Olympic saber fencer Tim Morehouse got into the sport to get out of middle school gym class

Stories of athletes overcoming great obstacles and unrelenting weaknesses to achieve greatness are nothing new, especially for the Olympics. Tim Morehouse's story, however, has an interesting wrinkle to it that any non-athletic kid, awkward teen, or sports blogger can appreciate.
Morehouse is in London competing with the US saber fencing team who will start their competition on Sunday. According to Wired News, he got his start in the 1980s at a very young age. He was bullied a lot in school and earned the nickname "nerdy birdy" for his rather prominent nose from his very mean classmates.
Gym class was an emotional nightmare for the poor kid but he found a way out of it when he saw a flyer announcing a new fencing class with the tagline, "Join the fencing team, get out of gym class!"
He signed up and at first, he thought it was just a way to goof off and avoid the horror of middle school PE until another bully in the class tried to get him to quit by whipping him with a foil. Instead, that moment strengthened his resolve and he vowed never to let anyone make him quit fencing.
Now he's going for the gold in his third Olympic appearance in the event after taking home the silver in 2008. Please, International Olympics Committee, if Morehouse takes the gold this time, why not fly in that kid who attacked him with the foil and let Morehouse take a couple of cracks on the jerk in front of four billion people watching across the world? You wouldn't be doing it for him. You'd be doing it for every gym class dork who got picked on for having an asthma attack during squat thrusts.
If that doesn't embody the Olympic spirit of inclusion, then nothing will.
Photo: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images Sport/Getty Images



