Paige Calendine of Zanesville, Ohio, may look a little different than her teammates, but she’s just as talented – if not more so.

As far as the 8-year-old is concerned, she can do anything she sets her mind to. Sure, she was born without legs, but that hasn’t once kept her from accomplishing her dreams!

Her parents, Sean and Heidi, decided early on not to place limits on her. When she was 18 months old, they enrolled her in gymnastics classes to help her build upper body strength, and she thrived!

“Because she was born without legs, she doesn’t know it’s a disability,” Sean explained. “We decided right away that we would not treat her like she has a disability or make things easy for her. We wanted her to learn how to adjust to the real world.”

In the years since, Paige has proven herself to be a gifted athlete! Today, she’s part of the XceL team at Zanesville Gymnastics, which her coach, Esther Weibel, described as “an alternative program within USA gymnastics.”

She added, “It’s more free for creativity and skills, so we can kind of make the routines more individual to each child.”

Not only has her talent inspired her coaches and teammates, but it’s also earned her medals!

During her first meet as an Xcel Bronze last October, she took first place! She also competed at the Arnold Sports Festival back in March.

What’s more, she’s looking forward to trying other sports in the future, including cheerleading, swimming, and archery!

She has never doubted her abilities and hopes to encourage others to adopt the same mindset.

“Anything that happens in your life, you can overcome,” she said. “That’s what I would tell other people. You can do it.”