The day before, she won three medals in the Special Olympics for her clean dead-lift, making her one of the few women in the world to be able to lift one hundred pounds from the floor, especially at such a young age.

I was able to sit down with Aytaj a few days later at a celebratory reception, at an event to honor the Azerbaijani delegation of Special Olympians who came to Los Angeles to compete at the Special Olympics World Games.

As I milled about, I spotted Aytaj, who gave me a shy smile and a wave. I waved back, amazed: at about four feet nine inches and markedly slender, it’s difficult to believe that she is capable of such incredible athleticism.

But as we sat together, and she proudly put her medals in my hands to examine, I can feel the magnitude of this accomplishment in her life, and despite the fact that we don’t speak the same language, in this moment, I understand her perfectly.

Aytaj is remarkably shy, and when I asked if I could film her responses to my questions, she shakes her head vigorously, and at first, deferred some of my questions to her coach, Natig Aliyev.

With tangible warmth and limitless pride, he tells me about the honor Aytaj felt upon seeing the Azerbaijani flag as it was raised, and about how the team cheered for her when she received her medals.

Mr. Aliyev so clearly understands Aytaj, the work that she has done to reach this day, and the pride this has brought as a sports champion, and as someone whose life is not just touched by disability, but tragedy as well.

To her coach and mentor, it is not her Olympic wins, but Aytaj’s unwavering spirit and courage that is so clearly the most precious thing about her.

Her family has overcome unimaginable obstacles. Aytaj demonstrates a deeply personal affection for her Azerbaijani identity, and the deep meaning of that is amplified by the fact that her family are survivors of the Khojaly Massacre of 1992, a brutal event that took place during the occupation and ethnic cleansing of Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region by Armenia.

The mass killing, which the Human Rights Watch described as "the largest massacre in the conflict,” resulted in the death of hundreds of Azerbaijani children, women and elderly.

Though her uncle was killed, her newly married parents and the rest of their family escaped.

Unfortunately, their hardships were far from over: Aytaj’s older sister, three months old at the time, froze to death while they were hiding in the forest during that cold winter.

The family couldn’t stop to give her a funeral, so her parents had to carry the body of their infant daughter until they reached the city of Genja, where they were able to settle down and begin their refugee life.

With significant support from United Aid for Azerbaijan, an organization for special needs children, Aytaj was able to turn passion into a career and begin the long journey of training for the Olympics.

Aytaj clearly expresses a strong connection between her success, her teammates, and the larger community behind and supportive of them all.

So when she spoke of her teammates from Azerbaijan, Aytaj’s shyness disappeared. The palpable camaraderie she feels toward her fellow competitors, those who have become dear friends, was the moment tears started falling from my eyes.

Telling me of the 24 medals, including 8 golds, that their team won at these Games, Aytaj is beaming. And then, with a quiet dignity, Aytaj tells me of the many people she thanks for her success, including her coaches, and most of all, her parents.

She has worked so hard, she says, to make them proud and to bring them honor. She said she always thinks of the other survivors of Khojaly as she trains, and wants to bring them cheer and a sense of hope; that above all else, overcoming the tragedy of her family in Khojaly has motivated her to embark on this enormous journey, which included a four hour layover in Istanbul and another thirteen-hour flight to Los Angeles.

But everything (including the jet lag, she laughs), has been an amazing experience. She has loved training in the stadium with athletes from all over the world, and has loved being in Los Angeles, which she says is beautiful.

As the event is ending, I go to wish her a happy birthday (of which her coach informed me), and she grabs my hands and starts singing "happy birthday,” the only English she knows.

We ended up singing together, laughing. A moment later, Aytaj pulls me into a hug, one so strong I could feel the dedicated training around my shoulders, and kisses both of my cheeks like I’m her long-lost sister, a significant contrast to the shyness she demonstrated towards me not twenty minutes earlier. Smiling into her beaming face, in that moment, it was genuinely difficult for me to leave her.

Aytaj is extraordinary. She is practically a little girl, yet she embodies the hope and strength of history’s strongest women, and the lightness and freedom of innocent youth.

That she did all this with the challenges she faces, that her family was able to raise a daughter with such resilience and strength, and that it all happened amidst the backdrop of tragic survival, hard refugee life and strong community support, is almost too overwhelming to take in at once.

The memory of such a wise smile on such a young and hopeful girl is the most lasting impression I will take from this meeting.

A smile that is a lens into a world where people overcome the unimaginable, to then fly across the globe and celebrate achievement no matter the pain or anguish they have suffered. Even beyond winning a medal few of us will ever achieve, it is Aytaj’s will and passion to overcome unimaginable odds that is the most profound story of achievement.

Author: Amy Yael Schmidt is a Los Angeles native with degrees in Creative Writing and Narrative Structure from the University of Southern California. Amy blends her expertise in story telling with her desire to shine light on lesser known but incredible stories from all over the world. Of Jewish-Mexican heritage, Amy has a particular interest in exploring the world of multiculturalism and telling stories that showcase the intersection of unlikely communities, those sharing positive space together.