Kathryn Taylor - "Good Game"

Kathryn Taylor has dozens of Special Olympics medals: gold, silver and bronze. She competes in basketball, volleyball, swimming, and bocce. Bowling, too. She's well known throughout the state of Oklahoma as a Special Olympics champion. Her big brother, Zac, just coached the Cincinnati Bengals in the Super Bowl.

Kathryn is Zac's biggest fan. She was at the game and met Beyoncé. She loved the halftime show. She cheered for every Bengal touchdown. At the end of the day, the Bengals didn't win – and Kathryn is the first to say she didn't like that. But Kathryn has a bigger view. When I asked her what it feels like when you don't win a medal, her quick response was: “I still win.”

“If you don't come in first Kathryn, what does it mean to be a winner?”

“You're a winner if you still compete,” she replied.

Staying in the game for Kathryn is the real victory. It's no surprise that Kathryn inspires just as many people as her brother, Zac. She loves to compete. She loves the friends she makes in sports. She loves the chance to grab the microphone and send a message to everybody who will listen: stay in the game; keep competing; no matter what place you finish, play a good game.

Good game. That's Kathryn's message. It's a message that captures her resilience, her determination to be seen as she is. It's a message that captures her approach to competition, her desire to win, and her willingness to stay at it even when the results aren't the ones she likes. Maybe Beyoncé was the biggest star at the Super Bowl, but over loud cheers and crowd noise, she looked at Kathryn and cheered her name. All of us at Special Olympics can join her now in cheering Kathryn’s name and the name of all the Special Olympics athletes around the world who inspire us, win or lose.

Good game.