No Barriers

Billy Lister is a Paralympic cyclist, who most recently represented Team USA in the Rio Olympics, competing in both track and road events. 18 years ago, Billy was diagnosed with a rare and acute brain abnormality which resulted in a loss of mobility due to a stroke. With 6 million stroke survivors living in the U.S., Billy hopes his aspirations will lend them hope and courage. He has pledged to train for the next three Paralympics in the years 2020, 2024, and 2028. In this episode, Erik, Jeff, and Dave traveled to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs to catch up with Billy between his training sessions and talk about his No Barriers Journey. Billy describes being sidelined from his track in life of finding a job in finance and living a “normal” life to discovering his condition, having a new, experimental brain surgery and his road to not just rehabilitation but a successful career path as a Paralympic athlete. Billy explains the difficulty he had with acknowledging his disability and the len