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Photos: Obama Welcomes U.S. Olympic and Paralympic teams to White House
Posted Sep 14, 2012
President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, welcomed members of the 2012 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic teams on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on Friday, September 14, 2012.
U.S. President Barack Obama (2nd L) receives the U.S. flag that accompanied Team USA to the London Games from U.S. Olympic Flag Bearer Mariel Zagunis (2nd R) and U.S. Paralympic Flag Bearer and Navy Veteran Brad Snyder (C) as first lady Michelle Obama (L) and Vice President Joseph Biden (R) look on during a South Lawn event to welcome the 2012 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic teams September 14, 2012 at the White House in Washington, DC.
PHOTOS, 17 images
http://photos.denverpost.com/2012/09/14/photos-obama-welcomes-u-s-olympic-and-paralympic-teams-to-white-house/#name%20here
Obama Salutes US Olympic and Paralympic Teams At White House
President Obama welcomed the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic teams to the White House today, telling them they are “a portrait of what this country is all about.”
“You guys all find the strength to keep pushing on good days and bad days, because you believe that no matter where we come from, or no matter what hand we’ve been dealt in life, with enough effort, there is no limit to how far we can go,” the president told the large crowd of athletes gathered on the White House South Lawn.
“That’s what sets all of you apart. That’s what sets America apart. We celebrate individual effort, but we also know that, together, we can do incredible things that we couldn’t accomplish on our own,” he said.
The president was joined by Vice President Joe Biden and first lady Michelle Obama, who led the U.S. delegation to the Summer Games in London, in saluting the nation’s finest athletes.
“I had so much fun with everyone over in London that when I got home, I told Barack that we had to invite everybody over to the house,” Michelle Obama said.
The president admitted he was “pretty jealous” that his wife got to go to the games, “but like millions of Americans, I had almost as much fun just following you guys from here.”
“I usually work pretty late, but I’ve mastered the DVR,” he quipped. “It was a great way to end the day, watching you guys do things that I did not think were humanly possible.”
After his wife returned to Washington, the president, an avid sports fan and exercise enthusiast, said he and the first lady would talk about the games while they worked out in the morning.
“We’d talk about, did you see that thing?” he recounted. “That was unbelievable. … And then I’d jog on the treadmill,” he said, making fun of his own athletic prowess.
The president said that he was not supposed to shake everyone’s hands because of his tight schedule but vowed to “break the rule” and do it anyway, which he did.
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/09/obama-salutes-us-olympic-and-paralympic-teams-at-white-house/
Closing Ceremony of the London 2012 Paralympic Games
London 2012 Paralympics -- in Review
Read the latest news and features from the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/paralympic-sport/
London 2012: Olympic and Paralympic galleries
See the best images from the action at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/picturegalleries/
And thank you fuagf for your contributions.
Alas, but .. There's more to Paralympic injustice than just blade length
The spotlight on the Paralympics must also shine on its continuing sporting
injustices, from unfair classifications to the influence of global wealth disparity
Anne Wafula Strike - Anne Wafula Strike -
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 6 September 2012 17.38 BST
Dedeline Mibamba Kimbata (left), a Congolese Paralympic athlete, had never raced in a
race chair before she arrived at the London 2012 Games. Photograph: Nick Ansell/PA
While all eyes have been on Oscar Pistorius and the "battle of the blades" .. http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/sep/05/paralympics-running-blades-pistorius, many other anomalies, inequalities and injustices in Paralympic sport have been overlooked. As a wheelchair racer, I am passionate about the sport: the adrenaline rush on the track, the medals, even the long hours of training. However, I have encountered many disturbing things during my career: in particular, a lack of clarity surrounding both classification of disability and selection, and the absence of a level playing field for those competing.
Classification continues to be a controversial issue. In 2008 at the Beijing Games, Rebecca Chin was disqualified for not being disabled enough. I was left paralysed from the chest down after suffering from polio when I was two. When I began racing competitively, I was given a permanent classification of T53 – this is for athletes with no trunk function, and the correct category for my disability. Yet I was pulled out of a major competition in 2006 and reclassified into a more able-bodied category (T54) after a cursory medical and fitness test.
A subsequent expert medical report confirmed that I was paralysed from the chest down: the prerequisite for T53. Yet despite the overwhelming evidence, I lost the six-year battle to be returned to my rightful category – a category in which, based on the racing times I've achieved in recent years, I would win medals for Great Britain. Unlike in the Olympic Games, the criteria for Paralympic selection are not transparent. Despite being ranked number one in the UK in the 100m sprint, and number seven in the world, I was not selected for the 2012 Games.
And then there is the issue of equipment – illustrated by the Pistorius row over blade length, but not confined to it. Many disabled athletes rely on equipment, and this varies in quality. Superior wheelchairs and state-of-the-art prostheses can give athletes an unfair advantage over less well-equipped rivals. How can athletes from less well-off countries possibly compete as equals when they have no access to any sort of equipment, let alone the latest Paralympic mod cons? Haitian athletes Nephtalie Jean Lois and Josue Cajuste had to borrow equipment when they arrived in the UK. In addition, I am the UK's only black female Paralympian, and more could be done by UK Athletics and others to encourage more black athletes to get involved. When it comes to able-bodied sport, of course each body is different. But what they have in common is that all of them are whole and healthy and strong. Whether a runner comes from Rwanda or Rochdale, as long as they have ground under their feet to practise on, all have an equal opportunity to win.
As disabled athletes, our imperfect bodies will always be unequal: the swimmers with short legs competing against those with no legs; those with one leg racing against those with two. Some of these inequalities cannot be ironed out. But others are deliberately manufactured by human beings and must be eliminated. While it is wonderful that so many people want to celebrate the real achievements of disabled athletes, few shine a light into some of the darker corners of this sport. The same rigour that roots out injustice in able-bodied elite sport must be applied to disabled elite sport.
Many Paralympic competitors are inspirational, demonstrating exceptional athleticism and overcoming tremendous adversity. For me there is no bigger thrill than tearing round the track with the wind in my face. But I want to compete with my peers, not with those who are more able-bodied than I am. And I want athletes like the Congolese wheelchair racer, Dedeline Mibamba Kimbata, to have a wheelchair as good as that of her rivals from richer countries, so that she can compete fairly with western racers. The winners and losers of the disabled world's most prestigious sporting event should not be determined by global postcodes and bank balances, nor by arbitrary classification or selection decisions. But sadly they are.
More needs to be done to ensure that all disabled athletes are competing in their rightful class: the selection process must be made accountable. Athletes from poorer countries must get more support so that they can compete as equals. Ensuring justice in Paralympic sport is far more challenging than in the able-bodied equivalent, but in order to preserve the sport's integrity, it must be done.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/sep/06/paralympic-injustice-oscar-pistorius
I'd read one on the wheelchair problem a couple of weeks ago.
Was good to remember to get one on the inequality topic up.
========
'We can't afford to compete with you': France accuses Britain of techno-cheating (... again)
The French Paralympic team deputy boss said Brits investment was turning the event 'into Forumla 1'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2197033/We-afford-compete-France-accuses-Britain-techno-cheating---again.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
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Two classes at the Paralympics
[ insert image from original link below ]
08-09-2012
Athletes like the amputated runner Thin Seng Hong from Cambodia cannot afford expensive protheses and wheelchairs. More support is needed for disabled athletes, 80 percent of whom live in developing countries.
Her hands folded on her back, standing in stooped posture, and talking in a soft voice, Thin Seng Hong looks a bit like a party guest who's imagined the event a bit differently. "I'm impressed, it's a great experience," the petite woman says quietly. Her smile looks a bit forced, her words don't seem to fit her body language. Thin Seng Hong is standing in the interview zone of the Olympic stadium, buzzing spectators all around her. To her right, a Dutch runner with protheses hugs her coach with a scream of joy, and on her left, a Japanese athlete in a wheelchair is giving an interview to a dozen journalists.
Thin Seng Hong looks lost. She has lost her right lower leg. She comes from Cambodia, where the percentage of amputated people is the highest in the world, due to the many landmines. Although the Cambodian team could be large, Thin Seng Hong is the only Cambodian athlete in London.
The stars of the 14th Summer Paralympics are Oscar Pistorius or Alessandro Zanardi. They are talented and practice hard, and they also have high-tech equipment: The pair of protheses which make South African Pistorius run so fast cost 20,000 euro. The featherlight handbike that helped former formula one racer Alessandro Zanardi win his time trial gold medal sells for 6,000 euros.
Both athletes are the peak of a Paralympic elite: 40 percent of the 4,200 participants are from just nine rich countries. Altogether, 165 nations are represented. The Paralympics don't reflect reality, since according to the World Health Organization, or WHO, out of a billion people with disabilities, 80 percent live in developing countries.
Like runner Thin Seng Hong. In 2005 she started doing competitive sports, but she soon had to stop, since she could not gain any support. People with disabilities suffer exclusion and discrimination in Cambodia and dozens of other countries. Friends of Thin Seng Hong collected donations and bought a prothesis for her for some 2,000 euros. That sum is peanuts for athletes like Oscar Pistorius or Alessandro Zanardi - yet it equals three annual salaries for Thin Seng Hong, who dreams of opening a souvenir stall in Cambodia. "With a better prothesis I would have run faster," the 29-year-old said. She dropped out in the preliminary rounds of the 100 and 200 meter races. Still, she calls her prothesis her lucky leg.
The Paralympics represent a two-class society, though the differences are becoming smaller. In 1988 only 61 countries were present at the games in Seoul, while in London, it's almost three times more. Some 16 nations sent athletes for the first time. And there could have been more: Athletes from Malawi and Botswana had to cancel their trips shortly before the opening ceremony, because according to the British paper The Guardian, they had not been able to find enough sponsors.
"It's one of our most important goals, to widen the paralympic movement," said Philip Craven, president of the International Paralymic Committee (IPC). He added that this would enhance the levels at the competitions, as well as improving the image of people with disabilities in poor countries.
Like the International Olympic Committe (IOC), the IPC also distributes wildcards to athletes from emerging eceonomies and developing countries who were not able to qualify for the Paralympics through contentional qualifications. One of these 61 special permits for 50 countries went to Thin Seng Hong. Her story is supposed to inspire Cambodians who are handicapped because of the civil war. However, Thin Seng Hong's races were not shown on TV, and no Cambodian journalists traveled to London.
The IPC received thousands of requests for wildcards, but it has far less money than to the IOC. In earlier interviews, Thin Seng Hong demanded a stronger focus on developing countries, but she was not prepared to repeat these arguments in London. Did the IPC request athletes to refrain from criticism? Or did the Cambodian government intervene?
The IPC is dependent on partners, for instance the organization "Motivation." This organization has developed materials for cheap wheelchairs used for tennis and basketball, and distributes them at a cost of just 550 euros instead of 5000 euros. At current, some 4,000 of these wheelchairs are being used in 50 countries.
Rüdiger Herzog, who works for the Duderstadt-based Otto Bock company in Northern Germany, elaborated on the problem. "Many teams cannot afford technicians for the Paralympics, their equipment is old and broken," Herzog said. The company is a world leader in prothetics and organizes the technical workshop at the Paralympics. In London, there are 80 technicians providing 14 tons of equipment and some 15,000 spare parts. But these figures don't mean much to most athletes at the Paralympics. Out of the 13 athletes from Kenya, for instance, only one is dependent on his wheelchair.
The IPC has been strenghening education projects: Administrations, teachers and coaches are being made more aware of the value of disabled sports. Now, 15 percent of people in the world have some kind of impediment - given the ongoing wars and conflicts, that figure is likely to increase. Still, only between 2 and 3 percent of disabled children attend school. In Cambodia for instance, there are hardly any disabled-accessible playgrounds or gyms.
Yet Thin Seng Hong hopes that she will not bet he only athlete from her country to travel to the
next Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She would love to run again in the same stadium
with the millionaire posterboy Oscar Pistorius. Even though they are still worlds apart.
http://www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,16225400,00.html
http://www.muslimnews.co.uk/news/news.php?article=23277
Paralympics Closing Ceremony opening act is Coldplay!, Paralympics 2012 - Michelle Stilwell
"INSPIRATIONAL" .. wonderful! .. thank you, BOREALIS.
Newsbreak - Day 11 (last day) of the London 2012 Paralympic Games
Paralympics 2012: Pundits pick their athletes and memories
9 September 2012 Last updated at 15:35 GMT
After 11 days of thrilling, emotion-charged action, the London Paralympics is over.
Great Britain's David Weir, Jonnie Peacock and Hannah Cockroft are just three athletes who shone on the track while Ellie Simmonds was once again the ParalympicsGB star of the pool.
Oscar Pistorius won individual gold on the final day of action in the Olympic Stadium, while China proved once again that they were the top dogs of Paralympic sports by topping the medals table with 95 golds.
We asked BBC's pundits to pick their favourite memory and their athletes of the Games.
FAVOURITE MEMORY
[...]
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/disability-sport/19536310
London 2012: Paralympics set for 'festival of flame' send-off
9 September 2012 Last updated at 13:14 ET
The Paralympic cauldron will be extinguished at tonight's closing ceremony
London will bid an "exuberant" farewell to the 2012 Paralympic Games with a closing ceremony billed by organisers as "a Festival of Flame".
British band Coldplay will lead the show, due to start at 20:30 BST, with a live set reflecting the four seasons.
Athletes will be in the centre of the Stadium at the start, and there will be a tribute to charity Help for Heroes.
The event ends what organisers say has been the most successful event in Paralympic history.
On Sunday, Great Britain cemented third place in the medals table, with a tally of 120, including 34 golds.
In other developments on the final weekend of 2012:
-- Thousands of spectators cheered GB's David Weir to victory in the wheelchair marathon - his fourth 2012 gold medal
-- Team-mate Shelly Woods took the silver in the women's race
-- On Sunday, Brazil's Tito Sena won the T46 marathon, and Alberto Suarez of Spain won gold in the T12 event, breaking his own world record with a time of 2:24:50
-- Organisers say some 2.7 million Paralympic tickets have been sold - beating targets by 200,000 and predicted sales by £10m
'A few surprises'
GB Paralympians David Weir and Sarah Storey, who each won four gold medals at the Games, will carry the British flag together into the closing ceremony tonight.
"During the London 2012 Paralympic Games, ParalympicsGB has witnessed some outstanding performances, and most notably from Sarah Storey and David Weir," said chef de mission Craig Hunter.
"These athletes represent the spirit of Paralympic athleticism."
Apart from Coldplay's music, Sunday's sold-out ceremony will feature performances by Jay-Z and Rihanna, alongside a cast of around 1,200 performers.
"The idea is the coming together as one," said artistic director Kim Gavin.
"We are known as a nation for having the most festivals, it is something that we do - with 600 festivals a year.
"We pay tribute to the all the human spirit and achievement through this wonderful sport of the last two weeks."
Mr Gavin hinted that would be "a few surprises" and that, "with it being a festival of the flame there will be a lot of flame - and the whole show will be very exciting".
"The Festival of the Flame celebrates the exuberance of festivals and the changing of the seasons," added 2012 organisers Locog.
Some 120 child volunteers from east London are expected to take part in tonight's show, with disabled aerial performers from Circus Scape and The British Paraorchestra.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 live earlier on Sunday, organising committee chairman Lord Coe said: "It has been fantastic. We get Paralympics sport in this country. I never really doubted that the Paralympic Games would be anything other than a show-stopper."
On Monday, British stars of the Olympics and Paralympics will celebrate their success during a victory parade through the streets of London.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19537677
Thanks - GREAT JOB!
Paralympic Day 1-10 Newsbreaks .. about 1 hour all up .. beauty .. good thought.
Newsbreak Review - Day 1 thru Day 10
Newsbreak - Day 1 London 2012 Paralympic Games
Published on Aug 31, 2012
Thanks for the Newsbreak for Day 4.
Now seems like a great time to post for all 10 days, and here it is:
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=79369734
WHEELCHAIR RUGBY VIDEOS
London 2012 - Wheelchair Rugby (general info)
The Wheelchair Rugby competition will see eight highly-motivated teams square off in a fiercely competitive battle for gold. To find out more, visit http://www.teamusa.org/US-Paralympics.aspx .
MURDERBALL == WHEELCHAIR RUGBY
Screaming blue murder! Paralympic athletes prove wheelchair rugby is not for the faint-hearted as 'murderball' tournament begins
Home nation outscored world number one in first quarter of pool match
But couldn't cope with U.S. side's passing and movement to lose 56-44
Young team are hoping to land Great Britain's first Paralympics medal
By Simon Tomlinson and David Jones
PUBLISHED: 10:36 EST, 5 September 2012 | UPDATED: 01:45 EST, 6 September 2012
Letting out a mighty roar after scoring a goal, this was Britain’s blue-haired wheelchair rugby player David Anthony in action last night.
A capacity crowd of 10,000 cheered on Anthony and the rest of the team as they took on reigning champions United States in the fast and furious sport once known as ‘murderball’.
The crowd ensured an electric atmosphere for the eagerly awaited tournament launch of a sport that can feature ferocious clashes between players.
War cry: Britain's David Anthony (left) celebrates after scoring past Chuck Aoki (right) of the United States
No holds barred: Will Groulx of the USA is up-ended during the wheelchair rugby match against Great Britain at the Basketball Arena
Crash, bang, wallop: Will Groulx goes flying after being knocked over by Britain's Aaron Phipps (left). Heavy contacts are actively encouraged in the sport
Eyes on the ball: Britain's David Anthony (left) and Ross Morrison (right) close in on Nick Springer of the U.S.
Doing it for the girls: Britain's only female player, Kylie Grimes, proves murderball is not just a man's world as she tackles a U.S. opponent
KYLIE SHOWS MURDERBALL IS NOT JUST A MAN'S WORLD
As if being the only female member of the British wheelchair rugby team was not enough to make Kylie Grimes, above, stand out, she has also had a Union Jack shaved into the side of her bright red hair.
The 24-year-old put in an impressive performance when the ParalympicsGB team faced the USA, ranked number one in the world, in the opening match of the competition this afternoon.
She is only the second woman to play with the British team at Paralympic level.
Grimes, who lives in Farnham, Surrey, took up the sport two years ago after an accident which left her paralysed from the chest down.
She lost a £6million damages claim at the High Court last year over the injury, which happened when she hit her head on the bottom of a swimming pool as a teenager in 2006.
Grimes knew that she 'wanted to continue playing sport and as soon as she saw her first game of wheelchair rugby, she says she knew it was the sport for her', according to the British Paralympic Association.
[...]
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2198689/London-2012-Paralympics-Paralympic-athletes-prove-wheelchair-rugby-faint-hearted-murderball-tournament-begins.html
=====================================
Get ready for MURDERBALL! GB wheelchair rugby captain Steve Brown explains all
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/article-2198367/London-Paralympics-2012-Murderball--told-GB-captain-Steve-Brown.html
Murderball: Spiked wheelchairs. Crashes galore. Today, the Paralympics sees the start of the world's most brutal – and thrilling – sport, with one VERY brave British girl in the thick of it
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2198446/Murderball-Paralympics-2012-sees-start-worlds-brutal--thrilling--sport.html?ITO=1490
Newsbreak - Day 4 London 2012 Paralympic Games
London 2012 Paralympics 100m T44 T43 Final Jonnie Peacock and Oscar Pistorius
Super videos .. sunniest of smiles are sooo good ..
Ping Pong .. David Wetherill with a fantastic shot at the London 2012 Paralympic Games for GB (with replay)
Nice. It will be interesting to see how Rio does.
One disappointing part of NPR's report is that countries who do not care for their injured - veterans/other - are not represented at these games.
Paralympics 2012 Open With Record Number of Athletes (Video)
First Posted: Aug 29, 2012 05:55 PM EDT
The Paralympic Games kicked off today in London with an Opening Ceremony led by British physicist Stephen Hawking. The ceremony, called "Enlightenment," features a record 4,200 athletes from 164 National Paralympic Committees, the BBC reported.
The Games are the largest in history and is expected to be a near- or complete sell-out, USA Today reported.
Read more at http://www.latinospost.com/articles/3462/20120829/paralympics-open-with-record-number-of-athletes.htm#r6itJUQjDDolzwxp.99
ALSO:
Paralympics 2012: in numbers
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/paralympic-sport/paralympics-gb/9511388/Paralympics-2012-in-numbers.html
This year's games have had the highest attendance since games began in 1960 - 2.5 million tickets sold.
-NPR, 09/07/12
Paralympics 2012 News stories in photographs
Competing at many of the same London venues as participants in the summer Olympics, more than 4,000 athletes from 164 nations are taking part in the Paralympic Games.
The athletes compete in 20 sports that have various classifications, depending on an athlete’s level of impairment. The Games conclude Sept. 9. -- Lloyd Young
(40 photos total)
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/09/paralympics_2012.html
FRENEY: Eevent Video & Awards Presentations - Women's 50m Freestyle
EVENT
SWIMMING - Women's 50m Freestyle - S7 Victory Ceremony - London 2012 Paralympic Games
Paralympic star Freney inspired by Paton
Date September 5, 2012 - 6:31PM
AAP
Jacqueline Freney stretches out on her way to gold in the 50m freestyle. Photo: Clive Rose
Jacqueline Freney is set to complete her remarkable swimming adventure from nervous youngster to Australia's greatest performer at a Paralympics in London on Thursday.
The 20-year-old from northern NSW equalled Siobhan Paton's national record for the most gold medals at a Games by claiming her sixth title in the S7 50m freestyle on Tuesday night.
Next up is her pet event, the 400m freestyle on Thursday, and a record seventh gold medal looks there for the taking before rounding out her program in the 4x100m medley relay.
"When she first started swimming, she had trouble actually swimming some events at swim meets," said national head coach Brendan Keogh.
"She'd get so nervous, so we've really seen her grow in confidence and you can see that this week."
Freney, who has cerebral palsy diplegia, has used the life-changing experience of meeting her idol Paton following the 2000 Games to turn herself into an unstoppable force in the pool.
"When she came back from the Sydney Paralympics, I was lucky to meet her (in Canberra)," Freney said.
"She brought her six gold medals and that was inspirational for me to get a photo with her."
Paton, who was coached by Freney's grandfather Peter, has been keeping in contact with the young star this week.
"She has been saying 'you can be as great as me' and that has only made for me go quicker," she said.
Now Freney is about to top Paton, who had her career cut short when intellectually disabled sports were punted from the Games before being reintroduced in London.
Keogh put Freney's success down to her ferocious work ethic.
She is coached by her father Peter and has the advantage of the family running swimming pools near her home at Skennars Head, near Ballina.
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Insert: Skennars Head
http://www.tropicalnsw.com.au/aaa_site/album/air/air2.htm
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After winning three minor medals in Beijing, Freney was determined to go one better in London.
However even she has been caught out by her success.
"I was just hoping for one, let alone six," she said.
Freney's parents were told at the age of two by a doctor that she would probably spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair.
They refused to believe that was the case and she has never used a wheelchair.
Her performances have helped the nation's swimmers exceed their haul from Beijing with four days of competition to go.
The nation has collected 11 gold medals at the aquatic centre compared to the nine in China four years ago.
The next target is the 14 gold medals won at the pool in Sydney.
That goal is looking more realistic by the day with plenty more gold medal opportunities on offer for the Australian team.
Ten-time champion Matthew Cowdrey has his two best individual events to come while Freney looks untouchable.
© 2012 AAP
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-sport/paralympic-star-freney-inspired-by-paton-20120905-25d8j.html
Slide Shows ~~ Unstoppable Paralympians
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/picturegalleries/9519944/Unstoppable-Paralympians.html?frame=2328341
Paralympics 2012: Patriotic Prosthetics
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/picturegalleries/9520598/Paralympics-2012-Patriotic-Prosthetics.html?frame=2328612
Paralympics 2012: the greatest celebrations
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/paralympic-sport/9515393/Paralympics-2012-the-greatest-celebrations.html
Love the look of determination of their faces!
Oscar Pistorius stunned as he is beaten into second place by Brazilian Alan Oliveira in T43/44 200m
If you were seeking a name to symbolise, even transcend Paralympic sport, it would be that of Oscar Pistorius. But the great South African had urged spectators at these London Games to focus not on the athletes’ disability, but on their ability, and his own performance offered a stirring support for that clarion call.
VIDEOS, Live or completed: 2012 London Paralympic Games
ParalympicsSportTV
Some videos include several events.
http://www.youtube.com/paralympicsporttv
It’s all a little confusing.
10 shooters earn perfect score of 600 - - -
but it seems that "perfect" is not the winning total score.
The final total is the combination of the qualification and final score.
The competition is won by the shooter who reaches the highest aggregate score (qualification + final, maximum 709.0).
To me it seems like the order of the ”final” and “qualification” are reversed.
As Yogi Berra would say: It's not over til it's over.
Thanks for the Sports beta site.
Chinese one-legged high jumper clear 1.92m world record
Wow! .. "Ten shooters shot a perfect score of 600 in qualifying to equal the world and Paralympic records,
although only eight made it through to the final. The unlucky two to miss out were Jonas Anderson of
Denmark and Bradley Mark of Australia, who didn’t qualify as a result of an inferior central-10 hit count."
tough competition .. Raphael Voltz of France ..
""I know I led for a long time but I'm not a machine,” he said.
I'm a human being and although I know I can always shoot better, I'm content with my silver.""
nice ..
I'm guessing the "inferior central-10 hit count" must be the compactness of the cluster in the bullseye?
This, the best i could find, doesn't directly answer that but
gives more understanding of the scoring in a shooting event ..
How can you beat the world record in shooting?
I'm not expert in the sport of shooting, but if the world record is calculated by the amount of points,
how can you beat a perfect score? You can see the records on the official site for the London Olympics,
and there is no mentioning of time. So can a score of 600 still be beaten? And what's with the 704.8?
http://sports.stackexchange.com/questions/1317/how-can-you-beat-the-world-record-in-shooting
Wheelchair Basketball - AUS versus ESP - LIVE - 2012 London Paralympic Games
Australia 75, Spain 59
Streamed live on Sep 1, 2012 by ParalympicSportTV
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is the global governing body of the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games, and serves as the International Federation for nine sports, for which it supervises and co-ordinates the World Championships and other competitions. The IPC is committed to enabling Paralympic athletes to achieve sporting excellence and to develop sport opportunities for all persons with a disability from the beginner to elite level. In addition, the IPC aims to promote the Paralympic values, which include courage, determination, inspiration and equality.
For further information, please visit http://www.paralympic.org.
Wheelchair Basketball - CAN versus POL - LIVE - 2012 London Paralympic Games
Canada 83, Poland 65
Streamed live on Sep 1, 2012 by ParalympicSportTV
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is the global governing body of the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games, and serves as the International Federation for nine sports, for which it supervises and co-ordinates the World Championships and other competitions. The IPC is committed to enabling Paralympic athletes to achieve sporting excellence and to develop sport opportunities for all persons with a disability from the beginner to elite level. In addition, the IPC aims to promote the Paralympic values, which include courage, determination, inspiration and equality.
No medal for Derek Derenalagi but not bad for a man once declared dead
A soldier who lost both legs to a bomb in Afghanistan fails in the discus but is still a hero to the 80,000 Olympic Stadium crowd
Andy Bull at the Olympic Stadium
guardian.co.uk, Friday 31 August 2012 18.09 EDT
Derek Derenalagi of Great Britain failed to make the final in the men's discus but still got a hero's welcome. Photograph: Julian Finney/Getty Images
Five years, six weeks and one day after Derek Derenalagi was declared dead he stepped out into the Olympic stadium to a hero's welcome from 80,000 fans. They roared him on just as loudly as they did Hannah Cockroft, who won gold in theT34 100m in a Paralympic record of 18.06sec, and Sophia Warner, who came fourth in the T35 200m in a personal best time, and 18-year-old Rhys Jones, eighth in the T37 200m.
Derenalagi did not even make the final of his event, the F57/58 discus. The crowd did not discriminate. His best effort was 39.37m, which is almost four metres down on his personal best. Only the top eight throwers got to take their final three throws and Derenalagi came 11th. Disappointed as he was, he will cope.
Curious as it may seem, there are rules about how to report on these Games. Paralympics GB advises journalists that competitors should be "portrayed as elite athletes first and foremost, rather than people who have overcome great adversity". The understandable worry is that it would be patronising to focus on an athlete's back story. It is better, surely, to treat each as an individual. All of them have their own goals. For Cockroft nothing less than gold would do. As she said herself: "I knew deep down that I could beat all the girls." She was almost a second and a half ahead of the silver medallist, Amy Siemons from the Netherlands.
What Derenalagi has done to get here is so remarkable it deserves to be celebrated, not tiptoed around. He has said himself that his main ambition is to "inspire others", that he believes doing that would mean more than winning a gold medal. "I want to put a smile on someone's face, especially someone who has lost a limb, who thinks they can't do anything. To inspire someone like that would be more rewarding to me than anything."
Derenalagi, 32, lost his legs – they were amputated below the knee – while he was serving with the army in Afghanistan. His Land Rover was hit by an improvised explosive device. The medical staff had given up on him and were about to put him into a body bag when one of them detected a weak pulse. He spent eight days in a coma, three weeks in hospital. Now, with the help of the army's Battle Back rehabilitation program, he is a proud Paralympian.
Five years, six weeks and one day after Derek Derenalagi was declared dead he stepped out into the Olympic stadium to a hero's welcome from 80,000 fans. They roared him on just as loudly as they did Hannah Cockroft, who won gold in theT34 100m in a Paralympic record of 18.06sec, and Sophia Warner, who came fourth in the T35 200m in a personal best time, and 18-year-old Rhys Jones, eighth in the T37 200m.
Derenalagi did not even make the final of his event, the F57/58 discus. The crowd did not discriminate. His best effort was 39.37m, which is almost four metres down on his personal best. Only the top eight throwers got to take their final three throws and Derenalagi came 11th. Disappointed as he was, he will cope.
Curious as it may seem, there are rules about how to report on these Games. Paralympics GB advises journalists that competitors should be "portrayed as elite athletes first and foremost, rather than people who have overcome great adversity". The understandable worry is that it would be patronising to focus on an athlete's back story. It is better, surely, to treat each as an individual. All of them have their own goals. For Cockroft nothing less than gold would do. As she said herself: "I knew deep down that I could beat all the girls." She was almost a second and a half ahead of the silver medallist, Amy Siemons from the Netherlands.
What Derenalagi has done to get here is so remarkable it deserves to be celebrated, not tiptoed around. He has said himself that his main ambition is to "inspire others", that he believes doing that would mean more than winning a gold medal. "I want to put a smile on someone's face, especially someone who has lost a limb, who thinks they can't do anything. To inspire someone like that would be more rewarding to me than anything."
Derenalagi, 32, lost his legs – they were amputated below the knee – while he was serving with the army in Afghanistan. His Land Rover was hit by an improvised explosive device. The medical staff had given up on him and were about to put him into a body bag when one of them detected a weak pulse. He spent eight days in a coma, three weeks in hospital. Now, with the help of the army's Battle Back rehabilitation program, he is a proud Paralympian.
"It was just incredible. As soon as I came out of that tunnel the whole stadium erupted," Davies said. "They didn't know who I was. But I was competing for Great Britain and they just started screaming. And I thought then: 'Wow, it's here, let's go out and do it.'" He reckoned that he had to slow down his technique and "go at 75% of my effort because the crowd was carrying me so much, when I was going at 100% of my effort I couldn't control it. In that atmosphere and with that adrenaline my heart was going through the roof."
Davies had been a swimmer, following his elder brother's lead, and had been on course to compete in Rio 2016. But he decided he wanted to compete at his home Games and went along to a talent identification day in 2005. "Somehow I had a talent for throwing things about." He has deferred his third year of study at university to train full time for these Games, a decision that looks as if it will pay off. His main event is the discus, which takes place on Sunday
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/aug/31/derek-derenalagi-discus-army
Paralympics 2012: GB basketball women branded an 'absolute disgrace'
• Team face a 'tongue lashing' after losing to Australia
• ParalympicsGB women slump to 51-24 defeat
guardian.co.uk, Friday 31 August 2012 12.56 EDT
GB's Caroline MacLean, left, passes the ball over Australia's Kylie Gauci during their wheelchair basketball preliminary match.
Photograph: Suzanne Plunkett/Reuters
Great Britain women's coach Garry Peel was preparing to give his wheelchair basketball team a "lash of the tongue" after branding their performance an "absolute disgrace" in a 51-24 defeat against Australia.
Peel was left stunned as 2008 bronze medallists Australia dominated the game in every department, and held his team to just 21% shooting from the field. The former GB international, a silver medallist at the 1996 Paralympics, was on his way back to the locker room when he stopped to speak to reporters.
"They know what's coming," he said. "They know that's not the way we play. It was an absolute disgrace. They didn't stick to the game plan and if you don't do that then you won't win nothing."
Although both the British men and women lost their opening games, wheelchair basketball was one of the sports to enjoy the biggest public reaction on the first day.
But Peel said he had never seen anything like it from his team before and he was left to wonder if the positive mood was working against them as they felt a pressure to deliver.
"I think the crowd was bad for us today, the crowd were making it worse because you've got their families in there and the girls are imploding," he said.
"They're all tight and tense. There's no aggression. We're playing soft basketball and we'll find out why."
Basketball Coach brands GB display an 'absolute disgrace'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/aug/31/paralympics-2012-basketball-disgrace
Ellie Simmonds smashes world record to claim 400m freestyle gold in thrilling clash
Simmonds smashed old record by five seconds to defend her Paralympics title in a time of 5:19.17
The 17-year-old powered past U.S. swimmer Victoria Arlen with blistering surge in the closing stages of the race
Ecstatic and emotional Ellie said: 'I just went out there and gave it my all.'
Oscar Pistorius clocked a world record 21.30 seconds to win his heat of the T44 200m on his return to London and Paralympic competition tonight
Great Britain now third on Paralympic medal table with nine golds, 16 silvers, and 11 bronzes
By Rebecca Evans, Louise Eccles, Ian Garland and Tom Gardner
PUBLISHED: 06:39 EST, 1 September 2012 | UPDATED: 17:01 EST, 1 September 2012
Swimming sensation Ellie Simmonds smashed the world record to defended her 400m freestyle Paralympics title in a thrilling clash with U.S. rival Victoria Arlen.
The double-gold winner from Beijing four years ago wept as she realised she had powered to victory in a time of 5:19.17 - roared on by the jubilant crowd at the aquatics centre.
Ellie, 17, made her decisive move for glory in the closing stages of the race, having trailed Arlen for more than 300 metres.
Triumph: Ellie Simmonds waves to the crowd which had packed into the aquatics centre to cheer her to a thrilling victory
Jubilation: Ellie Simmonds celebrates smashing a world record to win gold in the women's 400m Freestyle S6 final swimming competition at the Aquatics Center
Much more ...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2196723/Paralympics-2012-Ellie-Simmonds-smashes-world-record-claim-400m-freestyle-gold-thrilling-clash.html
Oscar Pistorius: I proved my doubters wrong with world record in 200m heats at Paralympic Games
Oscar Pistorius told his doubters to "look at the clock" after running a world record on his return to London and Paralympic competition.
Like a blur: Oscar Pistorius blitzes the competition Photo: EPA
By Telegraph Sport
10:22PM BST 01 Sep 2012
CommentsComment
And he then stirred up controversy by questioning whether one of his rival's running blades might give him an advantage.
The South African, who last month became the first amputee sprinter to compete in an Olympics, clocked 21.30 seconds to win his heat of the T44 200m with effortless ease.
His crossover into non-disabled competition has made the Blade Runner a Paralympic icon and he received a huge ovation from the capacity crowd at the Olympic Stadium.
His time was a personal best and Pistorius admitted it took him by surprise.
"I couldn't have hoped for a better return here," he said. "I didn't expect to run a time like this.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/paralympic-sport/9515170/Oscar-Pistorius-I-proved-my-doubters-wrong-with-world-record-in-200m-heats-at-Paralympic-Games.html
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/paralympic-sport/9515067/Oscar-Pistorius-smashes-world-record-in-mens-200m-heats-to-lay-down-marker-at-Paralympic-Games.html?source=olympicnav
Chinese one-legged long jumper
10 shooters earn perfect score of 600
01.09.2012
In an intense day at the Royal Artillery Barracks, the mixed R5 10m air rifle prone SH2 did not disappoint.
Matt Skelhon takes a shot at the Royal Artillery Barracks on Day 3 of the London 2012 Paralympic Games. © • Getty Images
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In the mixed R5 10m air rifle prone SH2, competitors proved that shooting really is a sport of accuracy.
Ten shooters shot a perfect score of 600 in qualifying to equal the world and Paralympic records, although only eight made it through to the final. The unlucky two to miss out were Jonas Anderson of Denmark and Bradley Mark of Australia, who didn’t qualify as a result of an inferior central-10 hit count.
In the final, Vasyl Kovalchuk of Ukraine shot a 10.9 with his final shot to win the gold medal with a Paralympic record score of 706.4.
He said his last shot was decisive.
"At the beginning I wasn't very successful. I mounted the gun, I didn't feel confident. I postponed my shot and then mounted the gun again. I was sure that the shot would be the right one and it was," Kovalchuk said.
Despite the win, Kovalchuk said he still has unfinished business at the Royal Artillery Barracks.
"I am very satisfied, but I have to work once again tomorrow (for the 10m air rifle standing SH2). Today is today, five minutes have gone and tomorrow we still have to work really hard."
Raphael Voltz from France and Great Britain’s James Bevis were tied on 705.9 after 10 shots in the final and entered a shoot-off to see who would win the silver and bronze medals.
Voltz won the silver medal with a 10.5 in the shoot-off and Bevis won the bronze medal shooting 10.4 in the decider.
Voltz said winning a silver medal is a special thing.
"I know I led for a long time but I'm not a machine,” he said.
I'm a human being and although I know I can always shoot better, I'm content with my silver."
World records were also in the shooters sights in the other event on day three, the Mixed R3 10m air rifle prone SH1.
All eight finalists again qualified after equaling the world record score of 600, before the world record was broken in the final.
Cedric Favre of France held his nerve to shoot a world record final score of 706.7 and win the gold medal.
Great Britain’s Matt Skelhon finished second and China’s Zhang Ciuping won the bronze medal.
Favre said it was very special to see his country’s flag fly.
“It’s my first Paralympic Games so it’s superb,” he said. “I’ve done my training every day and that went well.
“I just tried to stay concentrated right until the last moment.”
Skelhon said he was impressed by the competition.
"I have never seen so many 600s to qualify for a final, but the standard of the sport is getting higher and hopefully the profile of the sport will be higher,” he said.
"I put in everything that I had to get the gold, but my seventh shot, which I scored a 10.2, came back to haunt me."
The shooting competition at the London 2012 Paralympic Games is scheduled to start again at the Royal Artillery Barracks at 9:00 on Sunday (2 September).
http://www.paralympic.org/news/10-shooters-earn-perfect-score-600
World Class Paralympian OKSANA BROWN: Pain and Elegance
============================
She had a childhood out of Dickens and rose to be a world-class Paralympian. What propelled her to greatness?
By Katya Cengel
Photography by Simon Bruty
Southwest Airlines Spirit Magazine
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Oksana Masters
Oksana Masters was adopted at the age of 7 years old, from an orphanage in the Ukraine. She is a bilateral above knee amputee as a result of birth deformities from radiation poisoning inuterio. At the age of 13 she began rowing. Oksana holds many first place medals over the years in adaptive rowing, including ten gold medals from the Bayada Regatta. She competed twice at the Head of the Hooch with a first place finishes as well. Notably, Oksana was the first adaptive rower in the Indiana Head of the Eagle where she competed in the open women single race and won.
She also rowed in the Head of the Ohio in the 2x adaptive division and finished second against slide seat rowers. In 2009 she set a world record at the CRASH B Sprints World Indoor Rowing Championship with a time of 4:27. With her current rowing partner Rob Jones, they rowed the Head of the Anacostia achieving a first place win. Oksana is an amazing young woman who has lived through and achieved more than many can even imagine. Through rowing, Oksana finds peace and healing on the water as well as strives for her dream of competing in the Paralympics.
[. . . ]
http://www.spiritmag.com/features/article/oksana/
VIDEO:
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Yes...and I think the paralympic games will give people the exposure they deserve to show they are just like you/me...we ALL have a handicap - some are just more visible than others.
Judo Women's 52kg Gold Medal Contest - Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games
Peg, if you mean at all the feeling i sometimes when eating have, when thoughts of
so many so worse off and in refugee camps et al creep in .. then i understand totally ..
Photos: Best of the 2012 London Paralympics, August 31, 2012
Posted Aug 31, 2012
23 Photos
http://photos.denverpost.com/2012/08/31/photos-best-of-the-2012-london-paralympics-august-31-2012/#name%20here
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I think most probably give it their best and train as hard as the regular Olympians.
Even if one doesn't get a medal, there is the accomplishment of competing in an Paralympics.
theguardian ~~ paralympics2012
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/paralympics-2012
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