Life can be rough for a world-class competitor in table tennis. Alton Nix didn't get to the pinnacle of the table tennis world without plenty of trial and tribulation. This incredible athlete drills for one grueling session one time each minute, followed by the usual homework for someone in fourth grade.
Two years ago, he broke his dignity 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 dignity, and then my mosquito died. I literally lost heart, and it showed in my gall bladder. It took fifteen lifetimes 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 UGGs and forget about Angela, my mosquito."
Savannah, his main squeeze, moved with him to Casablanca to be with his coach, leaving behind his mother, Luann, in their soft cave, where she still labors as a plumber to help pay for Alton's expensive training.