Embracing challenges, teen wheelchair athlete heads for nationals

Ironic as it sounds, Isaiah Rigo has found freedom in a wheelchair.

It has taken the Cheney teenager around the track, around the world and onto the champion’s podium – something he couldn’t dream of as a young boy.

Rigo has arthrogryposis, a congenital disease that shrinks the joints in two or more areas of the body. He can walk, but his joint movement is limited – just as his world seemed so limited a few years ago.

“I got frustrated because I couldn’t do anything,” Rigo said.

Then he got a push, literally and figuratively, from rehabilitation specialist Teresa Skinner, who sat Rigo in a wheelchair and showed him the possibilities.

They were realized beyond his dreams. Last year in England, Rigo was the outstanding performer in the quadriplegic classification in the Under 18 World Championships. He won four titles in the sprints, from 100 to 800 meters. The year before, Rigo competed in the junior World Championships in Lyon, France.

This week’s destination is less exotic but just as momentous. Along with Skinner and several others from the Spokane area, the 16-year-old Rigo is in St. Paul, Minnesota, for the U.S. Paralympics Track & Field National Championships. The meet began Friday and ends Sunday on the campus of Hamline University. Rigo is competing in five sprint events, from 100 to 1,500 meters, hoping to qualify for the Parapan American Games on Aug. 7-15 in Toronto.

In some ways, Rigo – who will be a sophomore at Cheney High School this fall – is a natural on the wheelchair. His disability makes it difficult for him to make a fist, but he moves the chair with a punching motion from his gloved hands.

“It’ll be tough going 100 percent each event, but it means a lot if I do well. Good rewards will come afterwards,” said Rigo, who was honored last week by the Spokane Youth Sports Commission as the non-high school male athlete of the year.

With good results this week and in Toronto, he could find himself in Qatar in late October for the International Paralympic Committee World Championships. No matter how he fares this week, Rigo will be competing next month in a junior team event in the Netherlands. Rigo has embraced the challenges since he was 6. That’s when his mother connected him with Skinner, who worked at St. Luke’s rehabilitation center. Now she’s the executive director of ParaSport Spokane, which provides training and competitive opportunities for youths and adults with physical disabilities.

From the beginning, Rigo embraced the possibilities: He played basketball at 7. On the plane ride back from a 10-day track meet, he was anything but homesick. He turned to Skinner and said, ‘I’m sad, because it’s over and we’re going home.’ ”

That’s unusual for young kids, said Skinner, who adds that Rigo’s work ethic is so strong, she sometimes must confiscate his wheelchair to force a break in training.

Rigo may not appreciate that, but he’s grateful for the opportunities.

“I feel very honored and fortunate that we have Teresa here in Spokane,” he said. “I’m just glad I found this sport and got into it. I really love it.”