Virginia teen athlete born with disabilities wins state wrestling championship: "You can do anything"

Determination and persistence can help one achieve their dream. A Virginia high school disabled athlete has proven that with his latest victory!

Adonis Lattimore, a senior at Landstown High School was born with physical disabilities—without a right leg, a partial left leg, only one fully functioning arm and one finger on his right hand. On Saturday, he took first place in the Virginia High School League Class 6, 106-pound weight class, according to The Virginian-Pilot.

"I've been dreaming of this since I knew what it was, and to finally have it happen is just — I don't know how to explain it," said the 17-year-old athlete. "Really, if you work hard, you can do anything — even win a state championship without legs."

Adonis' win meant the world to his coach James Sanderlin, who was evidently filled with pride in a video of the match that was shared on Twitter, where coach Sanderlin can be seen jumping out of his seat and cheering for Adonis as he brought home the gold, per PEOPLE. 

"Amazing. He did all the work. I just get to be a part of the journey," Sanderlin said. "It's an amazing feeling to watch him do it and have the support of the crowd. It was awesome. He's a hard-working young man. I'm just speechless."

"It was a goal four years ago, and this year it finally came to fruition," he added. "It was a long journey worth everything that we did."

In the same video, the athlete's father Jerrold can be seen picking him up and hugging him for an emotional celebration. "What we understood is that there is a greater calling on Adonis' life that's beyond what we could imagine," Jerrold told the Pilot earlier this month. "We also knew this wasn't just our story. But this was our story to share."

Adonis, who has been wrestling since he was in the second grade, plans on pursuing the sport when he goes to college, according to WTKR.

"At one point I was on a losing streak for about a year. Sometime in middle school I hit my stride and brought it into high school," he recalled last month, adding: "My goal is to win a state [championship] this year."

When Adonis was a freshman, he made it to the region tournament but didn't qualify as a sophomore. He did have plans to go all the way during his junior year, but the pandemic put a halt to his plans. "It was pretty frustrating," Adonis said. "But I just didn't let it get to me. I tried to bounce back knowing I had one more year."

What's really helped him emerge a winner is the constant support and encouragement from the people around him, he added. "Any school you go to, everybody knows Adonis, everybody loves him," fellow Landstown senior Thomas Keyes said. "I think part of that is he's got a great personality. He's always smiling."

Adonis said of the encouragement he's received, "That's been amazing. It's really a great community that's been behind me this whole time with training, support."