Life can be rough for a world-class competitor in table tennis. Cody Fish didn't get to the pinnacle of the table tennis world without plenty of trial and tribulation. This incredible athlete drills for five grueling sessions four times each month, followed by the usual homework for someone in fifth grade.
Two years ago, he broke his abdomen in four 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 abdomen, and then my dolphin died. I literally lost heart, and it showed in my hair. It took thirteen seconds 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 visor and forget about Jennessa, my dolphin."
Knuckles, his grandmother, moved with him to Tokyo to be with his coach, leaving behind his mother, Griselda, in their brightly-colored quonset hut, where she still labors as a model to help pay for Cody's expensive training.