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This Teen Shattered So Many Stereotypes With One Video Clip on Instagram

As we have seen recently, athletes come in all shapes and sizes.

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Proof of that has been seen in the recent diverse Livi Active campaign from Lane Bryant, which shows female athletes of different shapes and sizes.

Buzzfeed recently published a feature titled “Here’s What It’s Like To Be A Plus-Size Athlete“, sending such a powerful message in showcasing seven plus size female athletes who all are incredible and inspiring in their own right.sub-buzz-8268-1483489882-1

ImageRoz “The Diva” Mays, Personal Trainer and Pole Dancer, Jon Premosch / BuzzFeed

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Then there was last year at the Olympic Games Rio 2016, which also showed us that plus size athletes can compete and win medals.

Read more4 Olympians That Prove Athletes Come in All Sizes

And now, add a teen plus size dancer to that list…

15-year-old Lizzy Howell from Milford, Delaware simply shared a video of herself on Instagram practicing a series of fouetté turns. She had no idea it would be viewed more than 75,000 times.

We shared the video clip on our Instagram channel last week and not only was it viewed over 95,000 times but there were over 600 comments with everyone cheering Lizzy on and expressing how awesome she is.

The video has since gone viral and Lizzy has been featured on the Daily Mail and other media outlets. She is so humbled and happy from all the praise, telling the Daily Mail:

“I enjoy most of the comments saying I’m an inspiration for people of all sizes. I really like being called an inspiration, it makes me feel better about myself and what I’m doing.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BPLTu90Bz9V/?taken-by=lizzy.dances

“However, I do not like when people say, ‘Oh my gosh I can’t believe she’s better than me!’ That implies that plus sized people can’t dance, and it makes me feel self conscious. It shouldn’t matter how much I weigh, the only thing that should matter is my passion for dance.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BO0Svj-BkvD/?taken-by=lizzy.dances

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According to her interview with the Daily Mail, Lizzy has been a dancer for 10 years, trains four days a week and also practices tap and jazz dancing.

The teen has also been hit with negative comments from “internet trolls” but she told the media outlet that she uses laughing as a coping mechanism but it is still a struggle, mentioning one comment where someone told she should get cancer.

But that won’t stop her from living life and doing what she loves… dancing.

Lizzy told the Daily Mail that “stereotypes are made to be broken” and went on to say:

“You will have to work twice as hard for everything that everyone else gets, but it will be worth it in the long run to prove the ‘haters’ wrong. Do what you love and don’t let any one stop you.”

I think we all can learn a lesson or two from Lizzy. You can follow her on Instagram and continue to be inspired here.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BO-w__OhpWD/?taken-by=lizzy.dances

Follow us on social media @plusmodelmag and let us know what you think of Lizzy and her amazing outlook on life.