Paralympics

[screwy]

having watched the Games again i find myself in Awe at these Athletes. i watched a Chinese swimmer with no arms at all swim the backstroke using only her legs. Today another chinese girl with no right arm and leg won the freestyle final.! SWimmers with no hands to speak of still pulling water.!
Its all very humbling and makes me feel ashamed to moan when i go for a walk and the leg i broke 9 yrs ago aches afterwards.!!

also, what a breath of fresh air Rose Ayling- Ellis is.

[CaroleF]

Last night I saw a man with only one leg do the High Jump and cleared the bar! He had his crutches to start with, threw one aside, then threw the other away and somehow, on one leg managed to run and clear the bar. Amazing!

[Ranchi]

The table tennis lad from China (gold) used a stick instead of a prosthetic leg.
Strangely the lack of arms for swimmers whilst clearly limiting progress opportunity also reduces drag so it’s not quite as much of a limiting factor as imagined at first (that sounds bad and isn’t meant to be.) They are all impressive.
I particularly liked the all in relay (track) where there were blind, amputees and wheel chairs in different stages of the relay (4x100).
The blind swimmers are amazing as well. Using a touch ball knocking them on the head to tell them to turn. In some events (visually impaired) the swimmers all wear blacked out goggles to ensure they are all equal. Sprinting on the track without sight and with a guide must be pretty scary.

[Ranchi]

The table tennis lad from China (gold) used a stick instead of a prosthetic leg.
Strangely the lack of arms for swimmers whilst clearly limiting progress opportunity also reduces drag so it’s not quite as much of a limiting factor as imagined at first (that sounds bad and isn’t meant to be.) They are all so impressive.
I particularly liked the all in relay (track) where there were blind, amputees and wheel chairs in different stages of the relay (4x100).
The blind swimmers are amazing as well. Using a touch ball knocking them on the head to tell them to turn. In some events (visually impaired) the swimmers all wear blacked out goggles to ensure they are all equal. Sprinting on the track without sight and with a guide must be pretty scary.

[Ranchi]

Just watching blind 5 a side. Argentina v France. How they don’t clash heads I don’t know. It’s in the last few minutes and will go to penalties if it remains 1-1. The goalies are partially sighted. All out field player wear masks to ensure they can not see anything. There has just been a collision with a clash of heads. One of the players involved has been substituted- I think it’s more about teeth/nose rather than concussion.
There are supporters in the crowd who have vibrating boards so they can follow what is going on by touch.
Incredible.

[Onelife]

having watched the Games again i find myself in Awe at these Athletes. i watched a Chinese swimmer with no arms at all swim the backstroke using only her legs. Today another chinese girl with no right arm and leg won the freestyle final.! SWimmers with no hands to speak of still pulling water.!
Its all very humbling and makes me feel ashamed to moan when i go for a walk and the leg i broke 9 yrs ago aches afterwards.!!

also, what a breath of fresh air Rose Ayling- Ellis is.

I would like to give a mention to Ellie Simonds who is also a refreshing addition to the commentating team.

[screwy]

Have to hand it to the french, they did an excellent job in hosting the games. GBR were excellent.
Glad it's finished, dont need to have the telly on all day.!
Now can we get back to disliking the Frenchies.!!