Tuesday, September 28, 2004 9:03:43 PM
Powerful moments stir emotions at Paralympic Games
Tue Sep 28, 2:04 PM ET
AFP Features
ATHENS (AFP) - As the Athens Paralympics drew to a close 1,001 moments, each more poignant and powerful than the last, rise to the surface in the search for the defining image of these unforgettable Games.
A journalist sifting through them is caught between competing directives.
The nearly 4,000 elite disabled athletes who competed here in 19 sports wanted to be recognized -- win or lose -- for their sporting achievements: "focus on the sport, not the disability" was the official refrain.
Yet most media professionals arrived in the Greek capital with orders to mine the "human interest" angle, to tell moving stories of triumph over adversity.
In the end, though, these two visions were complementary.
So what were the candidates for that defining moment?
Perhaps it is blind runner Henry Wanyoike of Kenya, fresh from breaking his own world record in the 10,000 meter race, answering journalists' questions while fiddling absent-mindedly with the tether that connects him at that moment and on the track with his soul-mate and sighted shadow-runner Joseph Kibunja Gachui.
Kenyan Henry Wanyoike(R) and his guide in the 5000m men (T11, blind) at the third International Paralympic Committee Athletics World Championship in Villeneuve-d'Ascq
(AFP/File/Francois Lo Presti)
Born in the same village a stone's throw apart, fate brought them together when Joseph was so inspired by Henry's victory in the Sydney Paralympics in 2000 that he decided, against the odds, to become his guide even though he had never run a race in his life.
Or it might be the 100-meter heat in which 14-year-old Mareena Karim of Afghanistan (news - web sites) took 18.85 agonizingly long seconds to complete the race, coming in dead last, before bursting into tears in the arms of a teammate.
The very fact she competed was a double miracle: just getting here from her
Or there is Spanish swimmer Xavier Torres climbing out of the pool after taking silver in an individual medley. Torres is missing both hands and his right forearm, and both his legs have been amputated above the knee. Even with his residual limbs, he can walk. And oh my, can he swim.
But here's the moment: after he got out of the pool, looking like a statue of a Greek god ravaged by time, he slipped on a pair of artificial legs and strode away, in every sense, six feet tall.
One thinks, also, of 21-year-old swimmer Doramitzi Gonzalez, also an amputee, on the phone with Mexican President Vincente Fox after one of her three gold medals. "Mr. President," she had the courage to say after graciously accepting his congratulations, "do not forget that we are Mexicans too."
Then there is Henrik Jorgen Jorgensen of Denmark, who excels in what is surely the sport least loved by journalists at these Games: boccia, a Paralympic variant of petanque in which competitors try to position steel balls on a dirt surface.
Beset with cerebral palsy due to a lack of oxygen at birth, Jorgensen has very limited use of his hands and arms and actually throws the steel balls -- nestled against his chest in outwardly-facing cupped hands -- with his body. He arcs his back over the rear of his wheelchair, looking skyward, and launches the ball like a human catapult. It usually lands within an inch or two of its intended target.
And how could one forget the blistering speed of South Africa's 17-year-old war-torn country was supremely difficult. One can only imagine how she felt when organizers told her upon arrival, before reversing their decision, that her disability -- she lost half of one foot and all the toes on her other as an infant -- was "not severe enough" to qualify for competition.
Oscar Pistorius, mounted on two prosthetic legs, as he pulverizes the world record in the 200 meter dash for amputees in a time within a few tenths of a second of the fastest able-bodied athletes his age.
Finally, though, one thinks of another moment, outside the stadium and away from the competition. It is an intimate moment, and must remain anonymous.
Two young athletes side-by-side in their wheelchairs, facing in opposite direction, as if on a love seat. It is a sparkling Athens night, the competition is over, the crowds have gone home.
The athletes embrace, a lover's embrace, the most natural moment in the world.
Tue Sep 28, 2:04 PM ET
AFP Features
ATHENS (AFP) - As the Athens Paralympics drew to a close 1,001 moments, each more poignant and powerful than the last, rise to the surface in the search for the defining image of these unforgettable Games.
A journalist sifting through them is caught between competing directives.
The nearly 4,000 elite disabled athletes who competed here in 19 sports wanted to be recognized -- win or lose -- for their sporting achievements: "focus on the sport, not the disability" was the official refrain.
Yet most media professionals arrived in the Greek capital with orders to mine the "human interest" angle, to tell moving stories of triumph over adversity.
In the end, though, these two visions were complementary.
So what were the candidates for that defining moment?
Perhaps it is blind runner Henry Wanyoike of Kenya, fresh from breaking his own world record in the 10,000 meter race, answering journalists' questions while fiddling absent-mindedly with the tether that connects him at that moment and on the track with his soul-mate and sighted shadow-runner Joseph Kibunja Gachui.
Kenyan Henry Wanyoike(R) and his guide in the 5000m men (T11, blind) at the third International Paralympic Committee Athletics World Championship in Villeneuve-d'Ascq
(AFP/File/Francois Lo Presti)
Born in the same village a stone's throw apart, fate brought them together when Joseph was so inspired by Henry's victory in the Sydney Paralympics in 2000 that he decided, against the odds, to become his guide even though he had never run a race in his life.
Or it might be the 100-meter heat in which 14-year-old Mareena Karim of Afghanistan (news - web sites) took 18.85 agonizingly long seconds to complete the race, coming in dead last, before bursting into tears in the arms of a teammate.
The very fact she competed was a double miracle: just getting here from her
Or there is Spanish swimmer Xavier Torres climbing out of the pool after taking silver in an individual medley. Torres is missing both hands and his right forearm, and both his legs have been amputated above the knee. Even with his residual limbs, he can walk. And oh my, can he swim.
But here's the moment: after he got out of the pool, looking like a statue of a Greek god ravaged by time, he slipped on a pair of artificial legs and strode away, in every sense, six feet tall.
One thinks, also, of 21-year-old swimmer Doramitzi Gonzalez, also an amputee, on the phone with Mexican President Vincente Fox after one of her three gold medals. "Mr. President," she had the courage to say after graciously accepting his congratulations, "do not forget that we are Mexicans too."
Then there is Henrik Jorgen Jorgensen of Denmark, who excels in what is surely the sport least loved by journalists at these Games: boccia, a Paralympic variant of petanque in which competitors try to position steel balls on a dirt surface.
Beset with cerebral palsy due to a lack of oxygen at birth, Jorgensen has very limited use of his hands and arms and actually throws the steel balls -- nestled against his chest in outwardly-facing cupped hands -- with his body. He arcs his back over the rear of his wheelchair, looking skyward, and launches the ball like a human catapult. It usually lands within an inch or two of its intended target.
And how could one forget the blistering speed of South Africa's 17-year-old war-torn country was supremely difficult. One can only imagine how she felt when organizers told her upon arrival, before reversing their decision, that her disability -- she lost half of one foot and all the toes on her other as an infant -- was "not severe enough" to qualify for competition.
Oscar Pistorius, mounted on two prosthetic legs, as he pulverizes the world record in the 200 meter dash for amputees in a time within a few tenths of a second of the fastest able-bodied athletes his age.
Finally, though, one thinks of another moment, outside the stadium and away from the competition. It is an intimate moment, and must remain anonymous.
Two young athletes side-by-side in their wheelchairs, facing in opposite direction, as if on a love seat. It is a sparkling Athens night, the competition is over, the crowds have gone home.
The athletes embrace, a lover's embrace, the most natural moment in the world.
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