Blake Leeper wakes up each day acknowledging the two demons he has no choice but to battle.
He has no legs.
And he’s an alcoholic.
"I’m dealing with these issues," Leeper, the double-amputee turned United States Paralympic sprinter, told the Knoxville News Sentinel by phone last month. "That’s just part of the story. And I tell myself what I’m going to do about it."
What Leeper, a Kingsport native born without his lower legs, does about it is strap on his prosthetics and goes to train under the supervision of Willie Gault, the former University of Tennessee wide receiver (1979-82) and 11-time All-American in track and field for the Volunteers.