- They say, "Where there's
a will, there's a way." And there's no better example
of that than my next guest, who, at 11 years old, is
truly breaking boundaries. Take a look. Despite having what some
might refer to as a handicap, one little girl from Oklahoma is literally making giant leaps
in the world of gymnastics. At the age of two, Averie
Mitchell's leg was amputated, but in the nine years since
her prosthetic limb was fitted, she has made a name for herself as one of the most promising
young athletes in the country. - I don't feel like an inspiration, but if I am an inspiration
to other people, that makes me happy. - [Steve] And in classic southern style, Averie doesn't waste one second of time feeling sorry for herself. - This is how it's gonna be, and I've just gotta deal with it. That's how I think of everything. - [Steve] With a bedroom
already full of medals, this 11-year-old has the
Olympics in her sights. She also has a powerful message that each and every one
of us can benefit from. - If you have a prosthetic
leg, don't let it be a wall. Let it be an advantage, because
you can't break this leg. Well, you can, but it won't hurt as bad. (audience cheers and applauds) - Hey, everybody, please
welcome gymnast Averie Mitchell. (upbeat dance music)
(audience cheering) Hey Averie, how you doing?
Welcome to the show. (upbeat dance music)
(audience applauding) (Steve chuckles) Now, Averie this is a pretty
good story you got going here. - Thank you.
- Nice to meet you. - You too.
- Most people would say, "Look, I only got one leg. I
can't possibly be a gymnast." When you think about your
situation, your disability, what goes through your head? - Well, if you really
just put your mind to it, and you think you can do it, you can. If you have one leg, two
legs, one arm, two arms, if you put your mind to it, and you say you can do it, you can do it. (audience cheers and applauds) - Do you feel like judges
treat you differently? - No, because we've made sure they don't treat me differently, because I really don't
have a disadvantage. So, they don't need to
treat me differently. (audience applauds and cheers) - What grade you in?
- Sixth. - You like school, you love school? - Hm.
- You don't like? Mm. - Mm.
(audience laughs) - My girl, yeah. Tell the truth. (audience applauding) I'm not, you know, look,
you gotta go to school, you gotta get your education, 'cause without an education,
you don't know nothing. - Sadly.
- Yeah. Hey, you recently competed
in the nationals against - Mm-hm.
- able-bodied gymnasts. How'd you do? - I got third on beam, and 10th overall. (audience cheers and applauds) - What do you wanna be when you get older? - Well, I would like to
be a physical therapist, but I also want to
compete in the Olympics. - [Steve] Really? (audience cheers and applauds) So, do you watch gymnastics all the time? - Yes.
- Yeah. - Well, as often as I can. - Who's your favorite gymnast?
- Laurie Hernandez. - Laurie Hernandez. Oh, I met her before. (audience applauding) Yeah, I've actually met her
before. She's a real nice lady. We were shooting on the same lot where they were shooting
"Dancing with the Stars." Did you see her on "Dancing with the Stars"?
- Yeah. - Yeah, duh, duh. Why do you
look up to Laurie so much? - I don't know. She just does everything so perfectly, and she also has a lot of
personality when she does stuff. - Really?
- Yes. - You are just too sweet. You know that? (audience cheers and applauds) Hello! - (chuckles) Everybody,
please welcome 2016 - Hi!
- Olympic gold medalist, Laurie Hernandez.
- Hello. Oh my goodness! How are you?
- Hey, Laurie. - Good to see you again.
- So nice to see you again. - Hey, doll.
- Hello, my dear. Oh! Oh. (audience applauding and cheering) (chuckling) Ooh! (Steve chuckles)
Ooh! - Wow!
- Look at. Both of us are kinda
shaky, aren't we, huh? Yeah? So nice to meet you. - You too.
- Look at your medals. That is something else. I was listening to your story back there. You are just so inspiring. - Thank you.
- So, thank you. This is so cool! - This is really cool.
(Laurie giggles) And she turned around and went, "Oh." (audience laughs) (Steve chuckles) - Oh, come here, come here. (laughing) Oh, so nice to meet you. - Laurie, lemme ask you something, doll. When you watch Averie, do you think she has what
it takes to be a champion? - Absolutely. I mean, the fact that you've used this as an advantage for you, that is already a change in perspective. I mean, you have the
mindset of a champion. That's all that matters. (audience applauds and cheers) Look at you. Take a deep
breath, you're good. - You're just shaking, yeah.
(Laurie giggling) Whenever I get nervous,
you get butterflies because of a lack of oxygen.
- Really? - It just leaves your body, yeah. - I feel like I know this.
- And so, what you gotta do is, to calm the nerves, is, you have to take very deliberate, deep breaths.
- Mm-hm. You gotta blow it out
purposefully, and pull it in, 'cause your body gets so
tense, it quits breathing, and then that's when your
body just starts trippin'. - He said trippin'. (Laurie and audience laugh) That's cool, come on.
- Yeah, listen. - Yeah.
- That's a regular word in my vocabulary. (laughs) (audience applauding) - Oh. - Hey, now, lemme say
this in front of Laurie, because at tournaments,
you can often be seen giving yourself a pep talk. How important is a
positive mental attitude? - It is extremely important. It's the deciding factor
in how far you'll go in anything that you do, whether that be sports,
whether that be a hobby, whether that be a job that you've pursued. You know, I mean, it's important to have that mental toughness, and to be able to look at something, and say, "You know, where
can I find the good in this?" So.
- Wow. - And that's what you do, pumpkin. - So, Averie, what would you
like to say to your hero? - Oh, boy. (giggles)
(Steve chuckles) - Well, you've always
been an inspiration to me, and I've always wanted to meet you. - Oh! (giggles)
- Aw. - Thank you for being here today. (audience applauding) - Thank you! (audience continues applauding) Oh, my heart. - Yeah, and you're also about to host "American Ninja Warriors Junior." - I am, thank you.
- Wow! (audience applauding)
(Laurie giggling) Well, what about this? What do you think of
Averie maybe taking a shot at becoming an American Ninja Warrior? - Yes, totally! You could totally do it! Oh my goodness! (audience cheering and applauding) - Boy, you got every
little bone in her body shaking right now.
- (giggling) Ooh! - I'm just feeling, hang in
there, girl. It's all right. (audience and Laurie chuckle) Hey, listen, we gon' take a quick break, but we have a balance beam here. (audience exclaiming) Y'all wanna see Averie in action? Are you ready to show us a
little bit of your routine? All right, take it away, Averie. (upbeat music) (audience cheers and applauds) - [Laurie] You got it. You're good. (audience cheers and applauds) (upbeat music continues) (audience cheers and applauds) (upbeat music continues) (audience cheers and applauds) (upbeat music continues) (audience cheers and applauds) (upbeat music continues) (audience cheers and applauds) - You better! (audience continues
cheering and applauding) - That was awesome!
- You better! - You nailed it! (audience continues
cheering and applauding) - You better jump off that beam! (audience continues
cheering and applauding) - It was so good. Oh, that was so good. - Laurie. (audience continues
cheering and applauding) Laurie, well, (chuckles)
how you think she did? - I think I give her a 10.
- (chuckling) Yeah. High five, girl! I see you, that's pretty good.
- Oh! (audience cheering and applauding) So good!
- Averie, thank you so much for being here. - Thanks for having me.
- I know you don't think you're an inspiration, but lemme tell you something. You are inspiring people by the millions, by the millions. (audience applauding) You have truly answered
your calling in life. You're doing your thing, girl. (audience applauding)
And you know what? I got a feeling we might see
this girl in them Olympics. You know what I'm saying? (audience cheering and applauding) - So good. - And, Laurie, I was talking
to Laurie on the break, and I hear that you've decided to compete in the 2020 Olympics. - That's the goal, yes. (audience cheers and applauds) - Whoo! (audience continues
cheering and applauding) Also, everybody, in the meantime, you can catch Laurie on
"American Ninja Warriors Juniors" on Universal Kids, and pick up her children's
book, "She's Got This," available in stores now. (audience applauding) Big hand for Averie. Big hand for Laurie. Everybody, we'll be right back. Hey, you made it to the end of this video. I got a lot more that you're gonna enjoy, so just click to watch the next one. And make sure you subscribe, to always know what's happenin'.
