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2012 Paralympics


JackFrost

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I see their halfway through the athletes coming in, I turned on just in time to hear that ex F1 driver Alex Zanardi is in the Italian Paralympic team, I think he's doing the wheelchair racing.

 

Couldn't C4 have done the athletes parade without adverts though? It's a bit sad their missing some countries out during the ad breaks IMO

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Watching the paralympics is great to see . But too many groups are jumping on the disability bandwagon which is distracting from the spirit of the games . Rnib mxaking formal complaints that there are not enough cash machines . Some guy bleating on about blue badge car permits should be specifically for wheel chair users . Even less abled athletes questioning the classification of there fellow competitors . Why try to hijack the games for political agendas . Wait till after the games and let all those competing enjoy the games

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I went yesterday & saw an SFC union flag hanging in the corner opposite me at the goalball.

Anyone on here?

 

 

Not me ,but the Knott lads in the GB team are from around here..... go to school /college in winchester/eastleigh area .....so they are bound to have local supporters, and therefore likely to have saints fans watching them

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Can some explain the logic of the tandem cycling to me? Blind cyclist on the back, 'piloted' by a sighted cyclist on the front, the blind athlete gets most or all of the glory -- it's even officially called the individual sprint. But the 'pilot' also pedals.

 

What's to stop Team GB putting Chris Hoy, Bradley Wiggins, etc, in as pilots?

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I guess because a) they're knackered after the Olympics and b) because the bikes are heavier, it needs a different level of expertise? Just a guess, mind you. However, here's a little bit of info about Barney Storey who won silver as a pilot

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-19422244

 

He was training with the National Sprint Squad when he was asked to consider being a pilot.

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Can some explain the logic of the tandem cycling to me? Blind cyclist on the back, 'piloted' by a sighted cyclist on the front, the blind athlete gets most or all of the glory -- it's even officially called the individual sprint. But the 'pilot' also pedals.

 

What's to stop Team GB putting Chris Hoy, Bradley Wiggins, etc, in as pilots?

 

maybe they just don't have the time, they must train like nutters, and to also find a whole lot of time to train as a tandem would be impossible.

I guess the pilots are decent cyclists who just wont make the very top level so choose another path.

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maybe they just don't have the time, they must train like nutters, and to also find a whole lot of time to train as a tandem would be impossible.

I guess the pilots are decent cyclists who just wont make the very top level so choose another path.

 

I expect you're right, but my point really is ---- doesn't this mean that the medals in reality go to not necessarily the best blind cyclist, but actually just to the one who is lucky enough to persuade a really good sighted cyclist to be his/her pilot?

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I expect you're right, but my point really is ---- doesn't this mean that the medals in reality go to not necessarily the best blind cyclist, but actually just to the one who is lucky enough to persuade a really good sighted cyclist to be his/her pilot?

 

OK I know nothing about cycling but these thoughts crossed my mind too. So I delved a bit and found out the information I posted above and also that the chains link one set of pedals to the other so I guess that means to some extent that the pilot can only go as fast as the stoker pedals. Also, because there are two of them, the bikes are heavier so I imagine that sort of evens out the load. And I think it's a team decision as to who pilots who because Barney Storey piloted the silver medalist this year whereas last year, at the worlds I think, he piloted the guy who won the gold medal yesterday.

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David Weir is cut from the same cloth as Mark Cavendish, awesome power and spot-on tactics. Wiggo has competition for SPOTY if he goes on and wins the other two golds he's going for.

 

 

David Weir was 80/1 to win SPotY earlier today, i stuck a cheeky tenner on it.

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All right, I give up. The Paralympics have a feelgood factor that's just off the charts. During the Olympics it was tenacious Olympians compared to those greedy, lazy footballers. Now I look at a guy with only one leg doing 1m74 in high jump and think about that no-good playboy Usain Bolt ;)

 

Does it get much more real in the world of sports?

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One of the most amazing stories i've ever seen. Can't imagine coming back from that accident as a regular person, but when you're a famous successful driver, having that taken away from you would finish off a lot of people. Yet he's gone and won gold. Must be some immense talent for knowing the best race lines etc. Huge challenge though and the mental (and physical) strength is incredible. No way I'd be able to do anything like that.

 

He won a second gold tonight. I was hearing on Radio 5 Live that he plans to start to compete in Indie 500 - the experts reckon they'll be able to adapt a car for him. A truly remarkable man.

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Anyone hear about Esther Vergeer who won the wheelchair tennis?

 

In singles, she has not been beaten since January 2003 and is on a winning streak of 470 matches, with an overall pro record of 687-25. She has been the world number one since 1999.

 

That's what you call total domination.

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Anyone hear about Esther Vergeer who won the wheelchair tennis?

 

In singles, she has not been beaten since January 2003 and is on a winning streak of 470 matches, with an overall pro record of 687-25. She has been the world number one since 1999.

 

That's what you call total domination.

Doesn't make for a great competition though. That's my only real criticism of the Paras, a lot of the events I've seen have been very one-sided.
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First gig i went to my brother took me to see this up and coming band in london, think it might have been at the old Astoria before it shut down. The headliners was called Muse, they went on to do quite well I understand. I remember we was all lolling at the support band though and how boring and uncool they was. They was called Coldplay.

 

Mental, looking back

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