I had the pleasure of meeting Rachael Burrows today from Team Canada who competed last night in wheelchair racing and look forward to watching her compete again on September 6th. She's part of a large Canadian delegation that has their large flags hanging from their rooms in the Paralympic village.
In tonight’s 200 meter qualifier, Oscar Pistorius totally
dominated and lived up to the expectations of the 80,000+ crowd. He is recognized as one of the most important
figures in Paralympic sports and one of the first to also qualify in the
Olympics where he also ran this past month.
He is gracious in the spotlight
and points to how sports can change the world and certainly have transformed
the city of London.
I find it fascinating the attention the world is placing on
running blades that are in use by many Paralympians. First used in the 80’s, the blades represent
the best of engineering and technology,
The talk is all about the thickness of the carbon fiber and the needs of
the athlete and the energy absorption of the blades while in use. Are they being used for sprinting, jumping, or
long distance running are all major considerations in design.
Four years ago while in law school I wrote a paper about
disability and sports and how I liked the Nike commercials that featured
Pistorius following his success at the Paralympics in Beijing. The commercials focused on his ability as an
athlete when he implied the blades are his weapons for winning. Best of luck to him tomorrow in the metal
round.
Jason Smyth of
Ireland won a gold tonight in the 100 meters after smashing the world record
twice. He blew out the competition and won by what appeared to be ten
feet! Although his win was fun to watch,
I was more excited to hear that he has Stargardt’s—the same rare eye disease I
have. Clearly we would be besties if we
knew each other, except I am not as fast, ha.
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