A Winning Vision : At the age of eight, Lex Gillette lost his sight due to recurring retina detachment, a reality that shaped his lifelong mantra: “No need for sight when you have a vision.” Driven by the motto and his mother, Verdina Gillette-Simms, who instilled in her son a no-excuses, big-dreams mentality, Gillette embarked on an athletic career. Obtaining the Paralympic long jump world record for F11 classified athletes. In Lex’s Paralympic class, the Class T11 long jump for visually impaired athletes, all athletes are required to wear opaque glasses or an eye mask, and those fabric masks are standard wear despite their drawbacks: They hit eyelashes and their fit is inconsistent, making them an added distraction. And, Gillette adds, “They just feel ugly. I want to look cool when I’m doing this.” The following is the result of a small team working directly with the athlete to create a 3-D printed eye covering that would make him feel like a super hero when he steps on the track to compete. Credits: Michael Sarantakos X Baron Brandt X Nike maker/ concept creator studio.
