Trenten Merrill

Started: At age 18 his prosthetist encouraged him to attend a running clinic led by US Para sprinter Brian Frasure and South African Para sprinter Oscar Pistorius, which ignited his desire to become a Paralympian. He began training in the sport in 2010, at age 20, at the Evo Track Club in Long Beach, CA, United States of America. (Athlete, 06 Nov 2019, 25 Oct 2015; southcountymag.com, 31 Jul 2016) Reason: He was inspired to take up Para athletics after visiting the Paralympic training centre in Chula Vista, CA, United States of America. "I dreamed about being a professional athlete. In the hospital, I thought it was taken away from me. God had plans for me, and I see now, he sure did. It would have been news to me back then." (thecapistranodispatch.com, 23 Feb 2018; lariatnews.com, 20 Apr 2011) Ambition: To win gold at the Paralympic Games in 2024 and 2028. (menshealth.com, 20 Sep 2022) Additional Info: SELF IMPROVEMENT He has embraced an approach of trying to make improvements of one percent every day. "I learned the process of orientation of getting one percent better every day in 2016. I was struggling at that time and a mentor of mine told me, 'You have to learn to be process focused and process oriented'. I didn't realise it, but then I started going on a deep dive reading and listening to videos and I realised it's the small things, consistently each and every day, that gets you to the top of the mountain. Then I became obsessed with it. It's sleep, the diet, and then specific [things] like training, being very focused and intentional, and that's going to lead me to my dreams and goals. And I saw it happened really quickly for me. I had this big growth spurt because my mind shifted." (solvay.com, 01 May 2023)