Zion Clark is the current fastest man on two hands. The quick American broke the previous record by finishing the 20 meters in 4.78 seconds. It’s perhaps no surprise that he beat the record given his powerful chest and arms. What might surprise you is that he has lived all his life without legs and a significant part of his spine.
Clark has beaten incredible odds to become a Guinness World Record holder and is an inspiration to everybody looking to make it in the face of adversity. Without his adoptive mother and girlfriend as part of his support system, Zion’s task would have been much more difficult.
Is Zion Clark Single? Relationship
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Given that the date is listed next to Zion’s Instagram name in Teitei’s Instagram description, it appears that the couple began dating on January 4, 2021. She has shared numerous pictures of Zion since then and declared that Zion has met her family.
She supported Clark as he tried for the Guinness World Record for the quickest person on hands.
“Everybody was happy, I was excited, my girlfriend was excited… it was just a moment man!” said Zion.
Zion and Tei recently celebrated her 24th birthday.
“Had an awesome time celebrating my babygirl’s 24th G day,” Clark captioned a series of photos of the pair.
“This year is almost over and I’m excited to see where it takes us. Love you, babe.”
Clark’s biological Mother gave him up for Adoption after bingeing on Drugs
Zion Clark was born with caudal regression syndrome, which prevented him from developing from the waist during gestation. Clark told Chris Van Vliet that the disease affects one out of 200,000 children.
It didn’t help that Clark’s biological mother binged on drugs while pregnant with Clark. He was 3 pounds heavy at birth and was not expected to live past his first day. Clark explained:
“Yeah my birth mother, she was a drug addict and in and out of jail constantly. When I was born, I had pretty much every party drug in my system you can think of. Most kids don’t survive after that first day, especially if the mother is marinating their unborn child in such drugs.”
Clark needed two surgeries on his back just to allow him to sit up straight. His parents put him up for adoption soon after birth. He went through the foster care and adoption system for sixteen years and found families with good intentions but had little knowledge about taking care of him.
One family forced him to wear prosthetics which required him to sit in an uncomfortable brace. The prosthetics’ purpose was to straighten his back, and once they achieved their goal, Clark could stop using them, but his parents insisted they stay on.
Clark’s mother, Kimberli Hawkins, adopted him seven months before his 18th birthday. He’d been adopted two times before, and it didn’t work out. Fortunately, he fit in with Hawkins seamlessly.
“With my mom doing parenting the way that she did, if she didn’t do that, I wouldn’t be here,” Zion said. “There is no success, no wrestling, no track.”
Zion was bullied in school and used that anger to Fuel his move into Wrestling
Zion experienced bullying as a child due to his stature. The bullying hurt, but instead of feeling depressed, he channeled that anger toward wrestling.
He started wrestling in second grade, but he wasn’t very good at it. He didn’t know how to fight other kids, and the other kids didn’t know how to fight him.
Gradually he refined his techniques and became a force in the ring.
“People would make fun of me because I didn’t have legs,” he told The Daily Mail. “The haters are your biggest fans – use that to your advantage.”
He didn’t win in elementary school, but in high school, his efforts paid off.
“If I fit to talk to all those people wey bully me, beat me up and disrespected me, you know when I go say? I go say thank you. Because e makes me stronger,” Zion told BBC.
Clark looked up to Kyle Maynard, a wrestler who overcame arm amputation to scale Mount Kilimanjaro. Kyle authored a book titled No Excuses, a phrase tattooed on Zion’s back.
Coach Gilbert Donahue helped refine Zion’s techniques and pushed him beyond his perceived mental boundaries.
“We began to exploit his positives and rigorously drilled the techniques he could use with his condition,” Donahue told ESPN. “And that’s how Zion’s wrestling style was born.”
Zion plans to participate in the upcoming Summer Olympics and Paralympic Games
“I fell short of my goals (history will have to wait) to make the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games, but I assure you that the lessons learned have motivated me to work harder in seeking to represent my country in these events,” Zion’s website reads.
Zion wants to participate in track and field in the Paralympics and wrestling in the Olympics. He also has his sights set on the Paralympic Bench Press event. Clark also wants to be a track and field and wrestling world champion.
When he’s not training, Zion enjoys traveling with his girlfriend. He told Chris Van Vliet that most people are surprised that he can drive:
“I have hand controls. The thumb is the gas, there’s a lever for the break and just steer with the wheel. I remember going in there and they are like ‘Sir, do you have your vehicle?’ I did then they asked how was I driving. Is it OK with my doctor? I finally take the test, ace it and I’m like, bye!”
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