Canada and Germany dominate Whistler Mountain at the Vancouver [...]
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The first day of Paralympic competition saw the U.S. and Korea battle against each other in two sports, wheelchair curling and sled hockey, with Team USA getting the best of the Koreans in both [...] Our friends at Wheelchair Sports Federation are blogging from the 2010 Paralympic Games in Vancouver and have graciously permitted us to share their stories and photos with Action readers. For more of their posts and pictures, go to the link above. You can also follow them on Twitter. | SPORTS ROUNDUP Jess Markt (in white) brought his knowledge of wheelchair basketball to Afghanistan. By Tom Scott In late October 2009, Jess Markt, a 33-year-old Oregon native with a T6-7 spinal cord injury arrived at Kabul International Airport in Afghanistan’s capital city after an exhausting 30-hour journey from New York. Built in the early 1960s during a period of modernization, the airport was now primarily used by U.S. Armed Forces and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in the ongoing War in Afghanistan. Markt’s grogginess melted away as international security forces with their automatic rifles at the ready stared with curiosity [...] | Sports Roundup By Tom Scott U.S. Paralympians share their perspectives on living with disabilities and competing in the 2010 Winter Games Just as accessibility has come a long way in the past decade, so has camping. Here are some tips for campers of all [...] | SPORTS ROUNDUP An international handcycling team completes a record 3,000-mile race across the U.S. By Tom Scott 14 States, 9 Days Race Across America (RAAM), which many consider to be America’s answer to Europe’s Tour De France, isn’t your average bicycle race, however, the rare breed of athlete who competes here isn’t your average cyclist either. This year’s brutal 3,000-mile transcontinental race began on June 20th in Oceanside, California, wound through 14 states, climbed over 100,000 feet in elevation, and culminated in Annapolis, Maryland. Held annually since 1982, RAAM is an ultra marathon race of epic proportions that pits competitors against the clock. Riders have [...] South Florida was the setting for an international festival of sports for people with disabilities in June. By Andy Kennedy, Access Anything The second US-located No Barriers Festival was a huge success June 4-7 in Miami, Florida, with over 200 participants, a dozen different sports for participants to test, a dozen company booths in “Innovation Village,” and two mornings full of technology and science updates at the Technology Symposium. The first No Barriers fest occurred in 2005 in Italy; that was followed in 2007 by one in Lake Tahoe/Targhee, California that nearly doubled in size. No Barriers was initiated by Eric Weihenmayer, [...] | SPORTS ROUNDUP For six Shriners Hospitals for Children patients, trying a new approach to fitness may have taken participating teenagers out of their comfort zone, but the end result proved a positive experience. Conquering The Mountain. After overcoming her diagnosis and refusing to let MS get the best of her, Dina became the first woman in the world to ski 34,500 vertical feet uphill in 12 [...] Adaptive Exercise That’s Actually Fun! The popular term is “Wii-Hab,” and rehab facilities all across the country are utilizing the Wii to help people with physical disabilities regain strength, mobility, and dexterity again. If they’re doing it, why not do it at home too? [...] United Spinal, Big Apple officials, and United’s Accessibility Services get it together on world class state-of-the-art- accessible skating [...] A young racer’s courageous fight to return to motocross after SCI. Ricky’s life should have changed dramatically, but he was still the same competitive kid except now he used a [...] SPORTS ROUNDUP | Photographs by Alice Faye Love Each year, Lakeshore Foundation in Birmingham, Alabama, hosts the Pioneer Classic Wheelchair Basketball Invitational in which 10 Division II teams and four women’s teams compete. This year’s Classic, which took place January 9 through 11, saw the Arkansas Rollin’ Razorbacks defeating the Orlando Magic 63-58 to take first place in the Division II column. On the women’s side, University of Alabama’s women were unbeatable from beginning to end, besting Dallas’s Lady Mavericks, the Shepherd Lady Steelers and Team Quebec in every game. Alabama dominated the Lady Mavs to take the women’s title with a 55-40 win [...] If packed powder and fast slopes turn you on then check out Tom Scott on “Adaptive Skiing- Finding Friendly Mountains Near [...] Wheelchair softball teams battle it out at the 8th Annual Major League Wheelchair Softball Tournament at Shea [...] The BBC on the close of the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing: The Mayor of London has received the Paralympic flag as Beijing extinguished its flame in the Bird’s Nest stadium. International Paralympic Committee chief Philip Craven hailed Beijing 2008 as “the greatest Games ever” during a moving, colourful closing ceremony. London 2012’s double decker bus made a second appearance alongside wheelchair basketball star Ade Adepitan. British organisers offered “youth and zest” for London’s second handover, featuring a new generation of talent. Once again, the Beijing organisers produced a ceremony packed with light, sound and choreography, lapped up by a capacity Bird’s Nest audience. Thousands of leaves and [...] It’s a rivalry made famous by the film Murderball: The Americans vs. the Canadians. The US had less success against Canada on the basketball court, but, according to the NY Times’ Rings blog, American quad rugby players tasted sweet revenge for their defeat in Athens in 2004 against their counterparts from the north. Unfortunately, it ain’t over yet: as blogger Jeff Klein notes, “a medal-round rematch seems inevitable.” WHEELCHAIR RUGBY: In a meeting of the sport’s two greatest rivals, the U.S. team beat Canada, 37-32, to gain some measure of revenge for their loss in the 2004 Paralympic semifinal. The Americans’ victory before a [...] The New York Times Paralympics blog, Rings, reported that United Spinal’s own Laura Schwanger had a dramatic surge in the women’s rowing competition to win one of the first ever awarded medals for the sport, which debuted at these Games: ROWING: Two U.S. crews made history Thursday at the 2008 Paralympic Games, winning two of the first-ever awarded medals in the sport of rowing. The mixed four with coxswain won silver, while the women’s single sculls won bronze to highlight the final day of competition at Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park in Beijing, China. In the legs, trunk and arms mixed four with coxswain, [...] The Games have begun. Here is the BBC’s report on the 2008 Paralympics opening ceremonies in Beijing: Dazzling show opens Paralympics The 2008 Paralympic Games has been officially opened by Chinese President Hu Jintao during a stunning ceremony at the Bird’s Nest stadium in Beijing. In the three-hour spectacular show, 6,000 performers and 4,000 disabled athletes from 148 countries took part in front of 91,000 ecstatic spectators. Britain has a 206-strong team and was led into the arena by flag-bearer Danny Crates, 800m champion in Athens. The action across 20 sports begins on Sunday and lasts until 17 September. The opening spectacular featured a number of disabled actors [...] |
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