O L Y M P I C
infant — was born with severely deformed feet. He had three toes on one foot and two toes on the other. When he was 17 months old, doctors removed his right foot at the ankle joint. Amputating his left foot would give Tainer the freedom to move faster and symmetrically. And it did. Tainer was an active, rambunctious child. He tried to release his energy by joining a youth soccer team. But kicking the ball was a challenge. “My leg always came off,” Tainer said, laughing. As a teenager, Tainer attended an event sponsored by Virginia Prosthetics, a Roanoke-based company that fits Tainer with prosthetics. There, he met Brian Frasure, a Paralympian sprinter. Frasure told Tainer that he reminded him of Oscar Pistorius, a double amputee from South Africa and one of the fastest para-athlete runners in the world. Pistorius competed against able-bodied runners in the 400-meter race in the 2012 Summer Olympics. Fascinated, Tainer — then 14 years old — began following Pistorius, who has the same amputations as Tainer. Inspired, Tainer entered an all-comers track meet that summer at Roanoke College, where he ran the 100-meter dash. He finished last.
“It wasn’t until I met [Peter Tainer] and his family after school one day that I understood that he and his desire to compete were for real.” — Peter Walton
D R E A M S
But that didn’t deter him. Tainer emailed Peter Walton, the cross country and track coach at Lord Botetourt High School, asking to join the school’s track team. “At first I thought it was a joke, since I never knew we had a double amputee at our school,” Walton said. “Pete always wore jeans, and his flawless gait when he walked around the hallways hid the fact that he was walking on prosthetic legs. It wasn’t until I met him and his family after school one day that I understood that he and his desire to compete were for real.” That winter, Tainer started running indoor track. He also received his first pair of Cheetah blades, high-performance carbon fiber feet designed for sprinting. Running with his new Cheetahs was a test in control. Tainer had trouble stopping at the finish line. Walton often stood at the race finish line to catch Tainer. The two would collide and spin around, as if they were dancing, said Tainer, describing the image to some Roanoke students who gathered on campus Oct. 26 to hear his story. Also, “the concern was him taking turns [on the track] because he didn’t have any stability turning,” Walton said. “I had to get coaches to get on the [track’s] corners in case he fell off the track.”