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Paige Calendine, who was born without legs, quickly became a star youth gymnast — competing in state and national competitions

Earlier this year, the 14-year-old had to step away from the sport because of her disability

Calendine opens up to PEOPLE about her journey with athletics and how she still stays connected to gymnastics, even though she no longer competes

Paige Calendine’s mom Heidi learned that her daughter had no legs on June 16, 2011, the day she was born.

Today, Paige, 14, lives with her mom, her dad Sean and her service dog Luna in Zanesville, Ohio, a small city roughly 50 miles east of Columbus — so small that she knows very few other people with physical disabilities. But Paige and Heidi tell PEOPLE that never stopped her from pursuing her athletic dreams.

From when Paige was 18 months old, her mom enrolled her in gymnastic lessons, not only for her to meet other kids her age but also to help her build her upper body strength, which was especially crucial because of her disability. 

“What is considered ‘playtime’ to other kids we knew would help physically with her body,” Heidi says. “We started that process with gymnastics mostly just to make her stronger for that kind of stuff, and then she grew to really love it.”

Heidi, of course, is being a bit humble: Growing up, Paige nabbed medals and trophies for her incredible athleticism, becoming a stand-out in her state’s gymnastics competitions — even when the sport wasn’t designed for people without lower extremities.

Paige Calendine.

Heidi Calendine

“I think accommodating-wise, the older she got, the more we understood that, realistically, the world’s not adaptive, she just has to do things her own way,” Heidi says. “People don’t see the little struggles that she has to work twice as hard for to do things.”

For instance, the mom continues, Paige has to exert double the effort to flip her body as her peer with legs might.

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“She’s been more adaptive to the sport than the sport has been to her,” Heidi says. “As a mom, I see that. But she’s very strong-willed, so she doesn’t really see that. She’s a very, very tough kid.”

“I just see myself as the rest,” says Paige, who is just as humble as her mom. “I don’t really notice it, and nobody else really notices either. They just accept it.”

In June 2024, Paige was invited to the 2024 Olympic Trials for gymnastics, where she was asked to present about her experience as a disabled gymnast and to advocate for para-gymastics to be recognized in future Olympic Games. In addition to her advocacy, she got to chat and take photos with some of her gymnastics idols, including Soviet gold medalist Nellie Kim and American star Aly Raisman.

Paige Calendine.

awatson

“She got to meet a lot of cool people and make the impact that you’re able to do anything you want regardless of a disability or being different,” says Heidi. 

In 2024, Paige was also the subject of a 41-minute documentary, Built Different, streaming now on Prime Video, that tells her story and follows her through several state and national gymnastic competitions.

And millions of people around the world have learned about Paige’s story online through her mom’s TikTok and Instagram accounts, where they share updates about her athletic journey. Heidi first started the account, she says to PEOPLE, because Paige’s coach would tell her that people would say during gymnastic meets that they wanted to know more about her story, and Heidi thought social media would be a great way to get it out there.

“A lot of it started to show that there’s a big community of kids out there who are in their head that they can’t do something because of a disability,” says Heidi. “Paige’s biggest thing was to show people that ‘can’t’ [doesn’t] exist, regardless of your body or being different in the world.”

Paige Calendine.

Heidi Calendine

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“It feels good,” says Paige of knowing that so many people online are cheering her on.

“It’s just awesome to see how many people go through the same things that live different lives and the respect that they give,” adds Heidi. “It’s been pretty cool.”

In recent months — even though she describes gymnastics as her “whole life” — Paige had to make the heartbreaking decision to step back from gymnastics, as it started becoming more painful for her with her disability.

“It was probably one of the hardest things to let go of gymnastics,” she tells PEOPLE. “It was hard, but I just had to accept it.”

Even though she’s not competing as a gymnast, Paige, now a freshman in high school, is still a huge athlete: She’s joined a cheer team, football team, swimming team, basketball team (the list goes on). 

“I really love them sports,” she says, very matter-of-factly. 

Paige Calendine.

mclarke

And she’s still found a way to stay close to gymnastics, even if she can no longer compete: She’s started working at her old gym and coaching toddlers — helping them with their basic skills, like completing their first cartwheels and handstands. Even though she’s the youngest employee, she says she feels right at home, with many of her old teammates still around her in the gym.

Working at her old gym also gives Paige an opportunity to get hands-on experience with kids, which she says will prepare her for her future career as a pediatrician. 

“My school has health careers — so I’m in the health pathway, and I’m learning about that,” she says. “I wanna be a pediatrician because I work really good with kids. I just love it.”

Paige’s mom can confirm: “They just gravitate towards her. I’ve just recently gotten to see it when I drop her off at work — how excited they get when she’s there. I don’t really know why — I mean, she’s the light of my life, so that’s probably it.”