Walking is Overrated :: disability news, opinion, reviews, and a passion for accessibility » Paralympics

Obama makes crass “Special Olympics” joke during Jay Leno interview

Red — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 11:20:29 +0000

Not impressed, Mr Obama. Not impressed at all. Hopefully the YouTube video below will stay live for you all to see this, but the gist of it goes that Jay Leno is asking Barack Obama if he has kept the bowling alley in the White House. Obama replies that yes, he has kept it, and that he even shot a “126″ the other day. Leno scoffs, as if to imply the score is a little pathetic, and Obama jokes that “it’s like special olympics or something…” which I actually find kinda insulting!

What do you think?

ps. An interesting diatribe on this faux pas can be found over at bad cripple

Sophie Pascoe wins second Paralympic gold!

Red — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 13:51:02 +0000

And the pint-sized swimming machine keeps on rolling – Sophie Pascoe has won another medal at the Beijing Paralympics, a gold medal in the women’s 200m medley – a fantastic result! She won the race with a time of 2 minutes 35 seconds, blitzing the field with her closest rival a further four seconds behind.

“I don’t know what to say. I gave it everything out there. I’m too tired to think or say anything. It’s so fantastic to win,” she said.

This is young Sophie’s 3rd medal, following on from the gold she won in the women’s 100m breaststroke, and the silver medal she won in the women’s 100m butterfly.

In other Paralympics news, NZ shooter Michael Johnson has scored a bronze medal in the men’s 10m Air Rifle Standing event, and Paula Teseriero has followed up her gold medal with a bronze in the women’s individual pursuit at the Beijing validrome.

Awesome stuff guys!

Double medal glory for NZ Paralympians at Beijing

Red — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 11:25:56 +0000

Following on from her marvelous effort to achieve a silver medal in the 100m butterfly, NZ teenager Sophie Pascoe has won a gold medal in the women’s 100m breaststroke at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics. A great result for the 15-year old from Christchurch, who is NZ’s youngest ever Paralympic medallist!

Also in the medal action on day 3 of competition is cyclist Paula Tesoriero, who has won a bronze medal in the women’s Individual Pursuit, to add to her gold medal on the first day.

Awesome stuff – go you Kiwi girls!

NZ Paralympic highlights video

Red — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 12:24:01 +0000

A great montage of footage from the 2004 Paralympics in Athens, Greece. Let’s hope we can replicate those images of success this time round in Beijing!

NZ sprinter Kate Horan wins silver at Beijing Paralympics

Red — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 12:05:17 +0000

New Zealand sprinter Kate Horan has won the silver medal in the women’s T44 200 metres in a time of 28.36 seconds. Kate was featured quite heavily on Attitude TV’s “Meet the Paralympians” TV special. Unfortunately there doesn’t appear to be any official photos from the win or medal ceremony at this time, but you can learn a bit more about Kate Horan courtesy of Attitude TV!

Sophie Pascoe wins silver at Beijing Paralympics

Red — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 04:13:18 +0000

Bit slow on this one! But better late than never, I’m stoked to report young Kiwi girl Sophie Pascoe has won silver in the women’s S10 100m butterfly, finishing in a time of 1m 10.53s, a great effort! That takes NZ’s Beijing Paralympics medal tally to a grand total of two! Remember, we’re gunning for 13 medals in total, apparently.

Good on ya Sophie, we’re all very proud of you!

If you’re not sure who Sophie is, I’ve blogged about her before – video included!

NZ Paralympic team’s Boccia results so far

Red — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 08:49:10 +0000

Okay so I’m a bit biased when it comes to my Paralympic sport, as I play – and love – Boccia. Here are the results from the 2008 Paralympic games so far:

BC1

Liam Sanders

Beat D. Smith (Great Britain) 5 – 2
Beat A. Marques (Portugal) 6 – 0
Lost to R. Aandalen (Norway) 5 – 2
Lost to P. Moran (Ireland) 7 – 3

BC2

Maurice Toon

Lost to J. Morriss (New Zealand) 9 – 4 (Tiebreak 5 – 0 to Morriss)
Beat E. Wilhemsen (Norway) 21 – 0
Lost to H. Kwok (Hong Kong) 4 – 3

Jeremy Morriss

Beat M. Toon (New Zealand) 9 – 4
Lost to H. Kwok (Hong Kong) 3 – 2
Beat E. Wilhelmsen (Norway) 10 – 1

Kerry Bonner

Lost to N. Murray (Great Britain) 17 – 0
Lost to J. Loung (Hong Kong) 4 – 1
Lost to T. Hirose (Japan) 8 – 1

BC3

Henk Dijkstra

Lost to V. Sukkarath (Thailand) 5 – 4
Lost to G. Polychronidis (Greece) 19 – 0
Beat H. Zhu (China) 13 – 0

Greig Jackson

Beat J. Zhu (China) 4 – 2
Lost to B. Shin (Korea) 6 – 2
Lost to J. Rodriguez (Spain) 4 – 3 (Tiebreak 1 – 0 to Rodriguez)

Mandy Slade

Lost to M. Peixoto (Portugal) 12 – 0
Lost to T. Visaratnanunta (Thailand) 11 – 0
Lost to H. Jeong (Korea) 14 – 0

NZ wins first Paralympic gold medal

Red — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 08:20:37 +0000

This afternoon’s Women’s Cycling 500m Time Trial saw NZ pick up its first gold medal of the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing. Paula Tesoriero, a visually impaired cyclist, won the race with a world record time of 43.281 seconds.

The win, however, came with an element of post-race drama. After crossing the line, Tesoriero was about to get off the track so she slowed down and was looking around. While riding slowly across the corner of the course, she crashed her bike and couldn’t move. There didn’t appear to be any reason for the crash other than an error in judgment.

The medical assistants put her on the stretcher immediately and her expression was etched in pain. She couldn’t speak; her chin and hands were shaking uncontrollably. Yet at that very moment, it appeared on the screen that she won the gold medal. Looking at the screen, she burst into tears. Fellow athletes came to her side and gave their congratulations; she struggled to sit up and waved her left hand to the many spectators who were encouraging her.

Good on ya Paula, let’s hope it’s a sign of things to come!

Live Paralympics coverage – online!

Red — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 00:16:24 +0000

Fed up with TVNZ’s appalling excuse for Paralympics ‘coverage’ in the form of one hour highlights packages? Well now you can get live streaming of all the Paralympics events right from your PC! Simply log on to paralympicsport.tv and you can see round-the-clock live streaming of all the Paralympic events. Of course, they probably won’t prioritise our New Zealand Paralympians but I’m sure they’ll be featured at some point.

Check it out!

Can’t get enough Boccia?

Red — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 21:34:09 +0000

A few of you were disappointed with the lack of Boccia coverage in Attitude TV’s “Meet the Paralympians” programme, so here’s a full 4-minute clip from Attitude, all about Boccia!