Fate has offered Mallory Weggemann every opportunity to quit swimming.
She could have stopped in 2008, when an epidural injection strayed from its intended spot and left her paralyzed from the belly button down. Or after the frustration of the 2012 Paralympics, when a last-minute reclassification left her competing against swimmers who had use of their lower bodies. Or in 2014, when a fall in the shower rendered her left forearm permanently disabled.
Come Thursday morning, though, the 27-year-old Minneapolis native will be on the starting blocks in Rio preparing to swim the first of eight events at the 2016 Paralympic Games.