Blind Paralympic Champ Now Fights for Disability Rights

When Tim Willis first showed up to high school cross country practice, his coach handed him one end of a blue shoestring and connected the other end to a teammate's hand.

That simple cord became the guide system that would carry a blind teenager to the top of the Paralympic world. Willis lost his vision completely by age 10 to a condition called Coats disease, but he refused to let blindness define his limits.

At Georgia Southern University, Willis made history as the first blind runner to compete in NCAA Division I cross country. His fierce independence and relentless training paid off when he captured gold in the 10,000 meters at the 1994 World Championships in Berlin.

The 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Games brought Willis home with four medals, including silver in the 10,000 meters. By the time he retired after the 2000 Sydney Games, he had set two world records and 12 national records, 10 of which still stand today.

But Willis had always dreamed of another finish line. When his sponsor BellSouth Mobility offered to pay for law school as a bonus for his 1996 medals, he jumped at the chance to attend Mercer University's School of Law.

Balancing law school with Paralympic training wasn't easy. Willis had to scan all his textbooks into his computer and use screen readers for exams because electronic books barely existed in the late 1990s. He graduated in 2000 with the Dean's Distinguished Service Award, and weeks after winning bronze in Sydney, he learned he had passed the Georgia Bar Exam.

Why This Inspires

Willis could have celebrated his athletic legacy and moved on. Instead, he recognized something crucial: people with disabilities struggled to find adequate legal representation. His own experiences navigating a world not built for blind people gave him unique insight into the barriers his community faced daily.

He joined the Disability Law and Policy Center of Georgia, where his litigation led to major improvements in Atlanta's MARTA transit system for passengers with disabilities. In 2008, he took his advocacy national, joining the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee to ensure federal funds supported programs for athletes with disabilities.

Today from his Chattanooga law practice, Willis continues working on disability rights cases while consulting with nonprofits on sustainable programming. On February 21, he'll be inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, adding another honor to a collection that includes Georgia's Blind Person of the Year and the Cabrini Medal of Honor.

The blue shoestring that once guided a young runner now symbolizes something bigger: the connections we create to help each other break through barriers and reach our full potential.