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Triathlete Finds Way To Honor Sister's Memory
After sister's devastating death, triathlete and her family show uncommon strength and courage
By NANCY ARMOUR
AP National Writer
Some athletes would be devastated to be an alternate on an Olympic team, considering it a failure after the long months and years, really, of training and sacrifice.
For Becky Gibbs Lavelle, it is nothing less than a triumph, a testament to her courage, perseverance and inner strength.
"I was just ecstatic, after everything I've been through," Lavelle said of clinching the alternate's spot on the U.S. Olympic triathlon team with an eighth-place finish at the Hy-Vee World Cup on June 22.
Lavelle, you see, got a phone call on Dec. 19, 2007 that no one should ever get. Trapped in the depths of postpartum psychosis, Jennifer Gibbs Bankston, Lavelle's sister, her best friend, her twin, had killed her 7-week-old son, Graham, then turned the gun on herself.
Full article here.
Inside Triathlon Magazine May, 2008 "In Darkness, Light One Candle"
by Timothy Carlson
See actual article here.
Birmingham Magazine April, 2008 Article on Jenny's Light. Written by Mary Ellen Stancill.
AUDIO CLIPS
Check out the Endurance Planet interview with Becky Lavelle. She talks about grieving, training, and getting ready for the 2008 Beijing Olympic trials races this Spring and Summer:
Endurance Planet Podcast interview with Becky Lavelle.