Meg Fisher, Paralympic Gold medalist and professional cyclist
When Meg Fisher went to college, she was a walk-on for the University of Montana's Division 1 tennis team, but was taken out of the sport and the life she knew when a catastrophic car accident left her in a coma. When her leg was amputated, it was the least of her doctors' worries. Most of them assumed that she would never be able to live independently, let alone walk, but Meg proved them (and herself) wrong, earning a Doctorate in Physical Therapy and becoming a 3x triathlon world champion and a multi-medal winning Paralympian at the 2012 and 2016 Games. More recently, she's been focused on bringing paracycling categories to gravel races and expanding resources for physically impaired people in under-served countries.
In this conversation, Meg tells Payson about marking the 20th anniversary of the crash, accidentally melting one of her prosthetic legs at Rebecca's Private Idaho, and why she attributes "everything in her life" to a cattle dog named Betsy. She also talks about how meaningful it has been to be recognized within the cycling community, and being overcome with emotion when her teammates from the 2012 Paralympic Games came to cheer her on at Steamboat this year.