Paralympics 2012 Daily Diary

Silvio.Dante

Maryanne40 wrote: »

I had that exact same feeling too and almost wished I was British that night!! Looking at the wheechair basketball now (I did play that for a couple of years but not till I was already too old) and it is a fantastic game...one that is almost better to look at than the able bodied version.

the Whheelchair basketball has blown me away. I wasn't expecting to overly enjoy it and its fantastic to watch...:)

Silvio.Dante

The medal haul just keeps comng. They're an inspiration to us all but most particularly they should inspire all Irish Athletes who just took part in the Olympics and future competitors in Rio and beyond. Paralympics is showing the OCI the way to future success...

Truman Burbank

Maryanne40 wrote: »

Hugely proud of the paralympic team....congrats to the cyclists today and now the equestrian folk too. I'm an amputee since I was a teenager....really wish all these opportunities existed back in the 80's. Gave up sport completely and sorry now....but it's great to see attitudes changing and times moving on.

Thanks for your story. You're right - huge advancements. Did you see the C4 taped interview with one of Team GB's women's sprinters last night? Stefanie Reid I think. They might repeat it as she's more competition to come. She explains about her life, her sport and her 5 prosthetic limbs - sprinting, running, swimming, everyday, and her favourite 3" heels (!!) - take home point thou was that she wouldn't change a thing. The C4 website is great with profiles and videos.

KevIRL

Silvio.Dante wrote: »

the Whheelchair basketball has blown me away. I wasn't expecting to overly enjoy it and its fantastic to watch...:)

They dont call it Murderball for nothing

Truman Burbank

KevIRL wrote: »

Those equestrian medals have caught me by surprise, an unexpected bonus! Well done all concerned.

Only went out for 2 hours and missed 2 medals :eek:

Zaph

KevIRL wrote: »

They dont call it Murderball for nothing

That's because murderball is wheelchair rugby

F.R.

:eek: Pistorius beaten

Dan man

Never get sick of seeing Ireland up near the top of a medals standing!! I've checked it about 5 times in the last half hour even though I know the medal situation!! Could get used to this!

Maryanne40

OOOH....very controversial what Pistorious said......could well be true but not the right time to say it.

The_Kew_Tour

Maryanne40 wrote: »

OOOH....very controversial what Pistorious said......could well be true but not the right time to say it.

What did he say?

Maryanne40

Truman Burbank......I did see the interview with her. Yeah, I have 2 legs....one everyday one that I can do anything in....even run (at 51 ) and one I call my 'Gucci' leg which looks the part but is quite heavy and I can't walk terribly far in it and certainly not run. They don't come cheap though the Gucci ones...cost me 11,000 euro!!

Stef Reid did great in the long jump....looking forward to seeing her go in the 100 metres tonight.

baalthor

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

What did he say?

He said Oliveira's blades were too long ..

Maryanne40

The Kew Tour...he said the guy who won..(who is a double amp like himself) had his blades too long and so had a longer stride..... and something about it being impossible to make up 8 metres in the last few metres of a 100m. He said he had brought it up at the IPC but it was ignored. Made him sound like a bad loser....which I'm sorry about because I've spent the summer defending his right to appear in the regular Olympics all summer long.

Truman Burbank

Maryanne40 wrote: »

Truman Burbank......I did see the interview with her. Yeah, I have 2 legs....one everyday one that I can do anything in....even run (at 51 ) and one I call my 'Gucci' leg which looks the part but is quite heavy and I can't walk terribly far in it and certainly not run. They don't come cheap though the Gucci ones...cost me 11,000 euro!!

Stef Reid did great in the long jump....looking forward to seeing her go in the 100 metres tonight.

You can't put a price on fashion. The very thought of running gives me chestpain, you deserve The Gucci!

Truman Burbank

Dan man wrote: »

Never get sick of seeing Ireland up near the top of a medals standing!! I've checked it about 5 times in the last half hour even though I know the medal situation!! Could get used to this!

Another Greedy-Gut :cool:

Maryanne40

Lol...Truman....Yeah, I figured after 30 odd years as an amp I deserved it too.

Good race there, the 100 metres....Stef Reid looked tired...the younger British girl came in faster.

I can't believe I am saying this but I am beginning to think that maybe blades do give some advantage..... it seems in every race that double leg amputees are if not beating the single amps, then at least finishing much quicker.....

Silvio.Dante

Very sour grapes from Pistorius...:(

The_Kew_Tour

Maryanne40 wrote: »

The Kew Tour...he said the guy who won..(who is a double amp like himself) had his blades too long and so had a longer stride..... and something about it being impossible to make up 8 metres in the last few metres of a 100m. He said he had brought it up at the IPC but it was ignored. Made him sound like a bad loser....which I'm sorry about because I've spent the summer defending his right to appear in the regular Olympics all summer long.

well if officials think its ok then it is bad form.

Maryanne40

Delighted for Dave Weir

An enthralling race.(Also can't quite believe how much I want the Brits to win when there is nobody Irish in the race.)

Truman Burbank

Maryanne40 wrote: »

Delighted for Dave Weir

An enthralling race.(Also can't quite believe how much I want the Brits to win when there is nobody Irish in the race.)

So much for a relaxing Sunday evening. That was some passionate race commentary that. Gripping race.

endswell

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Maryanne40 wrote: »

The Kew Tour...he said the guy who won..(who is a double amp like himself) had his blades too long and so had a longer stride..... and something about it being impossible to make up 8 metres in the last few metres of a 100m. He said he had brought it up at the IPC but it was ignored. Made him sound like a bad loser....which I'm sorry about because I've spent the summer defending his right to appear in the regular Olympics all summer long.

well if officials think its ok then it is bad form.

he should just get new longer ones himself. like a tennis player with a wooden racket complaining about graphite

Skid

Good to see Channel 4 have added some extra Paralympics coverage for next week

http://www.digitalspy.ie/media/news/a403254/channel-4-extends-paralympics-coverage.html

sporting events that were due to be shown on sister channel More4 in the late afternoon will now be moved to Channel 4 for the duration of the Games.

Channel 4 will broadcast daily Paralympics coverage spanning almost 16 hours, beginning at 7am and ending at 11.15pm, with just a half-hour break for the Channel 4 News at 7pm.

Quite right too - Hollyoaks should play second fiddle to the Paralympics every time!

Pherekydes

I don't know what Pistorius was bleating about. He ran faster than the Brazilian yesterday.

So what ridiculous times, Oscar?

Silvio.Dante

Pherekydes wrote: »

I don't know what Pistorius was bleating about. He ran faster than the Brazilian yesterday.

So what ridiculous times, Oscar?

He's probably missing out on a gold medal bonus from one of his many, many sponsors...:rolleyes:

PeterL1

The Irish flag flown for the 2 swimming pool Paralympics Gold Medals for Ireland did not look right to me. In Katie Taylor's Olympic Medal Ceremony, the flag hung like we see it on a normal flagpole; but the stripes on the Paralympics "Irish tricolour" seem too long as if they are going the wrong way (like a different country?) and the flag hangs downwards. No-one else seems to have noticed: it was the same tonight.
PeterL1

Dan man

Medal Watch.... A quiet day tomorrow in terms of Irish competitors in action, but don't let that fool you into thinking we'll get a chance to get our breath back!! Surely we'll be celebrating yet another gold medal tomorrow night when golden boy Michael McKillop goes in the T37 1,500m....he is the outstanding favourite in this event, even more so than the 800m which he won comfortably.


Michael McKillop crossing the line in first place after 800m final:



Michael with his Olympic gold medal:



Irish equestrian rider and team bronze medallist Eilish Byrne is in with a chance of adding to her medal tally in tomorrow's Grade II Individual Freestyle Test....she was 5th in the Individual Championship test on Saturday so with a bit of luck she'll be battling it out near the top of the standings again in the Freestyle event.
By the way, Ireland are in 13th position on the medals table!!


Eilish Byrne in action:

robinph

Maryanne40 wrote: »

I can't believe I am saying this but I am beginning to think that maybe blades do give some advantage..... it seems in every race that double leg amputees are if not beating the single amps, then at least finishing much quicker.....

In the longer distance the double amputees will have an advantage as they don't get lactic acid in the leg, part of the decision over Pistorius in the Olympics and World Champs was over how much of an advantage that would be over the other runners. The double amputees will start a lot slower than anyone else though and it takes longer to get up to speed.

Richard Whitehead, who won gold in another category 200m, came from about 6th at the end of the bend and went on to win by a massive distance. He is above the knee so is even slower to get started and up to speed. He's overtaken me on marathons before and you have to give him a wide bearth due to the stride.

Pisco Sour

Silvio.Dante wrote: »

The medal haul just keeps comng. They're an inspiration to us all but most particularly they should inspire all Irish Athletes who just took part in the Olympics and future competitors in Rio and beyond. Paralympics is showing the OCI the way to future success...

That's a bit unfair. You can't compare the Olympics to the Paralympics. Treat each of them seperately. There's more events and less competitors in the paralympics than the Olympics so obviously we'll win more medals. Also not every country treats disability in sport as well as we do. How come we aren't seeing African Americans and Jamaicans winning gold medals? In fact USA not being at the top of the medals table (or even close for that matter) is a bit disappointing. They clearly lack the attitude that the Brits and ourselves have towards the Paralympics.

Our Olympians did great, and now the Paralympians are doing likewise. No need for comparisons in something that can't be compared.

Maryanne40

Peter L...didn't notice he flag but we'll get a chance to look out for that again this week hopefully

Robin....I have heard that about the lactic acid alright but as an amputee myself I also have experienced the rubbing/blistering that comes so easily on the bottom of a stump....which is NOT as resilient as the sole of a foot...so I would have expected a double amp to have more trouble in that regard. I did see Richard Whitehead's race and it was incredible how he came through from so far back...I also noticed his swing through....I can well imagine that you wouldn't want to be running anywhere near him! Great guy though.

Maryanne40

Pisco Sour....some truth indeed in all the points you raise...but we should be extremely proud of our Paralympians and there is no doubt they WON'T get the attention the others got.

Shocking how (relatively) poorly the US are doing...and they have the money to spend surely. And for such a long time they led the way in disability rights etc. On the other hand good to see the Chinese take the paras seriously and hopefully people with disabilities there are beginning to have an easier time in terms of human rights and so n.