Besides participating in numerous demonstrations from health and fitness gurus scattered around the NBC4 Health & Fitness Expo, you also have the chance to hear the stories of some of the world's highest-performing athletes.
We have several special guests coming this year!
Suzy Favor Hamilton is an Olympian, spokesperson for mental illness awareness, certified yoga instructor and best-selling author.
Favor Hamilton competed in the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics in the middle-distance running events, improving her craft each year. In her first stint in the 1992 games, Favor Hamilton made the qualifying rounds in the 1500 meters. In the 1996 games, she clinched fourth place in the qualifying round of the 800 meters and in 2000, she advanced to the final round of the 1500 meters.
Despite her athletic achievements, Favor Hamilton faced mental barriers that altered her post-retirement life.
In her book "Fast Girl: A Life Spent Running from Madness," she recounts her struggle with anxiety throughout her tenure as a professional athlete, her postpartum depression after her daughter's birth and her eventual diagnosis of bipolar disorder. For a year after her retirement, she led a double life as a mother and a high-end escort in Las Vegas.
After understanding and coming to terms with her mental illness, Favor Hamilton speaks openly about mental health and hopes her stories will inspire all who are suffering to celebrate who they are.
Health
You can see Favor Hamilton at the following forums:
Saturday:
- Noon at the Main Stage
- 12:45 p.m. at the Healthy Book Festival
- 4 p.m. at NBC4 Yoga Weekend with Mind the Mat
Sunday:
- 11 a.m. at Changing Minds
- 1 p.m. at the Main Stage
- 2:45 p.m. at NBC4 Yoga Weekend with Mind the Mat
Michelle Konkoly is an international athlete who represented Team USA in her first Pan Pacific Para-Swimming Championships in 2014. Konkoly sustained a traumatic spinal cord injury after falling five stories from her Georgetown University dorm room in 2011. Despite a setback, Konkoly persevered after multiple surgeries and an extensive rehabilitation process.
She returned to Georgetown, continued to compete for the swim team and was named captain her senior year. Konkoly moved to the international stage in 2014 after breaking Pan-American, American and American Paralympic records in various freestyle events.
In 2014, she came in first place in the 50 meter and 100 meter freestyle and the 400 meter free relay and earned a silver medal at the Pan Am Championships. She plans to attend medical school in the future, as well as continue to flourish in the Paralympics.
You can see Konkoly here:
Saturday:
- 1:30 p.m. at the Extra Mile, a Special Panel Q&A with Olympic Athletes
Sunday:
- Noon at Everyday Olympians, a Special Panel Q&A with Olympic Athletes
Dagmara Wozniak is a saber fencer who was an Olympic alternate for Team USA in the 2008 Summer Olympics and competitor in the 2012 games. After emigrating from Poland as an infant, Wozniak decided to take up fencing when she was nine years old.
Wozniak has competed since on both the Junior World and Senior World Championship Teams, and currently ranks as one of the top 10 saber fencers in the world. Most notably, she helped the United States come away with a gold medal at the 2014 Senior World Fencing Championships and received eighth place in the individual category at the 2012 Olympics.
You can see Wozniak here:
Sunday:
- Noon at Everyday Olympians, a Special Panel Q&A with Olympic Athletes
