A rundown of the biggest moments of the 2012 Paralympics in London, from conflicts to triumphs.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=6SLxh0ceP70
10. Armless Archer Wins a Silver Medal
When Matthew Stutzman, 29, first became interested in archery, he Googled, “How to teach a guy without arms how to shoot a bow.” Nothing came up. He improvised, using a method he shared with . He uses his left foot to put the arrow in place, holds the bow with his right foot, and pulls the string and arrow back with a release aid strapped to his right shoulder. After he lines up the arrow using his mouth, he moves his jaw to trigger the release aid and let go of the string. In London, he won a silver medal in a field where no other competitor was missing both arms. H/T:
9. Jody Cundy's Outburst
At the start of the 1km pursuit in the Velodrome, British cyclist Jody Cundy . Cundy believed it was because of an equipment malfunction and wanted another chance. The judge ruled it was a false start caused by human error, and . Four years of training for his Paralympic moment ended in frustration, and Cundy went into an that included the phrase, “They are ruining my life.” He was led out of the stadium by a coach. Cundy, who is missing his left leg, is a swimmer turned cyclist who has won seven Paralympic gold medals. He's using the disqualification as fuel for Rio 2016. “I guess I'll have to do another four years now because there's a kilo title with my name on it,” he told . “I want it back.”
8. David Wetherill's Amazing Shot
called 22-year-old David Wetherill's diving volley “Simply one of the best Table Tennis shots ever!!” A YouTube clip of the crosscourt forehand has been viewed more than five million times. At the time , Wetherill wasn't sure how it would be received. “My biggest concern was that I looked like some silly little disabled
boy rolling across the floor,” he said this past week. “But that doesn't seem to have been the case.”
7. A Roller Coaster
Brazilian Yohansson Nascimento racked up a series of emotional moments in London. He won silver in the 400m. He in the T46 division, which is for athletes who have conditions affecting at least one arm, but walked across the finish line anyway to cheers. He won gold in the 200m and after the race held up a .
6. The Streak
Esther Vergeer has won four straight Paralympic gold medals on the way to winning in women's wheelchair tennis. The 31 year old from the Netherlands has not lost a match . She needs 86 more victories in order to eclipse the longest consecutive winning streak in sport—455 victories by Pakistani squash player Jahangir Khan—according to the .
https://youtube.com/watch?v=H1Y8G4951eQ
5. Back-to-Back Golds in the 100m and 200m
Irish sprinter Jason Smyth, who has only 10 percent of his normal vision, has a goal of making the Olympics and the Paralympics in the same year. He missed the “A” qualifying standard time needed to get into the London Olympics, so he'll have to wait to try for Rio 2016. At the 2012 Paralympics, he , repeating the same feat he achieved at Beijing in 2008.
4. Crying Unfair Advantage
Just minutes after Brazilian Alan Oliveira defeated Oscar Pistorius
in the 200m final, the South African sprinter , “We are not running a fair race here.” Pistorius thought Oliveira's prosthetics were too long and that the Brazilian won as a result of a greater stride length. As Ross Tucker of pointed out, it was Oliveira's stride rate—how fast he moved his legs back and forth—that brought victory. Oliveria played it cool. “For me, he is a really great idol and to hear that from a great idol is difficult,” . Pistorius soon apologized. “Race day tomorrow, can’t wait to get back on the track! Still very much
regretting my reaction on Monday in heat of the moment .. sorry,” he said on .
3. Same Track, a New Race
, former Formula One racer lost both his legs in a violent car accident. During the 2012 Paralympics, the 45-year-old returned to one of the same tracks where he raced cars to compete in handcycling. He , but said that it wasn't the victories he would miss. “So you realize what really (matters) was the effort that you put in
daily in order to build something special,” he told the . “Because when the championship
arrives, you cannot expect to meet happiness that day, otherwise you
don't get there. It's the process.”
2. An Epic Haul at Home
After being at the end of 2011, cyclist decided to focus on the Paralympics. The 34 year old, who was born without a left hand, won to increase her career medal total to 22. On the way to helping her country to a record total of in 2012, the swimmer turned cyclist tied the record for the number of gold medals held by a modern British Paralympian, with .
https://youtube.com/watch?v=2E8fY3j5NBk
1. Double Duty
Though Oscar Pistorius lost in the 100m and 200m at the Paralympics, he blew away the competition to , his signature race. It followed an Olympics where . “I'm so proud,” he said in . “This summer has been a dream come true. I couldn't hope for anything better.”
—Joe Spring