20 Paralympic Athletes to Watch at London 2012 |
 |
 |
| Wednesday, 29 August 2012 14:43 | |||
|
FROM Australia to Great Britain, South Africa to the U.S., TIME takes you around the globe to meet the compelling and inspiring athletes competing at the London Paralympics. Pal SzekeresWheelchair Fencing, Hungary Hungarian wheelchair fencing athlete Pal Szekeres poses during a training session at the 2011 World Fencing Championships in Catania on Oct. 10, 2011. Pix: GIUSEPPE CACACE / AFP /Getty Images
Tatyana McFaddenWheelchair Racing, U.S. Tatyana McFadden of the United States competes in the Women's 1500m T54 final during day seven of the IPC Athletics Championships at QE II Park on Jan. 28, 2011 in Christchurch, New Zealand. Pix: Getty Images
McFadden developed strong arms out of necessity. Born with an underdeveloped spinal cord that left her paralyzed below the waist, she spent the first six years of her life in a Russian orphanage. The facility didn’t have a wheelchair, so McFadden depended on her arms to get around. An American woman adopted her in 1994, and nine years later McFadden, then 15, became the youngest member of the U.S. Paralympic track and field team in Athens. She won a silver medal in the 100m and a bronze in the 200m, and in Beijing she picked up four more medals. Now 23 years old, she will contest five wheelchair-racing events in London: the 100m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, and marathon.
Kelly CartwrightTrack and Field, Australia Kelly Cartwright of the VIS competes in the Womens Long Jump Ambulant during day one of the Australian Athletics Championships at Lakeside Stadium on April 13, 2012 in Melbourne. Pix: Getty Images
As a teenager Cartwright was a promising netball player who hoped to pursue the sport indefinitely. But at the age of 15 she learned that she had cancer in her right leg and that doctors would have to amputate the limb. Unable to play her chosen game, she turned to the track. Success came slowly. According to the Australian Paralympic Committee’s official bio for Cartwright, “her proudest moment was running for the first time with her proper running prosthesis without falling over” in 2007. A year later she finished sixth in the 100m sprint at the Paralympic Games in Beijing, and she subsequently set the world record in the 100m, 200m and long jump events in her leg amputee classification. Outside of athletics she enjoys hiking – she climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in 2009 – and spends time with her Burmese cat, who also underwent an amputation.
Peter NorfolkWheelchair Tennis, Great Britain Peter Norfolk of Great Britain plays a forehand in his match against Jamie Burdekin of Great Britain during the Wheelchair Tennis test event for London 2012 Olympics at Eton Manor, May 4, 2012 in London. Pix: Getty Images
In 1979 a motorbike accident robbed Norfolk of the use of his legs. Then in 2000, following complications during spinal surgery, he lost full use of his right arm and shoulder. Since then Norfolk has become a legend of Paralympic sports. In Athens he won a gold medal in the Quad Singles (that’s tennis for athletes with quadriplegia) and a silver in the Quad Doubles. In Beijing he won gold for a second time in singles, and a bronze in doubles. Known affectionately as “The Quadfather,” he now spends much of the year traveling on the wheelchair tennis circuit. “I don’t always see my children as much as I want to, and I’ve missed some family affairs,” he recently told Time Out London. “But it is still worth the commitment.”
Natalia PartykaTable Tennis, Poland Natalia Partyka of Poland serves against Mie Skov of Denmark during their Women's Singles Table Tennis match on Day 1 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at ExCeL on July 28, 2012 in London. Pix: Getty Images
According to the IPC, most table tennis players use their free arm to serve and to maintain balance. Natalia Partyka, who was born without a right hand and forearm, doesn’t have that luxury. Even so the 23-year old table tennis player chases down balls with the speed and precision of the world’s best able-bodied players. She made her Paralympic debut in Sydney at the age of 11. In Athens she won a gold medal as an individual and a silver medal as part of Poland’s team. She earned another gold and silver in the same events in Beijing. Besides climbing to World No. 1 in the Paralympic rankings, she’s also broken into the top 50 among Olympic table tennis players. The mental strength required in Paralympic tennis may give her an edge over some able-bodied competitors. As she said in an interview with the International Paralympic Table Tennis Committee in 2008: “Disabled players have to think more and find a good way to win a point because many of them can’t move so fast.”
Lee PearsonEquestrian, Great Britain Great Britain's Para-Equestrian Dressage team member and London 2012 hopeful Lee Pearson with Gentleman at his stables during a media day in Cheddleton, Staffordshire. Pix: PA Wire via AP
In a short film made for Channel 4, the British network broadcasting the Paralympics, equestrian Lee Pearson described himself as “the disabled James Bond.” His tricks and secrets on the saddle have helped him earn nine gold medals at the Paralympics – three in Sydney, three in Athens, and three in Beijing. But unlike Bond, Pearson lives his life in the open: he is one of only two openly gay Paralympians competing in London. Pearson, who won the 2003 British National Championships competing against able-bodied riders, is also known as a gentleman. In Athens he gave his winner’s flowers to another rider whose horse had died during the competition.
Esther VergeerWheelchair Tennis, The Netherlands Esther Vergeer of the Netherlands serves against Marjolein Buis of the Netherlands during the 2011 U.S. Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on Sept. 8, 2011 in New York City. Pix: Getty Images
Esther Vergeer is the Steffi Graf of wheelchair tennis. In singles she has won 21 Grand Slam titles and three Paralympic gold medals. She has also won more than 450 matches in a row – a streak that stretches back nearly a decade to January 30, 2003. “I’ve never felt comfortable calling myself the best or the most dominant athlete,” Vergeer told TIME ahead of the 2011 Championships at Wimbledon. “But I suppose I’ve stopped worrying about my record because it does seem pretty unlikely that anyone will match it, at least in the foreseeable future.” Vergeer lost the use of her legs when she was eight years old as the result of surgery meant to correct a spinal defect.
Terezinha GuilherminaTrack and Field, Brazil Brazil's Terezinha Guilhermina, bottom, and her guide compete during the women's 400m T-12 for the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games held in Beijing, Sept. 11, 2008. Pix: AP
Blind runner Terezinha Guilhermina was already a Paralympic star ahead of last year’s World Championships. She took the bronze in the 400m at the Paralympic Games in Athens, and then followed up in Beijing with a gold in the 200m, a silver in the 100m, and a bronze in the 400m. Her family’s poverty may have spurred her to even greater success. According to her official biography, she went to her father’s house after the Beijing Games to show him her medals, and he had to hold them up to candlelight because he didn’t have electricity. She pledged to buy him a new house – and her subsequent earnings allowed her to do so. At the 2011 World Championships, she won four gold medals and set world records in the 200m (24.98s) and 100m (12.13 seconds) races. Six months later she reduced her 100m time to 12.04s. Last November she said publicly that she would break the 12-second barrier soon. "I’m fine physically and will improve…breaking my own records,” she said. “I’m wearing the shirt of Brazil and I will honor that privilege."
Jerome SingletonTrack and Field, U.S. Paralympic sprinter Jerome Singleton at the 2012 Team USA Media Summit in Dallas, May 15, 2012. Pix: AP
Oscar PistoriusTrack and Field, South Africa Oscar Pistorius of South Africa competes in the Men's 400m Semi Final on Day 9 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium on August 5, 2012 in London. Pix: Getty Images
The world-record holder in the 100m, 200m and 400m races, Oscar Pistorius is the world’s most famous Paralympian. Born without calve muscles, he had both of his legs amputated when he was 11 months old. As a teenager the 25-year old played rugby, and only turned to running in 2004 as part of therapy to mend an injured knee. Within months Pistorius, then 17, had bagged two medals at the 2004 Paralympics: a bronze in the 100m and a gold in the 200m. His time in the 100m dash was only 1.31 seconds behind the winner of the Olympic 100m race. Although he lost the 100m final to Singleton at the 2011 Paralympic World Championships, Pistorius will be riding high from the recent Summer Games. At London 2012 the “Blade Runner” became the first double leg amputee to compete in the Olympic Games. He made the semi-finals of the 400m, and participated in the final of the 4 x 400m relay.
Sarai GasconSwimming, Spain Spain's Sarai Gascon Moreno competes in the 26th International German championship for swimmers with an impairment at the swimming and diving arena SSE in Berlin, Germany, June 30, 2012. Pix: DPA/ LANDOV
Born without hands or a left forearm, Sarai Gascon took to the pool like a fish to water. She began competing internationally at the age of 9, and by 15 she had won a silver medal at the Beijing Paralympics. She made an even bigger splash at the 2011 European Championships where she won seven medals—including gold in the 100m breaststroke, 100m butterfly, and the 50m and 100m freestyle races. But she did so in the absence of South Africa’s legendary Paralympic swimmer Natalie du Toit. Their showdown during the 200m individual medley on Sep. 6 promises to be a highlight of the Games.
Natalie du ToitSwimming, South Africa South Africa's Natalie Du Toit dives during a training session in the Guadalquivir river in Seville, May 5, 2008. Pix: AP
Jonas JacobssonShooting, Sweden Sweden's Jonas Jacobsson shoots during the final for the mixed R-6 50 mm Free Rifle Prone SH1 Shooting competition at the Paralympics in Beijing, Sept. 12, 2008. Pix: AP
Jonas Jacobsson is not a household name internationally, but Swedes count him among their country’s sporting heroes. The 47-year-old, who has been paralyzed from the waist down since birth, is the second-most decorated Paralympian in history. His treasure trove from the Games includes 16 gold, two silver and nine bronze medals. He won his first medals at the 1980 Paralympic Games in Arnhem, the Netherlands as a 15-year old. The thrill of the chase is no less exciting 32 years later. “I’ve managed to be able to get at least one gold at every Paralympics I’ve attended,” he told the International Paralympic Committee ahead of the Swedish trials in February. “It’s eight in a row, and I want to make that nine in a row.”
Tom AggarRowing, Great Britain Great Britain Paralympian Tom Aggar in action during the first day of the 2012 Henley Royal Regatta on June 27, 2012 in Henley-on-Thames, England. Pix: Getty Images
In 2005 Aggar was a rugby player at the University of Warwick. During an evening out with friends, he slipped eight feet onto a concrete slab. He had broken his back, damaged his spinal cord, and lost the use of his legs. Aggar took up rowing as part of his rehabilitation in 2007 and has never been beaten. He won the Paralympic gold in Beijing in the single sculls event, and is keen to repeat that feat in London. “I’m so proud to have been selected into such a strong GB team,” he told the BBC in June. “I’m under no illusions that it will be tougher competition than Beijing but competing in a home Games is a great opportunity.”
Jessica LongSwimming, U.S. Jessica Long of the U.S. competes in the Women's 50m Freestyle - S8 at the National Aquatics Center during day eight of the 2008 Paralympic Games on Sept.14, 2008 in Beijing. Pix: China Photos/ Getty Images
Adopted from a Siberian orphanage at the age of 13 months, Long was born with no ankles or heels. Five months after she arrived in Baltimore, doctors amputated both of her legs below the knee so that she could learn to walk with prosthetic limbs. She learned to swim in her grandparents pool by pretending she was a mermaid. At the 2004 Games in Athens, Long—just 12 at the time—won three gold medals. She added four more golds, a silver, and a bronze in Beijing. She currently holds 20 world records and three Paralympic records. In 2006, after breaking 18 world records—including in the 100m freestyle and 100m butterfly—she became the first paralympic athlete to win the James E. Sullivan Award, given to the best amateur athlete in the United States.
Antonio TenorioJudo, Brazil Antonio Tenorio da Silva of brazilian national team of Judo, during a training session before the Parapan American Games Guadalajara 2011 at Code Stadium, Nov. 11, 2011 in Guadalajara. Pix: Buda Mendes/ LatinContent/ Getty Images
Antonio Tenorio only knows gold. The 41-year old judoka has stood atop the Paralympic podium on four consecutive occasions, beginning in Atlanta in 1996. As a seven-year-old Tenorio lost vision in his left eye following a slingshot accident. Six years later, an eye infection led to a detached retina in his right eye, rendering him completely blind. London will not be Tenorio’s last Games. The Brazilian Paralympic Committee has already invited him to compete at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Chen LiangliangGoalball, China Chen Liangliang of China competes in the men goalball between China and Lithuania match at Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium during day eight of the 2008 Paralympic Games on Sept. 14, 2008 in Beijing. Pix: Guang Niu/ Getty Images
Chen Liangliang led China’s Paralympic goalball team to gold at the Beijing Paralympics. Developed after World War II by doctors hoping to improve the sight of visually impaired veterans, the sport is similar to handball. At the Paralympics a team can have six athletes, though only three may be on the court at any given time. Players attempt to hurl a ball, which has a bell inside, into the opponent’s goal—a skill Chen has mastered.
Kurt FearnleyWheelchair Racing, Australia Kurt Fearnley of Australia celebrates after winning the GIO Oz Day 10k Wheelchair Marathon as part of celebrations for Australia Day on Jan. 26, 2012 in Sydney. Pix: Getty Images
Born without a lower spine, 31-year old Kurt Fearnley has always been on the move. As a child he raced his wheelchair around the school track and played in the local rugby league. And as a 28-year-old he crawled the Kokoda Trail—a treacherous track that snakes 60 miles through the mountains and rain forests of Papua New Guinea. His record as a competitive wheelchair racer is unmatched. Fearnley has won 31 of the 43 marathons he has entered, and has captured nine medals—three of them gold—at the past three Paralympics. In London he’ll compete in the 800m, 1,500m, 5,000m, 4 x 400m relay and marathon events. His biggest test will come in the marathon, where he’ll face Great Britain’s David Weir, who has won the London marathon on six occasions. Weir will have home crowd support, but Fearnley has momentum. He won the gold in the marathon event at the Athens and Beijing Paralympics.
Sarah StoreyCycling, Great Britain Sarah Storey of the Great Britain team celebrates after winning the gold medal during the UCI Cycling World Cup Women's Team Pursuit final at Alcides Nieto Patino velodrome on Dec. 1, 2011 in California. Pix: AFP/ Getty Images
Sarah Storey has a habit of winning—no matter what the sport. Born without a left hand, she won two gold medals at the 1992 Paralympics in Barcelona. She wasjust 14 years old. After winning a total of ten more medals in Atlanta, Sydney and Athens, she seemed a lock for more swimming success in Beijing. But several months after the Games a series of ear infections forced her out of the water. “When my ears were bad in 2005 and I didn’t have the opportunity to be in the pool training, I used a bike to stay fit,” she told the BBC last July. “I suppose you could say it got out of hand. By the time my ear infections had gone I was a world record holder on the track.” She won gold in both the time trial and individual pursuit events in Beijing.
Shirlene CoelhoTrack and Field, Brazil Shirlene Coelho of Brazil competes in Women's Javelin Throw - F37/38 Final during the 2011 Parapan American Games at Telmex Athletics Stadium on Nov. 15, 2011 in Guadalajara, Mexico. Pix: Buda Mendes/ LatinContent/ Getty Images
Despite being diagnosed with cerebral palsy as a child, Coelho took up soccer—Brazil’s national sport—and cycling. But six years ago, at the age of 24, she decided to try out track and field events. In Beijing she hurled the javelin 35.95m (118) feet to claim the silver. Now she has her eye on gold. She won first place at last year’s world championships, and also claimed a silver medal in the shot put.
-- TIME.com
|
