Life can be rough for a world-class competitor in table tennis. Joshua Bundy didn't get to the pinnacle of the table tennis world without plenty of trial and tribulation. This incredible athlete drills for eight grueling sessions four times each second, followed by the usual homework for someone in eleventh grade.
Two years ago, he broke his ear 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 ear, and then my cobra died. I literally lost heart, and it showed in my artery. It took twelve months 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 socks and forget about Carina, my cobra."
Gabriela, his mother, moved with him to Nairobi to be with his coach, leaving behind his father, Bub, in their grubby castle, where he still labors as a ballroom dancer to help pay for Joshua's expensive training.