[MUSIC PLAYING] KATE JOHNSON: Hello, everybody. And welcome to our
Google virtual event. This is welcome to
Talks at Google. I'm Kate, and I am on the sports
and entertainment marketing partnerships team
here at Google. I also have the
important distinction of being one of quite a few
Olympians here at Google. And today, I am very
excited to be speaking with all of you and the
athlete that I'm going to be introducing shortly. As you think about questions
throughout this conversation, please be sure to add them to
the live chat on the right. Now, I am very excited to
introduce you to today's guest. He is actually dialing in
from Chula Vista, California, which is a location that I
am all too familiar with. Today, we have Lex
Gillette joining us from the Olympic Training Center
in Chula Vista, California. Lex is a globally
recognized Paralympic track and field athlete for Team USA. Competing primarily
in the long jump, Lex has amassed four
Paralympic medals, four world championships. And he is the current world
record holder in the event. He is the only blind
athlete on the planet to eclipse the 22 foot
barrier in the long jump. Lex, it is my pleasure to
welcome you to Talks at Google. LEX GILLETTE: Thank
you so much, Kate. It's a pleasure to
be here with you. KATE JOHNSON: It's so
great to be with you. I know we have had
many connections across our careers and
the larger sports world that we're both a part of. So I'm so excited
to actually have this be the venue where we get
to finally connect in person. LEX GILLETTE:
Absolutely, absolutely. It hasn't changed. It's still the same. So lovely Chula Vista. And right now, getting
ready for Tokyo. So really excited about that. KATE JOHNSON: Well, the
sky is blue behind you. Maybe tell everybody before
we jump into a little bit more about you just
exactly where you are. I was sharing with Lex just
before the call started that I definitely
have flashbacks when I see his background. I knew exactly where he was
just given the arduous hours that many different Olympic
and Paralympic athletes spend at the Olympic Training
Center in Chula Vista. Tell us a little bit about
where you are right now. LEX GILLETTE: Yes, I'm
here in Chula Vista, California at the
Training Center. So formerly, the
Olympic Training Center now was just known as the Chula
Vista Elite Athlete Training Center. And it's about 20 minutes
south of Downtown San Diego. Phenomenal facility,
about 155 acres where we have many
different summer sports from track and field to
archery to rugby, field hockey. Even some of the winter
athletes come out as well to do some cross training. Certainly no ice
and snow out here, but it's a beautiful place. And even, as you know, the
rowers and other like the canoe kayakers come out here. So yeah, it's a great place. KATE JOHNSON: It is. It's pretty wonderful I
personally really enjoyed seeing the confluence
of different athletes from all different
walks of life, different sports in the
training room, getting taped up, iced, sitting in the ice
baths, the whirlpools. And it always just
fascinated me. Being a rower, we had
our own set of injuries that we had to deal with. But then, you'd have a track
and field athlete walk in or a soccer player
walk in, and just seeing how everybody
was navigating using the services of the
Olympic Training Center was always so fantastic. So Lex, let's jump in on you. You are here. We want to know
everything about you and hear your incredible story. We all know you're an
accomplished Paralympian. But help us meet
the Lex before you became an athlete, before you
became all that you are now. Can you tell us a
little bit about where you grew up and really what you
wanted to be when you grew up? LEX GILLETTE: Yeah. So I grew up in
Raleigh, North Carolina. And I was born with sight. So I could see very well up
until I was eight years old. And those years
when I had sight, I was playing video games
or riding my bicycle, playing outside with friends. And I was really great-- I believed that I was
a really great artist. I could draw
really, really well. And there was one
particular day that I had come home from school,
went through my normal routine. And that evening as I was
getting ready for bed, I started noticing that
I was losing my sight for no apparent reason at all. And I was inside of the bathtub. And I'm looking at
my hands, looking at the lights in the
ceiling, looking around, and everything is looking
disfigured and faint. I get out of the tub and hop
onto the bathroom counter. That's when I knew
everything was wrong, because when you see your
reflection in the mirror, you're supposed to see a
clear crisp image of yourself and you can see your facial
features, your eyebrows, and your cheekbone structure,
your complexion, all those types of things. But for me, it was
like I was seeing a disfigured image of myself. And that was really,
really scary. So I told my mom. She had thought maybe I had
gotten something in my eyes from playing outside
earlier in the day. We took some water
to clean my eyes out. It made it feel better, but
it didn't clear my sight any. And the next thought
was to go to sleep, and maybe everything
would return to normal in the morning. But the next day came. I wasn't able to see
clearly, went to the doctor. And after an examination,
they diagnosed me with retina detachments. And from there, that led to
a string of 10 operations that I have to try and fix the
issue, 10 operations that one year alone. And after the last
operation, the doctor said that there
wasn't anything else they could do to help my sight. And they said that I would
eventually become blind. So it was definitely--
it was tough. And you think about
being eight years old and not being able to
see, to read and write, or to draw pictures, or play
your video games, or any of those things. And after that day
that I was told that I wouldn't be
able to see anymore, it was a gradual decrease. Go home. Go through your normal routine. You go to sleep at night. You wake up the next morning. You see a little
less than what you do the day before until
one day you wake up, and you can't see anything. KATE JOHNSON: How scary. LEX GILLETTE: It's wild. KATE JOHNSON: What was
your memory of the feelings that you were having
as an eight year old? And I'm just so
curious, because we're talking a lot about
resilience at work these days. The world is having to be more
resilient than ever before, but you could write the playbook
on resilience, I'm sure. Do you remember the
thoughts that you were having and probably
the evolution of thinking that you went through on that
journey to losing your sight? LEX GILLETTE: Yeah. I really equate it
to us experiencing-- like, we encounter new things. And we're in these new spaces. And so when we find
ourselves at those doorsteps, you feel uncertainty. You might feel
frightened at times. You might feel alone, because
you're thinking to yourself, oh, well, I'm the
only one that's going through this situation
when in actuality, there's other individuals out there
who you can reach out to. But at that time,
it's very daunting, and it's very overwhelming,
because you're so focused on number one,
that thing that you've lost. And then number two, it's just
like a swelling inside of you inside of your mind. And that's all you can
really think about, which creates those feelings. And I had to go
through that, how to navigate through those
emotions and those feelings. And fortunately, my mom was--
she was a really huge influence in my life and
allowed me that time to grieve and to really
ask those questions. But yeah, certainly
uncertainty, feeling alone, feeling frightened. KATE JOHNSON: And
then, do you have a memory of when it started to
pivot, when acceptance started to come in and you started
instead to turn your focus, I mean as an eight year old,
my gosh, towards, OK, now what am I going to do? What does my life look like, and
how am I going to take it on? What was that evolution
for you, and how did that start to come about? LEX GILLETTE: Yeah. It was very interesting,
because I was able to see my neighborhood. At one point I remember you
see the green of the grass, and you remember seeing where
certain street lights were and the stairs. And so my mom and
others really challenged me to use my other senses. And so circling back to when
we focus on those things that we lose, that's all
you're really focused on and what you're locked into. And it's really hard to get
to a point, a space mentally, where you can say, oh, I'm good. I'm back at this
point of neutrality. And they really helped me
to see that even though I lost this major
thing, this one thing, there's still some alternatives. There's other things
that you can tap into to help compensate for that
area that you may have lost. So what happened for me
was, all right, well, Lex, since you can't
see the neighborhood, we're going to teach
you to learn textures. We're going to teach you
how to use different sounds. And between those two
things and others, that'll help you
navigate around. So for example, I still
continue to go to school, because my mom said you've
got to get your education. And the school bus
drops me off at home. Now when the school
bus drops me off, I recognize that it usually
drops me off in the same area. When I step on the sidewalk,
I feel the concrete under my feet. All right, Lex, once
you're on the concrete, you need to turn to
the left hand side. And you're going to
walk four steps forward. 1, 2, 3, 4. You get to the fourth step. You're going to feel some
grass under your feet. When you feel that
grass, you're going to turn to the right hand side. Take one step. That's going to lead you to
the bottom of three stairs. You're going to go
up 1, 2, 3 stairs. And when you're
at the top, you're going to make a left hand turn. Then you're going
to walk forward. Four more steps, 1, 2, 3, 4. And then that's
going to lead you to the front door of your home. And you'll be able to
walk inside and get inside of the common area,
the living room. And so I was really
learning my environment in a new fashion, in a new
way that I hadn't learned it before, and
understanding that I had some other skills
that I could tap into to help me navigate. And that's what
helped to establish that new way of thinking
and this foundation. KATE JOHNSON: Yeah. Was there a relief? I'm just thinking. It was so cool,
because mentally, I was almost right
there with you going on that journey from
the bus to the front door. And then when you open
that front door and you step inside your home, was
there a sensation of relief from being from this
massive outside world that has so many variables to
then, OK, I know this place? LEX GILLETTE: Absolutely. Hit the nail on the head. Once you get to that point of-- it's similar to when you set
out on these new journeys and you start. And there's a satisfaction in
completing things, finishing things, getting to an endpoint. And so for me to get from-- you start school. You go from classroom
to classroom, from classroom to gym to the
cafeteria, all of these places. You get back on the school
bus, and you head home. Then when I get actually
inside of the house, it's like, [SIGHING]
like I'm good. I made home. I'm safe. I didn't hurt myself. Everything is fantastic. KATE JOHNSON: You
must have been tired, just reworking your
entire brain, your body, the heightened senses
that when you have sight, you take for granted, and now
having to double down on those. Those first few years must
have been almost exhausting too as you just built
new muscles, frankly, around these other senses that
so many of us take for granted. LEX GILLETTE: It was. Yeah. It certainly was. And just fortunately-- I talk about my mom so much. And I had her and so many other
people who really encouraged me, and those who
were able to give me that nudge and that push at
times to really say, hey, you got to keep going. You got to keep doing
this, because these are going to be the things
that help you maneuver life, because the reality
is, I am blind. I can't see anything. I'm living a new experience. And quite frankly, a lot
of people in the world won't understand my
experience, but we don't want you to be confined
to others' expectations. We don't want you to be
confined to outsiders, what they think you
should and should not do, and what they say you
can and cannot do. You decide what you can
do, and no one else. And we want to make sure
you're equipped with the skills so that you can go into the
world and blaze this trail. KATE JOHNSON: And there's
such individualism in that too, which I think is such
an interesting conversation point here too, just in
the path that you blazed, because so often, the
medical world treats injury or disease as
one size fits all, for lack of a better-- Often, you hear of these
athletes that are told, you'll never walk again. And then they walk again. So I just think
it's so interesting the individualism of-- in you, there was always Lex. And you wonder if
this situation-- I'd be so curious to
hear your answer to-- Did this bring out--
and you'll never know what the
other Lex would be. There's just this
exceptional Lex. But did this foster
this environment for this competitive athlete
to be born that maybe otherwise might not have been realized? And maybe you can now talk
us through the evolution from there, from being
comfortable in your senses, in your new senses in
your new world into, OK, how do I now move forward into
the Lex that you are today? What was that path like? LEX GILLETTE: Yeah. I think that you're right. I think that it was
a driving factor, and it was something
that really helped for me to say, all
right, Lex, let's get up, and let's make it happen. So my mom's side of the
family is the athletic side, and they've all played
everything from softball to basketball. You name it, they were
out there participating in those particular sports. And so for me, I wanted
to participate as well. And where it all literally
started for me was I had purchased this
basketball hoop from a store. And it was one of
those hoops where you hang it on a closet door. And so I used to
shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot on this basketball hoop. Absolutely terrible
in the beginning, because of the obvious. I can't see anything. But I had gotten this bright
idea to take a safety pin and tie the bottom
loops of the net together so that when I would
shoot and make a basket, the ball would stay
inside of the hoop and not fall through
to the ground. And being from North Carolina,
if you live in the triangle, you either like the NC State
Wolfpack or Carolina Tar Heels, or there's another
school in Durham. We really don't talk
about them that much. And so I told
myself that, man, I wanted to be a basketball
player at first. But once I had lost my
sight, those dreams were-- that was ruined, if you will. But now I was shooting
on this basketball hoop. And I was making
baskets, and it was all based on how I created this
image in my mind of where things were
positioned in my room. And where those things
were positioned, I envisioned where that rim was. And so I told myself,
all right, Lex, if you can envision this
goal, this hoop, then you can aim, shoot, and score. What other things can
you lock your focus on? What other things can you
aim at, shoot, and score? That was a foundation for me. And so it all got to the
point where in high school, I was introduced to a
teacher named Brian Whitmer. And he noticed that I
had a little bit of gifts from an athletic standpoint. And he asked me if I knew
about the Paralympics. At that time, I hadn't. So he told me that you
can travel the world or you can win gold medals. You can break records. You can do all of
these amazing things. And the first event
that I participated in, the first event that I learned
about, was the long jump. And the reason being is because
we had this physical fitness test where you had to-- you had to participate in
a number of activities. And one of them was
standing long jump. You stand in one spot, put
your arms back, knees bent. You jump forward
as far as you can. Now, I was one of the best
jumpers in the entire school. So from there, Mr. Whitmer takes
me out to the track one day, and he shows me everything
about the long jump. So you know you
have the track where you run as fast as you can, and
then you jump into a sandpit. So he shows me the
track, and he shows me how wide the runway is. And he shows me how long it is. He shows me that there's a
take-off board and the ground. And he shows me that
there's a sandpit, how wide it is, how long it is. And when I engage in an
environment in that capacity, in that fashion, it really helps
me to envision and imagine what it is that I'm dealing with. And that increases my
confidence and helps me feel a lot more comfortable. But I still was wondering
to myself, well, how am I going to jump up? The reality is I
can't see anything. I am blind. And so Mr. Whitmer
said that, all right, I'm going to stand at
the take-off board. I'm going to clap and yell. And so you're going to run
to the sound of straight, straight, straight,
straight, straight, straight. And I want you to run
as fast as you can to the sound of my voice. And at the right step,
I want you to jump. That's how it all was
born, in those first few-- KATE JOHNSON: Oh, my goodness. LEX GILLETTE: It was
scary in the beginning. But you know, when
you have people who connect with you in
that fashion, the people who believe in you, it really helps
you to believe in yourself. And he was the one that
ignited that flame. KATE JOHNSON: I mean,
what a gift to have. Isn't that just
amazing, to have had him in your life at the time where
you were going through this? It's just-- I mean,
it feels like it's meant to be in some ways. That's when the
universe is conspiring. LEX GILLETTE: Absolutely. KATE JOHNSON: So
once you started to really do the long jump,
was that in high school then? And were you competing in
regular track and field meets in the long jump? LEX GILLETTE: Yes. So from there, Mr. Whitmer
took me to a sports camp specifically for blind
and visually impaired athletes that was sponsored
by the United States Association of Blind Athletes. So that's where I
learned about all of the different
Paralympic sports. And we went [INAUDIBLE] in
Raleigh, Athens Drive High School. And I joined my high
school track team. That was such a
fantastic experience, because I was participating
alongside other like-minded athletes and students. And I was the only blind kid
on my track and field team and probably the only blind
athlete on a track and field team in the conference,
maybe even the state. So it was very amazing
to be on that team. And there were those
times, too, where we would go to visiting
schools, and kids will wonder. What are you doing here? And I'm like, I came
here to compete. KATE JOHNSON: I came
here to beat you. LEX GILLETTE: I
came here to win. Exactly. So certainly had to go
through moments like that. And I honestly would
have a lot of fun, because when kids would ask
me, you're here to compete, and I would say, yeah. Then they asked you,
how far do you jump? And I never felt
like those questions were coming from a good
place, a solid place. So I would intentionally
fabricate my distances and say, oh, well, I
only jump like 13 feet, just so they would
know they wouldn't have to worry about me. And then we would get
into the competition. And Mr. Whitmer's out there,
straight, straight, straight. And I'm [GRUNTING] and jump. And I end up beating most of
the kids in the competition. And so it was a little bit of
internal satisfaction for me. But yeah. Being on the high
school track team was absolutely-- it was amazing. KATE JOHNSON: Well, and
there's something for all of us in that, too. At every stage in our
lives, we bump into people who for different reasons
have different motivations for either being
bullies or being threatened by your greatness
or whatever that might be. I love the way that
you approached that. Has it become a
mindset shift for you, because I think that's
something we could really learn from you on is how do you-- there's external
validation, and then there's internal validation. We all know it's what's
on inside that matters. But I'm just curious
for you, because I'm sure you continue to
encounter that in life. How do you take
that on, and what is the mindset that you've
learned to own around, really, your own greatness
and those types of people that are
always out there? LEX GILLETTE: A lot of it for
me is you think about just-- when you think
about being neutral, you think about being in
this space in the middle. And so sometimes, we
get into these moments where we might be sad
or we might be angry. We might be frustrated
or irritated. And on the contrary,
we have those times where we're really happy,
and really excited, and just really overwhelmed
in a good type of way. And I just always
felt like, all right, when I'm in the middle, when
I'm in this neutral space, everything just is-- I'm in a good space where
I'm able to really see things clearly, understand
things clearly, and to make really
good decisions compared to being on either
this side of the coin or that side of the coin. And then I also just think
about the world that we live in. And in all honesty, we
live in a world that's made up of a lot of duality. There is going to be
good times, and there is going to be bad times. Things will be positive,
and things will be negative. And once I was able to
really grasp a hold of that, it really helped me, because
as I navigated toward my goals and toward my vision,
then when I would approach these moments where it was
difficult, or these obstacles, or challenges, I just knew
in my mind that, all right, well, this is just
a part of the path. This is a part of the journey. And my ability to
understand that internally I have what it takes to persevere,
that I can be diligent, that I can be resilient, that
I can connect with people who if I am in a really tough space,
they can help me to get out of those slumps and out of those
dark spaces, then everything is going to be OK. And I've really
just tapped into all of those things
in life's journey. KATE JOHNSON: Yeah. Ah, there's something
that strikes me when you're talking about-- you said, what's my
vision of myself? And I just love that. Here's a blind athlete who has
a very clear vision on where he wants to go. I want you to now share with us
the evolution towards becoming the athlete that you are today. So you were kicking butt
in all of these high school track and field meets. And then what? And then college, and then-- What was the
progression from there? LEX GILLETTE: The
progression was so I graduated from high school. And this is the beautiful thing. Mr. Whitmer, he ended
up-- he had an opportunity to leave our high school
after my junior year. And you know,
thankfully, again, just thinking about special people
who you have in your life, he decided to forgo
leaving Athens Drive and staying with me that final
year to ensure that not only I saw that my goal
would be achieved from an academic standpoint
but to also finish the job that he started
from an athletic standpoint. And my senior year
of high school, I ended up being the best
jumper on our team. And it was all because of him. Once I had graduated
from high school, he went to my first world
championships with me and helped me compete there. Didn't get the
results that I wanted, but it was my first
international competition. I want to say I
finished fifth place. And it was a step in
the right direction. And the icing on
the cake was when I had entered into
college, I went to East Carolina University. And at a time where
I didn't have a guy to work with me in the
fashion that I was so used to in high school,
having Mr. Whitmer there Monday through Friday, when we
would be on the track training, when it was time to compete
and qualify for the games, he drove all the way
from Georgia, which is about a five hour drive. He would make a few
five hour drives up to Raleigh, a few drives
during the spring. And he helped me to compete
and sometimes train. And he was the one that
helped me get that first team nomination to the Paralympics. KATE JOHNSON: Oh my, Lex. Wow. LEX GILLETTE: Yeah. And from there, it's been the
rest, as they say, is history. So finished college,
graduated from college. And around that time, I
had gotten an invitation to train full time at
then the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista. And so graduated-- KATE JOHNSON: Since renamed. LEX GILLETTE: --packed my bags. Yeah. Packed my bags and
came to California. KATE JOHNSON: That
is incredible. So now maybe take us through
like day in the life of Lex now, because has it
changed a lot since then, since you first
arrived in California? Obviously, you're a
storied Paralympian now with great success. But I guess maybe
start at the beginning of the real Paralympic journey,
where now you were effectively a professional athlete
that's training full time and part of the circuit. What is that like
for those of us that don't know what that is? LEX GILLETTE: Man,
it's definitely overwhelming in the
beginning, because when you step in my shoes and you
think about the situation-- now I'm in a new environment. I'm in a new
environment that I'm having to learn the
landscape, and I'm having to learn where
everything is located. I need to know where
the cafeteria is. I need to know where my room is. I need to know where
the track is, the weight room, all of these things. And so circling back
to when I was a kid, and I had to learn
my neighborhood in a different way, I had
to tap into that same skill. And I think that
that's something that is really
useful for all of us, because when we're in
these new situations and these new environments,
sometimes you might feel out of place, and you feel lost. But if we can sit
back and look and say, oh, well, I was able to-- I have this skill, and I used
this skill in this moment, and it's something
that I can apply to this scenario,
this new situation that I'm in, that really helps
us to make progress moving forward. And so for me, I had to
tap into that same skill, learning where certain things
were so that I could get around by myself. And that aligned with
what my mom taught me and what Coach
Whitmer taught me. Again, everything was, hey,
Lex, at the end of the day, you're going to need
help at some point. But in all honesty,
we want you to be able to do things
that you quite frankly should be doing on your own. You don't necessarily
need anyone to walk you around
all of the time. You don't need anyone
to grab this for you or grab that for you. You just need to get oriented. And that was the
first step for me, so learning this environment,
learning everything, so I would know how to
maneuver and where to go. And then, I'm the
new kid on the block. There's vets out here, and I'm
learning from those athletes. And at that time, we
had the Marlon Shirleys of the world, and the April
Homes, and the Jeff Skibas, and all of these athletes
who had been in the game for a little bit. So I was able to observe
them and watch them, not only from an
athletic standpoint but from just a
business standpoint and an athlete/branding
standpoint. So I was-- what's the
word that I want to use? I was just overloaded
with information. And so I just used that
opportunity to be a sponge and to soak it all in. But number one priority
was to come out and to learn from some of
the best coaches in the world and to sharpen my
skills as an athlete, so that I could be the
best that I could be. KATE JOHNSON: Yeah. Just the fact that
you spent so much time explaining how you had to
learn your environment, that's something that I certainly took
for granted when I showed up as a rower at the
Olympic Training Center. I would just show up, and it
was like, hey, where's practice and what time do I have
to be at the boathouse? What time do I have to
be at the weight room? What time do I have to
be at the training room? And here you are settling
into a new environment. And in order to layer the
athleticism on top of that, you have to know your
foundation, which is where you're living and
where your bed is, where your food is, where
the bathroom is, like all the fundamentals of
what it means just to be alive, right? LEX GILLETTE: Yes. KATE JOHNSON: It just
strikes me as there is so much that we
take for granted when you have certain senses. And I would think so
too, though, there are things that you
are experiencing that we'll never know as-- the sighted will never know,
just like somebody who's deaf has a certain heightened
awareness around touch and maybe-- I guess what I'm
trying to get to is, do you have a favorite sense? Are you using all of
that as you compete? Or are you dialing them
up and dialing them down at different times in the day? For those of us that take
some of this for granted, do you have a favorite sense? LEX GILLETTE: That's a
very great question, Kate. Oh, my gosh! I would probably say the-- I think about proprioception and
our ability to recognize things and to feel energy,
even though you may not lay your eyes on
something or someone, or you may not be able to
see that certain thing. And so I just have this-- this is eerie at
times, but this knack to feel, say, a building
that's approaching, even though I can't see it. Or I may be able to
feel someone's presence even though they think they
might be sneaking up on me. And I'm like, whatcha
doing-- like you're not going to get me. And so I think it's
those types of things that really it's
interesting at times. And sometimes, it's
a little like, wow, I really just recognized that. But I think that certainly when
you lose something, especially something like one of
your five senses, well, I wouldn't say that your
other senses heighten. However, I just think that
it's our individual ability to actively focus
on those things. So I wouldn't say
that, oh, I have this superhuman type of hearing
that's better than anyone else. I would just say that,
oh, OK, well, you probably just spend a lot of
your time looking at certain things versus
sharpening your hearing or sharpening your
sense of smell. And yeah. That's a really good question. And I will also say this too. I love certain sounds. And so when you think
about basketball again-- and the NBA Finals just
ended a few weeks ago. And listening to a
game, and they have all of the microphones out there. And you hear these players,
they shoot the ball. And someone like a
Steph Curry where he's so accurate with
his shots when he shoots, and it's [IMITATES SHOT]. And nothing but net. That's one of my
favorite sounds. And you're able to put the
pieces to the puzzle together, because when you
have players, and you can hear the squeaking
of the shoes, and you can hear
the ball bouncing, then you can hear the ball if
it goes inside of the hoop. Or if somebody throws up a-- if they're building a house
and they're throwing up bricks, or you have the athlete
who makes the shot, and even though you may not hear
the ball go through the hoop, now you have the
feedback from the crowd, because they're like,
cheering and stuff like that. So I think that I've
just been able to tap into all of those senses
and I'm able to build scenes that I want to see. And it's based
off of the sounds, and smells, and feels that
I take in from the world. KATE JOHNSON: It strikes me that
you would do a lot for radio. I was thinking about this
with the Olympics being on right now, where
we were driving 10 hours to get to where I am
right now in Park City, Utah. And I was thinking, man, I
can't see what's happening, and these radio commentators
are not doing this justice. To exactly what you explained-- maybe that's your
next profession. When you finally retire, you
move into to helping the audio commentary when you cannot see
the sport being played really be its best, because I think
there's a world of opportunity to improve that. LEX GILLETTE: I think that
would be a lot of fun. And the funny
thing about that is when I had gotten on
the speaker journey and wanted to do more
speeches, what I used to do was I lived on YouTube. And I would just listen to a
lot of my favorite celebrities and entertainers, and how they
would talk to personalities, and how they would be
so descriptive and vivid with their stories. And so I told myself,
I want to be like that, because that really helps
me, because I can actually see what's going on. So let me pull from
those experiences and how they're explaining
themselves and describing certain things and add
that to my toolbox, so I can become better on stage. KATE JOHNSON: Oh, I love it. Well, OK. So you competed in more
than the long jump. You've done triple jump. You've done the 200 meters. So now take us through your
elite Paralympic career in the events that you
chose to compete in and how you got to those. And then just a day in the life
of training for Lex Gillette. And then I want to actually
talk about the Paralympics. We've got to get to
the Olympic part here. LEX GILLETTE: OK. Great question. So up until my
second Paralympics, I was only participating
in long jump. And so at that time in
high school, unfortunately they didn't allow me a second
lane to sprint in the 100. And so for those who may not
be aware, when you're blind, you have a guide runner who
they run directly beside you. As a result, they designate
two lanes, one for the athlete and one for the guide. And you're connected
with a tether. So you're running side by side. And at that time, the
high school association wasn't allowing-- excuse me-- wasn't
allowing the second lane. But I think things have changed
for the good since that time. So that's really awesome. But that was why I
didn't participate in sprinting events, which is
why I was only long jumping at the time. When I got to the
Olympic Training Center, that's when I added
on the 100 meters. I added on the
triple jump as well. And then I was also part of
our 4 by 100 meter relay team. And yeah. I was here with great coaches. I wanted to take advantage
of their knowledge and their wisdom and
really expand, because I knew I had more within me. So yeah, I started
competing in long jump. Triple jump was a
similar type of situation where I have a guy who's
standing at the take-off board. The only challenge
with triple jump is that the board
where you take off from is significantly farther
away from the sandpit. So I really have to-- in triple jump just to explain
more, you run, your run, you run, and the you jump off of
your left, jump off your left, and then jump off your
right, or vice versa, jump off your right, jump off
your right again, and then jump off of your left, and then
you land into the sandpit. And I knew that since I was
taking off from a farther point from the sandpit,
my motivation was, all right, you got to
cover this distance, because if you don't, you're
going to land on the track, and that's not
going to feel good. So yeah. So I really have some great
coaches who got me to a point where I think my best
triple jump's like 42 feet 9 inches or so. And it was really good. And just when I was getting
the hang of triple jump, they took it out of the
Paralympic schedule. So I was like, you
guys took away my medal that I was going to win. But I also ran the
100 meters as well. And my best time in the
100 was 11.29 seconds. And ran the 200 and was a part
of our American record setting 4 by 100 meter relay team. And yeah. KATE JOHNSON: Does
the relay team work the same way with a guide? So there are four guides? LEX GILLETTE: It does. And I know someone out
there is probably wondering, how do you pass the baton? And the interesting thing
is so out of the relay teams at that time, when
they had us separated, because it was
literally just all of the visually impaired relay
teams versus other visually impaired relay teams
around the world, we were the ones who
had to pass the baton versus the amputees,
the athletes who run with the running blades. They only had to tag each other. And I always was like,
what kind of stuff is that? We can't even see anything. And we still got
to pass the baton. But what would happen is the
guides would pass the baton. Or if there was an athlete who
had a higher level of sight, then they would pass the baton. But I felt like we should
have-- if any class of athlete should have been able to tag, we
should have been the ones that should have tagged. But yeah. Everything works the same. You have to make the pass
successfully within the zone. And you've got to make
sure the baton gets around and not hit the ground and get
across that finish line first. KATE JOHNSON: You bring up a
really important distinction about the Paralympics, and the
classifications of disability within each event too, and
how that factors into who you're competing against. And I think a lot of this
it's really hard sometimes to understand, because there's
so much nuance involved, too, in terms of how they
classify a disability. So I'm just curious. In the events that-- and I'm
sure it's probably different for each of that,
but with the type-- I have a question about
do they distinguish between blind athletes
who were born seeing, so who have a sense of what
the world actually looks like and have that even
in their memory bank, versus is there a
different classification for blind athletes
who were born blind and have no foundation of
which to see the world? How do those
classifications work? That's just one
of the things that was pinging around
in my brain when you were talking about your-- LEX GILLETTE: You know what? That's a great question. I'm going to circle
back to that. So we have three levels of
sight within the Paralympics. You have 11, 12, and 13. And so the first
number of the two identifies the type of
disability that you have. So it's a 1. That means you have
a visual impairment. The second level determines the
severity of your disability. So the lower the number, the
most severe case of blindness that you have. So if you're an 11, you
are either totally blind, or you probably can only
see that the sun is out. If you're a 12, you have
a certain visual acuity, certain degrees within
your visual field that's measured
by a professional, an ophthalmologist. And then 13 is the
highest level of sight, even though they're still
considered legally blind. And so prior to
your competition, you have the doctor
who comes in. They run a few tests,
and they identify what your level of sight is. So I compete in the 11
category, and I only compete against athletes
who are in the 11 category. And in addition to
that, the 11 athletes are required to wear a blindfold
to ensure, in fact, that you can't see anything at all. And so I wouldn't
compete against someone who is a 12 or 13
unless we were in a-- let's just say we were in
a local meet in San Diego, and everybody signed
up and competing. We wouldn't be separated. Most likely would be combined,
or you might even compete against people who can see. And that's totally,
totally fine. But in an official Paralympic
competition, the Paralympics or world championships,
you most likely will compete against someone
within your category. But you bring up a great
point, because when I'm training with my
training partners, we have both Paralympians,
Paralympic hopefuls, Olympians, and Olympic hopefuls
in my training group. And so sometimes,
they're over there. They're joking and
making fun and stuff like, Lex, we beat you and
dah, dah, dah, dah, dah. And so I tell them, well, I
want you to do the same activity and close your eyes. But not only do I want
you to close your eyes. I want you to close
your eyes, and then have my coach set up
whatever the activity is, because there's a
difference in you never having had seen something
before versus you seeing it, and then you closing your eyes. You still have an image of
what it is when you look at it, and then you close your eyes. I've never seen anyone
long jump before. So I'm competing in
something that I really have no idea as to
what it looks like. And so that's totally
different versus someone who looks at something, and
then they close their eyes. And they try to tackle
whatever that is. KATE JOHNSON: Right. Right. So interesting. OK. So I'm going to take
a couple of questions from the audience, Lex. Let's start with the first one. As an athlete, it's amazing
to see how consistent you have been over the last 17 years. Devin asks, what has led
you having so much success year over year, and what are
your goals for this upcoming Paralympics? LEX GILLETTE: My goals for
the upcoming Paralympics is always to win gold. That's the one box that
I've yet not checked in. I plan on checking that. That's literally every
time I enter a competition, I want to win. What has helped
me be consistent, I think that always
looking at each competition as a new chapter and
a new opportunity. I think that when we are
locked into, oh, OK, well, I won gold at the last
world championships. That doesn't necessarily
mean that you're going to win gold at the
next world championships or at the Paralympics. And so I always look at
training in those times where I'm in the weight
room as, all right, I needed to take this seriously. Sometimes I even train with
the mindset of that 18-, 19-year-old again, where
I was really hungry. And I was the one who's
9th or 10th in the world. I want to maintain that
same type of hunger, because when you're
finishing on the podium, you're at a place where
other athletes want to be. And I don't want them
to take that spot. So I'm just trying to
work as hard as possible, so I can make sure
that the up and coming athletes, those other hungry
athletes, that they're not taking my spot. KATE JOHNSON: Love it. All right. I'm going to ask the next
question from Ryan Burke. As an athlete who
is blind, how do you imagine technology
playing a role to advance your athletic
passion or athletic ability? LEX GILLETTE: I think that
there are those times where since you use a guide, I
think that technology would be useful in the training
world, because let's say your guide gets sick
or you're needing to work on a specific
exercise by yourself alone. And if there was, say,
some type of sound device where now you can put that sound
device at the end of the runway instead of having your
guide yelling and clapping, you can follow the sound
of that versus running at the sound of a guide. I think that could have
some positive outcomes. And then also again, if
you think about last year during the pandemic, and we
had to be socially distanced, and there were times where
we had to quarantine. And there were also
times where they allowed us to get on the
track, but we had to be by ourselves,
which means that since I trained with a guide, I couldn't
train with my guide, Wesley. And so thinking about that, if
there was some sort of device there that, say, would
help you identify a really large open space where
you would have the freedom to do those high knees,
and the butt kicks, and all of those other
drills, and activities that you could do so that it
would ensure that you would be staying in some sort
of shape versus having to sit on the sideline and
not be able to do anything. KATE JOHNSON: I'll just tell
you without telling you, because I'm under
confidentiality. The great work that is being
done at Google to address some of what you brought
up is part of what I love about being a
part of this company. So I would just say, Lex, let's
make sure we stay in touch too, because I think our teams
could always benefit from talking to you
about some of the ideas that you've served up here. LEX GILLETTE: Totally. KATE JOHNSON: There's so much
to be done in this space. So what about the Paralympics? I mean you competed at
many Paralympics now. And I want to distinguish
favorite Paralympics to date and then
also what you think the difference is
now going to be in Tokyo with the postponement. I mean, talk about resilience. I think you guys
officially qualify as the uber Paralympians
by making it to Tokyo. LEX GILLETTE: Favorite
Paralympic Games would be London 2012. Amazing atmosphere. Every single track and
field session was sold out. There was so many just-- I remember competing
in tripe jump one time. And I was trying to
get myself pumped up. I'm out there. I'm standing on the track. I'm clapping my hands
in a certain rhythm. And literally, all 80,000,
85,000 members in the crowd started clapping their
hands the same exact rhythm that I was clapping. And so since I need
silence for my event in order to hear my guide, I
remember turning to the crowd. And I gave them like the,
hey, can we get some quiet, and everybody just-- it's like somebody
turned the music off. And it was just like--
just being united, that sense of oneness. I remember after one
of my competitions, I'm walking around in the
I think it's the Westfield Mall or Stratford. And people are like, oh, can
we take a picture with you? We just watched you compete. And it's just the
atmosphere over there is totally different. In Olympic versus
Paralympic, you really don't see any difference at all. And that's the
type of environment that I want to see
for the states. And I think that a lot of the-- it's definitely gotten better
from when I started in 2004. But I think that some of
the younger athletes who are up and coming will be
the ones who truly experience the equality and
equity, hopefully, that is to come
within the space. But in terms of Tokyo, what
I'm looking forward to, I think despite
the circumstances it's still going to be awesome. Going to the Paralympic
Games is something like no other to be able
to represent your country and to put on display what
you've been working on for four years, now five years. That's pretty fantastic. And I'm sure that
they're still going to make it a phenomenal,
phenomenal experience. I wish that the
circumstances were different for a
myriad of reasons. But it is what it is. We have the
opportunity to compete. The Olympics have started. Things are going good. It's looking good. So we're going to ride that
wave and ride that positivity. And once the opening ceremonies
for the Paralympic Games commence, we're going to go out
there and show the world what we've been doing. KATE JOHNSON: Maybe there's
something to be said about just like you had to when you
lost your ability to see, you had to lean into
other senses to compete. Maybe in removing the fans from
Tokyo 2021, Tokyo 2020 plus 1, there'll be something
else that emerges as like a new strength
in competing in literally a venue of silence, right? LEX GILLETTE: Yeah. KATE JOHNSON: That's
so fascinating to see, especially in the
Paralympic environment, what occurs there, I think. And I'm with you. The London 2012 Paralympics. I worked at both of
those, the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games. And to date, the
London 2012 Paralympics is my most favorite event
I have ever, ever attended. It was just the level of
families and children. It was incredible. LEX GILLETTE: Yeah. And I knew that I felt
so deeply in my heart that Tokyo would be the
Olympics and Paralympics that would rival London. Just knowing that culture and
just amazing people over there. And so I knew that, all right,
this is going to be the one. Who's to say that it won't be? It still might. I still feel like it's going
to be absolutely amazing. But we'll make that happen
and see how it goes. KATE JOHNSON: I have no doubt. One of the questions we
have from the audience is really about your pursuits. This comes from Trevor Reed. What pursuits do you have
outside of athletics? Any plans or aspirations for
after you're done competing? LEX GILLETTE: I think I'll
probably continue to speak. I love to get on the stages
and speak at different events. Really just something
that in the beginning, similar to the long
jump, it was scary. And I think I dealt with a lot
of insecurities, et cetera, et cetera around blindness. Are people looking at me funny? Or are people going to
think this about me or that? And really, just understood
at the end of the day, it's not about you. It's about other people. And it's about using
your experiences in a way that will
help others to excel in their own personal journeys,
professional journeys, athletic journeys, whatever. And that's the energy and action
that was given to me as a kid. And so I want to
continue to do that. I really love music. So I have some exciting
things that I'm working on in terms of morphing
the speaking with the music and yeah, just
living life, having a good time in San Diego. You've got the beaches out here. You got the beautiful
sun and the weather. And just living life
and having a good time. KATE JOHNSON: Do you live
full time at Chula Vista? LEX GILLETTE: Yeah. Yeah. KATE JOHNSON: That's great. Amazing. OK. So I have a question. I'm really curious. We know that-- I know for me
visualization was a huge part of my athletic performance. I use it today even
in my business career. I use it from the perspective
of when I have to go on stage and give a big speech. I do a lot of public
speaking as well. I use visualization
to calm myself down. I also use it in terms of
goal setting for the year. Here's where I am today. Here's where I want
to be in six months. And putting myself
in the place of being where I want to be mentally
versus trying to get there was always one of the
strategies that I employed. I'm curious for you. What are the skills
that you use? Do you use visualization? What do you use to prepare
for the event mentally? LEX GILLETTE: Absolutely. It is that visualization. It's that vision. And I'll talk
about vision a lot. I have a slogan, no need for
sight when you have a vision. And I believe that at
the end of the day, for every single one of us, it's
not the sight that ultimately determines our success. It is having that vision,
seeing that vision, and not only seeing it but
to develop a plan, a strategy to connect with
the right people, and then go after that
vision relentlessly. And at a time where it was
really difficult for me-- I had lost my sight. And I felt isolated, and
I felt like an outsider. But what I learned is
that everything that has been created and everything
that will be created, it always, always
starts with a vision. You see it within
yourself, within your mind, before it becomes reality. And so I told myself,
well, if that's the case, then I don't need to see,
because I have the ability to think about whatever it
is that I want to achieve. Let me set my goals. Let me put it down on
paper, no pun intended. And let me figure out who
I need to connect with to bring this into fruition. And so on that journey
to achieve those goals, I think about those
things all of the time. I close my eyes, and I
imagine those strides that I take on the runway. I imagine what that feeling
is like when I take off, and I soar through the
air, land in the sand. Even from a speaking
standpoint, I imagine what that crowd looks
like, and the smiling faces or those times where they
might need a little tissue or whatnot, because of maybe
the stories I may be telling. I think about all
of those things. And the reason
being is because I think that our ability
to create these images and scenes within our mind, it
helps us to get in a position where we know what to expect. And so when you get to a point
where you're actually living it out, you can say to
yourself, well, gee, I've been creating this
movie in my mind. I've been creating
this album in my head. So when it's time for
me to actually perform, let me just hit the play
button on this movie that I've been creating,
or let me hit the play button on this album that
I've been hearing in my mind. KATE JOHNSON: It's amazing. OK. So one last question
from the audience, and then I'm going to ask you
to share with everybody where we can follow you, what to
watch for at the Paralympics. You've got a massive
crowd here at Google that will be behind
you, but we also want to make sure we
know how to follow you on all of your different
platforms and resources. But before we do that, who
are your athletic role models? LEX GILLETTE: Oh, my goodness. I get this question a lot. And that's a hard one to answer. I'm going to say, at least
in the track and field world, I think about the Allyson
Felixes of the world. She's the most decorated
track and field athlete, but just even just
her personality and how she maneuvers through
competition, through business. And she has a really
great movement going right now as a new
mom and women's rights. And I think that she's a very
just solid, amazing person with great character. I think even--
goodness gracious. Who can I-- so many
people to choose from. KATE JOHNSON: She's
a pretty great one. I think that sets the bar. LEX GILLETTE: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm going to stick with Allyson. KATE JOHNSON: Yeah. Amazing. Lex, this has been such an
exceptional conversation. I could have talked to you
for at least five more hours. Maybe we can do that offline. Thank you so much for joining us
here today at Talks at Google. We'd love to have you back. We will be watching and
cheering loudly in Tokyo. Please tell us how
to find you and where the best way to make
sure-- obviously, we'll be watching the NBC feeds. But let us know. LEX GILLETTE: Absolutely. So my website is lexgillette.com
My social Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok,
everything is @lexgillette. Follow me. And I compete on
August the 27th. Not sure of the time yet. But if you follow me,
I'll be sure to have that information posted. But yeah. Reach out. Comment. Like things. I'm pretty responsive. KATE JOHNSON: Well, you might
not hear us from all the way all over the world where
all these Googlers are, but we'll be cheering loudly. LEX GILLETTE: Awesome. KATE JOHNSON: Best of
luck in Tokyo, Lex. And thanks for
being with us today. LEX GILLETTE: Thank
you so much, Kate. [MUSIC PLAYING]
