A humbling experience

Oh My God! I went to the Paralympics last night and I feel like I just witnessed a miracle. I went with a few teammates of mine after we had an afternoon friendly game. First off let me say that the facilities were beautiful. The main venue location is in northern Athens. The metro drops you off right next to the complex that contains a multitude of athletic stadiums. It was well designed and to my amazement it was even aesthetically pleasing with pools of water and fountains everywhere. We stopped and had a coffee before we decided which events to go to. The swimming was supposedly packed but we decided to go for it anyway. I was in my walking boot so felt entirely ridiculous next to handicapped people. But seeing as it was the Paralympics, the staff was highly sensitive to anyone with a disability, no matter how temporary. So they actually had us go through a separate line that was shorter!

So first things first. We went to the indoor swimming complex. There were two pools, one for diving, synchronized diving, etc, the other one I think was for synchronized swimming in the regular Olympics. But for now it was for the swimming events. I was prepared to be amazed at these disabled athletes but I wasn’t fully prepared for how unbelievable and moving this experience would be. I walked in and saw the medal ceremony for the women’s 100 m freestyle. All three of them were on the medal stand in wheelchairs and the winner’s time was like 1.25 or something ridiculously fast. So after the medal ceremony the men’s 200m medley final was up. Eight swimmers came out. Some were in wheelchairs, some were on crutches, some only had one arm. They sat behind the starting blocks, getting their goggles on, removing tshirts, and prosthetic legs, and getting ready for the race. The climbed up onto the starting blocks some leaning forward ready to dive with one arm, some crouching down low on legs that wouldn’t support them. The gun went off and they dove into the water. Some dove gracefully while others getting into the water was the first of many struggles. The first stroke was the butterfly. This of course is an extremely difficult one even with two arms and two legs. The group took off though while some lagged behind in the first 50. The Paralympics isn’t decided on a hundredth of a second quite so often. I scanned the field, trying to remember what each swimmer’s disability was. Then my eyes focused on lane 3 where there was hardly a splash but a swimmer’s head bobbing in and out of the water. He had no arms! I couldn’t keep my eyes off him the rest of the race, I couldn’t even cheer I was so breathtaken. Then came the breaststroke where he frog kicked the whole way. Then the backstroke where he kicked his ass off. Finally the freestyle, down the homestretch, where he finished 3rd or 4th, I couldn’t quite tell. But either way, for once it really wasn’t whether you win or lose, but how you play the game. So the race ended and the armless Chinese swimmer got out of the pool, I don’t know how, and walked away while the other swimmers where getting back into their wheelchairs, crawling back to the locker room, or holding their prosthetic in their arms.

I was pretty much speechless at this point when the women’s 200m medley final walked out. Two midgets were shaking their legs with nervous energy as they stepped up to the starting block. The women’s race was pretty similar, but at this point I still couldn’t really believe what I was seeing. I was feeling pretty stupid about the boot I was wearing.

Next up was track and field. We walked outside as it was getting dark and looked over at the Olympic flame lit at the top of the stadium. We walked under it, through a passage way that opened up to a huge track, perfectly lit in the nighttime. We got there just in time for the men’s 1000 m run, arguably the most boring Olympic event. I watched them running in pairs and tried to figure out their disability. They all looked fine to me. I sat there half watching the big screen and the blind long jumpers. Finally it dawned on me. ding ding ding! The runners were blind and the person next to them was actually tied to them so they knew where they were going. The race just got a lot more interesting. So I alternated my attention to the runners and their race partners, wondering if the same person runs with them through the whole race (yes), whether that person ever has a bad day and holds back the athlete (don’t know), and whether they fight about who gets the inside position (don’t know but over 1000 meters that outside runner has to cover at least an extra lap or so), and the blind long jumpers who had various styles. Some had their guide clap their hands, some had them yell when to jump, and some had there steps so well timed that after getting lined up, they just ran and jumped. Quite few landed outside the sandbox but they could really jump.

And of course they had wheelchair discus throwing and the medal ceremony for the women’s shot put. Wow! Looks like the eastern European women can put that shot even if they are sitting down. The medal ceremony was really sweet and the women looked so happy. I about teared up a few times throughout the day and this was one of them.

The men’s 10,000 meter run is still going on of course but of course it is far more interesting in the Paralympics. The winner was Kenyan, go figure, and he was running! Man, him and his guide were fast. He actually set a new world record of like 31 minutes or something. Anyway, it was really cool to see.

Next up was the men’s 5000 meter wheelchair race. I saw two Americans in the race and was ready to cheer them on. They all took off at the sound of the gun and by the first lap one of the Americans was half a lap behind. And I say its not whether you win or lose but how you play the game yet I couldn’t believe it and was sitting there cursing my country for not having a better paralympic wheelchair racing program when I realized he had one arm. The hook on his other upper extremity was used only to curve on the turns. I couldn’t believe it and either could anyone else cause people cheered and cheered for him. The rest of the race was fairly competitive and I couldn’t help wondering what the racing strategy was like. It would be really easy to be boxed in with 3 feet of wheels in front of you and the risk of locking wheels with another racer. They were fearless though and it was fun to watch.

Next up was men’s wheelchair basketball or “basket” in Greeklish. Brazil and France were matched up in the last game of the day. We walked in in the 3rd quarter and Brazil was winning. They had scored 53 points already! I mean really, not to mention the difficulty of maneuvering the wheelchair, shooting sitting down is hard as hell. But they were into it. they set picks, screen and roll, boxed out, and played pressure defensive. Instead of a forearm, butt, or elbow, it was a locking wheels as they were coming down court in transition. One brazilian had extremely long arms and would keep it up away from everyone like a big kid on a playground until he was ready to shoot. They fouled each other kind of a lot and they fell down all the time but got right back up and went to the free throw line. There coach looked like Don King and I couldn’t help but wonder if it was difficult to coach wheelchair basketball not having played it.


After watching basketball, we headed home and the whole ride I couldn’t stop thinking about what I had just seen. It was humbling to say the least and as someone noticed my boot and offered me a seat on the metro I couldn’t help but feel a little unworthy. I complain about the stupidest things sometimes and then I see these people that struggle everyday to just live normal lives. I can’t imagine how difficult it is for them to get around, to buy groceries, to shower, to make their bed in the morning. And yet they are doing those things and more. They are jumping into a pool head first with no arms and flying through the air with no sight. I can’t even imagine how scare that is. I mean really, imagine having your hands tied and jumping into an Olympic sized pool with no shallow end! Imagine blindfolding yourself and running as fast as you can and then jumping! Their courage just to compete is an inspiration and I’m so glad I got to see it in person.