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2016 Paralympics


villa4europe

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Can't see a thread...

just watched firth smash the WR and win gold in the backstroke 200m, absolutely brilliant, I'll be honest and say I still get the lingering question that I'm looking at her seeing that it's S14 and not knowing what's going on but the buzz from watching her compared to watching mo is no different

think we've won 5 golds on the opening day...

Been reading a lot about it in I paper all week, we really do sound like world leaders, our support of the games seems to blow everyone else out of the water, even the yanks, saw NBC are putting the majority of the games on their cable channel meaning the viewing figures will be piss poor and the suggestion that the Los Angeles 2024 bid will include a drive to increase the support for these game stateside...whilst were apparently on the brink of putting next year's world championships at  London ahead of the abled body games...we just seem to get it when no one else seems bothered

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I don't think you can underestimate the impact The Last Leg has had on para sport and people's attitude toward it either. I can't stand Anne Widdecombe's son but that show is so enjoyable and has broken down so many barriers in the last few years.

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1 hour ago, choffer said:

I don't think you can underestimate the impact The Last Leg has had on para sport and people's attitude toward it either. I can't stand Anne Widdecombe's son but that show is so enjoyable and has broken down so many barriers in the last few years.

I think channel 4 in general helps because they give it a big push, they've been advertising it like mad, probably because it's the only sport they show it doesn't get treated like an afterthought 

I think the guy from breaking bad who's commentating for them summed it up in an interview the other day people here are no longer looking at these guys thinking ahhh haven't they done well for themselves...they're starting to be looked at as athletes

off that, I think there's a German long jumper with a prosthetic leg who this year has beaten the distance that won gold last month

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40 minutes ago, villa4europe said:

off that, I think there's a German long jumper with a prosthetic leg who this year has beaten the distance that won gold last month

Like putting springs on your shoes in a cartoon

 

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6 hours ago, Seat68 said:

Is Sarah Storey disabled enough? She pisses over everyone and I wonder if her disability is really a massive handicap in her chosen sport.

I was thinking that. I wonder how her times compare to the able bodied members of the British cycling team

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24 minutes ago, Xela said:

I was thinking that. I wonder how her times compare to the able bodied members of the British cycling team

Wiki says one of her 2012 times would have made the top 8 in the Olympics and she has competed at the Commonwealth Games, so she isn't far off.  

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34 minutes ago, Xela said:

I was thinking that. I wonder how her times compare to the able bodied members of the British cycling team

i think that too with pretty much every event

just watched the 2012 archery final on youtube, a bloke who was ex military and had i think a traumatic head injury, a perforated ear drum and a metal plate in his leg after being shot vs a bloke with no arms...

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They have a special games just for deaf people - the Deaflympics. I know this, because one of my running club friends represented Team GB in them in Taiwan a couple of years ago - and got bronze in the marathon. Even she said it was a bit embarrassing, given that being deaf hardly affects her ability to run. The testing was quite funny though - apparently officials were sneaking up behind athletes and speaking to them to see if they reacted. Quite a few got sent home for cheating - my mate was paranoid that she might not be 'deaf enough'. 

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9 hours ago, Seat68 said:

Is Sarah Storey disabled enough? She pisses over everyone and I wonder if her disability is really a massive handicap in her chosen sport.

She was in the "non para" squad for the Team Pursuit in Beijing. In the end, they picked another rider which may well have been justified 'cos the women won Gold . Yep, you don't pull on the bars much in time trials and I guess the same goes for pursuit (I have never ridden a pursuit though) . She certainly is a hell of a rider.

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I don't mind the Paralympics but I just turned it on and there's something not quite right, sporting wise, when you've got dwarves, limb amputees and a variety of limb disability sufferers are in the same race. I understand the idea is the disabilities even out, but still... It doesn't quite seem right. I think it's a perception problem the games will never quite overcome.

And that's before they try to get past the problem of people wanting to see what they perceive as the pinnacle of sport, which the Paralympics just isn't viewed as.

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1 hour ago, Seat68 said:

I dont mind the paralympics. In relative terms its 5th on a list of shit sporting things I dont want to watch.

1. Cricket

2. Womens football

3. Wrestling

4. Rugby

5. Paralympics

Throw in boxing and golf, and you've got it. 

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23 hours ago, Xela said:

I was thinking that. I wonder how her times compare to the able bodied members of the British cycling team

3 time national champion at 3km track pursuit. 

She is also a former medalist in swimming.

The athletes are categorised by disability so she does not have an unfair advantage over her competitors. 

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