A starting member of the US Olympic men's volleyball team is deaf

David Smith was born with 10-20% hearing and now relies on hearing aides and lip reading.

Smith told Trib Total Media:

“I think sometimes so many people see hearing loss as a disability and that’s all they see and that becomes the center of their thought process. So you’re thinking about what you can’t do instead of what you can do. Being able to demonstrate that is one of the most rewarding things. Being able to be a real time influence in a real time inspiration to the next generation has been real cool.”

Smith earned a scholarship to play volleyball at UC Irvine and made three Olympic teams, earning a bronze in 2016.

The U.S. men's volleyball team beat Tunisia in four sets on Wednesday.The have a record of two wins against one loss. You can read more about Smith here.