The Eyes Free Sports Podcast: Ep. 62 – Michael Stone, a Visually Impaired Endurance Athlete, Skier, & Biathlon Competitor (Part 1)

In Episode 62 of the Eyes Free Sports podcast, we visit with Michael Stone, a highly accomplished visually impaired endurance athlete who has competed in over 200 races in his life. He has also gotten into skiing and the biathlon in recent years. This is Part 1 of our conversation. During this segment, Stone spoke about:

• His early years growing up in the Midwest
• His visual impairment and relatives with the same condition, as well as research being done on degenerative retinal conditions through the Foundation Fighting Blindness and other organizations
• Why he has a positive outlook on having low vision
• Mainstream sports he competed in while he was visually impaired but before he was formally diagnosed, and when he realized it was not safe for him to do certain activities without a guide
• How he got into adaptive sports and the adaptive sports and recreation activities he competed in early on
• His perspective on the blind runner-guide relationship

Check out Stone’s book, Eye Envy: Perspectives into Vision Loss, on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Eye-Envy-Perspectives-into-Vision/dp/1427646740.