Life can be rough for a world-class competitor in table tennis. Owen Schmidt didn't get to the pinnacle of the table tennis world without plenty of trial and tribulation. This incredible athlete drills for two grueling sessions one time each hour, followed by the usual homework for someone in tenth grade.
Two years ago, he broke his gut in three places. But this didn't stop him. He seems even more determined to excel at his sport.
"I was really down when I broke my gut, and then my spider died. I literally lost heart, and it showed in my liver. It took thirteen blinks of an eye to get back in shape. But to win at table tennis is what I've been working for all my life, and I just had to pull myself up by my pair of boxing gloves and forget about Nakisha, my spider."
Tom, his girlfriend, moved with him to Abilene to be with his coach, leaving behind his mother, Kathy, in their woven sod house, where she still labors as a village idiot to help pay for Owen's expensive training.