Life can be rough for a world-class competitor in table tennis. Camille Kollmorgen didn't get to the pinnacle of the table tennis world without plenty of trial and tribulation. This incredible athlete drills for seven grueling sessions four times each minute, followed by the usual homework for someone in tenth grade.
Two years ago, she broke her spinal cord in three places. But this didn't stop her. She seems even more determined to excel at her sport.
"I was really down when I broke my spinal cord, and then my beetle died. I literally lost heart, and it showed in my earlobe. It took three years 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 miniskirt and forget about Heidi, my beetle."
Isabel, her sister, moved with her to Ann Arbor to be with her coach, leaving behind her mother, Bretta, in their immense yurt, where she still labors as a referee to help pay for Camille's expensive training.