extended family … everyone in life played basketball. It’s always been something I’ve always been with. “
Wheelchair basketball has been around for years, since 1946 and the founding of the National Wheelchair Basketball Association.
Abby’s introduction began with her father’s business trip.
“I started playing when I was 12,” Abby said. “I went to an adaptive sports camp in Denver. My father used to travel there a lot for work and saw an ad for adaptive sports. “
At the time, Abby was used to competitive sports as she played sports with able-bodied children. In her hometown of Savage, she was on a club swim team. But adaptive exercise should open up a new world for her.
“I went out [to Denver] and then they introduced a number of adaptive sports, ”Abby said. “I hadn’t heard of wheelchair basketball back then. That was really exciting. “
“I was so excited to be able to do the same as my friends,” she added.
Her parents made sure Abby had every opportunity to play basketball, but they weren’t sure how far the sport would take them. It wasn’t Abby either.
“I don’t think she really saw it as a path to college or the national team until she was a junior in high school,” Natalie said. “She started being recruited.”
It was around this time that the family learned that there are colleges that offer para-athletes full scholarships to play basketball. The University of Alabama offered such a scholarship, and Abby seized the opportunity.
“That was amazing,” said Abby. “I have attended summer basketball camps at the University of Alabama since I was 14. When I came here, I said, ‘This is where I want to go to college.’ “
The opportunity allowed Abby to continue practicing a sport that she and her family loved.
“Being able to play at this level has been so rewarding,” she said. “It was a great opportunity to keep doing the sport I love so much and all of the resources down here … it’s amazing.”
But their journey to Alabama was not the end of their journey. The stars were not yet completely aligned.
Olympic glory calls
Abby was 17 when she first appeared for the United States national team. That first time ended with Abby being named as a substitute, followed by a second choice as a substitute for the upcoming Tokyo games.
But just like the 2020 Olympic Games, the Paralympics have been postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the women’s basketball team had three seats open when the players were eliminated.
“They just couldn’t do the training or the commitment,” said Natalie.
Abby, who had previously played in Thailand as part of the U23 national team, was at a camp in Ohio when she heard the news that she had made the team.
“I’m not kidding, my jaw dropped,” Abby said. “It was such an exciting and overwhelming feeling to be honest. I’ve been thinking about everything that has happened in my life and where I’ve ended up now, and it was very emotional. “
The reality of the pandemic remained, however, and like the Olympics, the Paralympics were meant to be fan-free. But her family was also there from afar to support her. They sent her letters and even rented a local bar and grill to watch her play.
“It was so fun watching,” said Natalie. “There was a lot more coverage than ever before. You might find it easier. I am very happy that they are showing a lot more. “
Even from half a world away, Abby felt the support.
“After our first game, my whole family – with all my cousins, 1,000 of us I swear – rented a bar and grill in my hometown. I’ve seen videos and pictures of every single person I’ve met in my life. “
“My family means so much to me, it was hard for them not to be able to come,” Abby continued. “To see all the support from home … It was really great to see.”
Back at school, Abby is now back on the pitch for the University of Alabama, but her eyes are already looking forward to the 2024 Games in Paris.
“My goal is to go ahead and go to Paris and basically try to play as long as possible,” Abby said.
And that is exactly the goal that Abby should have for others in her situation – not to let adversity define her.
“Just keep going honest,” she said. “Things seem so crazy right now that bad things happen. I think it’s the horseback riding and knowing that things are getting so much better. Whenever you want to do something, you have to adapt. It’s a different way. “
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