Vonetta Flowers

When Vonetta Flowers didn’t qualify to compete in the long jump during the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, she thought her lifelong Olympic dreams were dashed. But then she shifted gears and set her sights on the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games as a bobsled athlete. She triumphed to become the first-ever black athlete from any nation to win a gold medal in the Winter Olympics. Perseverance is a a personal trait she used when influenza almost sidelined her, too. Not at the Olympic Games, but during a track and field meet in college, Vonetta suffered from the severe symptoms of the flu, which can include fever (usually high), extreme tiredness, muscle aches, and can last for days and sometimes for weeks.