Why this attitude towards our Paralympians?
Showing posts with label Olympics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Olympics. Show all posts
F1 Driver Zanardi Lost His Legs In Car Crash 15 Years Ago. Now, He’s A Paralympic Champion
Former Formula One driver Alex Zanardi won his third Paralympic gold medal on Wednesday, a day before the 15th anniversary of the Champ Car crash that cost the Italian both legs and nearly his life.
The 49-year-old won the 20km H5 hand-cycling road time trial in Rio de Janeiro to add to the two golds he won on his Paralympics debut in London four years ago.
"Normally I don't thank God for these type of things as I believe God has more important stuff to worry about," he told NBC television. "But today is too much. I had to raise my eyes and thank him.
"I feel very lucky, I feel my life is a never-ending privilege."
Zanardi, a two times champion in the U.S.-based Champ Car series that is now IndyCar, competed in 41 grands prix between 1991 and 1999 with his final season at Williams.
He had both legs amputated above the knee, with his heart stopping seven times as he lost all but a litre of the blood in his body, after the horrific crash at the Lausitzring in Germany on Sept. 15, 2001.
The Italian was leading the race when he lost control of his Reynard-Honda in the final laps and Canadian Alex Tagliani ran into him at more than 350kph.
"The car broke into two pieces, one bit of me stayed with the car and the other bit, which was my legs, went 'arrivederci' in the other direction," he said before competing at the London 2012 Games.
No Coverage, No Journalists, No Fans: Champion Devendra Shows Why Paralympians Deserve More
Devendra Jhajharia's first throw on the night was a season best 57.25 metres. He improved that in his second attempt - to a very impressive 60.7 metres. He was laying down the marker early on. He was setting the pace. The world record was 62.15 metres, that he had set 12 years back in Athens. It was close. It did not seem possible until that moment, given his season best was over 5 metres less than his personal best.
And then came the third attempt. The javelin went over the head as he adjusted his grip with his good right hand and the amputated left hand. The arms went up and down, as he loosened his shoulder muscles. Deep breaths. The run up began. The commentator mentioned how he had set the pace so far -- he builds up a rhythm as Devendra picks up his pace. The release is clean as a whistle.
The Wrestling Federation Of India Has No Money To Reward Rio Bronze Medallist Sakshi Malik!
As wishes and gift continue to pour in for Sakshi Malik from across the country, the Wrestling Federation of India, in a shocking confession, has revealed that it has no money to reward the 23-year-old Olympic bronze medallist for her amazing accomplishment, reports Times of India.
"We've no money to reward Sakshi," WFI President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh told TOI.
Malik has been showered with tons and tons of good wishes and awards after her stupendous bout at Olympics. While Haryana government promised her Rs 2.5 crore, the Delhi government will award her Rs 1 crore, the Indian Railways will reward her Rs 20 lakh and the list goes on.
For The First Time This Year, Govt Will Give Out Khel Ratna Award To Four Athletes
As the world's biggest sporting extravaganza comes to an end, the government of India announced the National Sports Awards 2016.
The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has released a list of sportspersons and coaches who will be awarded for their spectacular contribution in the field of sports.
The awardees will receive the honours from the President of India at a specially organised function at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on August 29, 2016.
Here is the full list:
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna
It is considered to be the highest sporting award in the country. The awardees receive a cash prize of Rs 7.5 lakh each. It is the for the first time ever that the government will confer this award to four athletes.
The winners are:
PV Sindhu - Badminton
Being the only silver medalist from India this year, the 21-year-old shuttler from Hyderabad has now become a nation-wide sensation for her spectacular performance at the Rio Olympics.
2016 Summer Olympics: The U.S. dominates Rio Games with 121 medals
The 2016 Rio Olympics have come to a close with Americans earning 121 medals -- 46 gold, 37 silver and 38 bronze -- their biggest haul ever, not counting the boycotted 1984 Los Angeles Games or the 1904 St. Louis Games, when hardly anyone else showed up.
# Team G S B Total 1 United States 46 37 38 121 ↓ 2 United Kingdom 27 23 17 67 ↓ 3 China 26 18 26 70 ↓ 4 Russia 19 18 19 56 ↓ 5 Germany 17 10 15 42 ↓ 6 Japan 12 8 21 41 ↓ 7 France 10 18 14 42 ↓
Sunday's Rio Olympics schedule and results
Schedule and results from Sunday's Rio Olympics competition. All times Pacific.
Basketball (Men)
Gold medal game
United States 96, Serbia 66
Bronze medal game
Spain 89, Australia 88
Boxing
Women's middleweight gold medal bout
Claressa Shields, United States, d. Nouchka Fontijn, Netherlands, 3-0
Men's flyweight gold medal bout
Shakhobidin Zoirov, Uzbekistan, d. Mikhail Aloyan, Russia, 3-0
Men's light-welterweight gold medal match
Tony Victor James Yoka, France, d. Joe Joyce, Britain, 2-1
Men's super-heavyweight gold medal match
Tony Victor James Yoka, France, d. Joe Joyce, Britain, 2-1
Cycling
Men's cross-country mountain bike final
Gold--Nino Schurter, Switzerland, 1:33:28
Silver--Jaroslav Kulhavý, Czech Republic, 1:34:18
Bronze--Carlos Coloma Nicolas, Spain, 1:34:51
Handball (Men)
Gold medal match
Denmark 28, France 26
Bronze medal match
Germany 31, Poland 25
Rhythmic Gymnastics
Group final
Gold--Russia, 36.233 points
Silver--Spain, 35.766
Bronze--Bulgaria, 35.766
Track and Field
Men's marathon
Gold--Eliud Kipchoge, Kenya, 2:08:44
Silver--Feyisa Lilesa, Ethiopia, 2:09:54
Bronze--Galen Rupp, United States, 2:10:05
Volleyball (Men)
Gold medal match
Brazil 3, Italy 0 (25-22, 28-26, 26-24)
Bronze medal match
United States 3, Russia 2 (23-25, 21-25, 25-19, 25-19, 15-13)
Wrestling
Men's freestyle 65 kilograms gold medal match
Soslan Ramonov, Russia, d. Toghrul Asgarov, Azerbaijan, 4-0
Men's freestyle 97 kilograms gold medal match
Silver for India’s golden girl: Sindhu wins hearts, goes down fighting in Rio
Rio Olympics: Sindhu loses badminton final, but wins hearts, silver
Silver medallist PV Sindhu of India poses kissing her medal. (REUTERS)
PV Sindhu vs Carolina Marin Badminton Final Live Score: Sindhu wins 1st game
Sindhu wins the first game 21-19. This has been a superb comeback. Five points in a row and the Indians are roaring.
Rio Olympics 2016: Usain Bolt reaches men's 200m final but Justin Gatlin out
Usain Bolt ran his fastest time of the season to win his Olympic 200m semi-final in 19.78 seconds as Justin Gatlin missed out on a place in the final.
Jamaica's Bolt has already won the 100m and is now aiming for an eighth Olympic gold by retaining his 200m title.
But American Gatlin, who won silver behind Bolt in the 100m final, only finished third in his semi-final.
Britain's Adam Gemili, 22, reached Thursday's final (02:30 BST, Friday) as one of two fastest losers.
Gatlin, 34, banned twice for doping offences, clocked 20.13 and failed to progress along with another big name - Yohan Blake.
The Jamaican, who won silver behind Bolt in London four years ago, has been hampered by injury over the past couple of years and faded to finish sixth in 20.37 seconds.
LaShawn Merritt, who has run 19.74 this year, is likely to pose the biggest challenge to Bolt in the final.
But Bolt believes he can break his world record of 19.19 and could even go under 19 seconds in the final.
"I definitely think I can try for the world record, I definitely feel that," he said. "I need to run efficiently and get into the straight and run the perfect race."
Bolt said he would have a better chance of achieving his goal to run under 19 seconds if he gets a high lane, adding: "If I get a lower lane it's always harder for me to run the corner when it is tighter."
On Gatlin's exit, Bolt told BBC Radio 5 live: "Everybody's in shock. You can tell from the 100m he's getting old. It's a fact the older you get, the rougher it gets to double.
"Next year if I go to the World Championships [in London] I'm not going to double. I'm going to do the 100m and that is it."
'Lazy' Bolt eases into final
Bolt has won all seven of his previous Olympic finals, claiming gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay at both Beijing 2008 and London 2012.
Here, the 29-year-old was laughing as he crossed the line just two hundredths of a second ahead of Canada's Andre de Grasse.
"Andre was supposed to slow down. He didn't," he joked.
"I said: 'What are you doing, it is the semis?' He said he had to push me.
"I was a bit lazy, I don't know why, but I executed it."
Gatlin falls short again
Gatlin is a divisive figure in athletics, having returned to the sport after serving two bans.
He claimed Olympic bronze at London 2012 and silver behind Bolt in the 2015 World Championships.
After missing out on 100m gold on Sunday, he fell short in the 200m after appearing to lose focus when he glanced across the track 60 metres from the finish.
Gatlin, who ran 19.75 last month - the second fastest time of the year, said afterwards he had been hampered by an ankle injury.
"I'm happy to still be here for the relays," he said. "My ankle is giving me a lot of problems. I can't run properly and I had a tight turn in lane three."
Gemili determined to 'push on'
Gemili, 22, was third in 20.08, with his place in the final confirmed following the third semi-final.
"I really tightened up. I'm in a lot better shape than 20.08. I was really disappointed seeing that," he said.
"But that's a good thing I suppose that I'm not satisfied with that and I will go and push on."
His team-mate Danny Talbot clocked a personal best 20.25, the same time as Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, but it was not enough for either to go through.
The top two in each semi-final qualified automatically, along with the two fastest losers.
Analysis
Michael Johnson, four-time Olympic gold medallist on BBC One:
"Adam Gemili got really tight at the end - his shoulders were up high and that makes it really tough.
"It was an interesting run by Usain Bolt, he got out fast and quick and let off a bit. De Grasse decided he was going to have a bit of fun and go and get him.
"Gatlin made a bit of a mistake. He relaxed. He didn't realise the others were upon him and then he tried to get back into it but you can't do that with the class of this field.
"That was a huge mistake and he will know it. A very strange race."
Sakshi Malik clinches bronze medal in women’s wrestling 58kg category, opens India’s account at Rio 2016 Olympics
Sakshi Malik of India beats Aisuluu Tynybekova of Kyrgyzstan 8-5 in the women's wrestling 58kg bronze medal match.
Sakshi Malik won both Repechage bouts to seal the bronze medal. (Source: Reuters)
India’s Sakshi Malik won a bronze medal in the wrestling 58kg category after the Indian beat Aisuluu Tynybekova 8-5 in the bronze medal bout. In a thrilling contest, Sakshi fought back from 0-5 down to seal the bout 8-5 in her favour. With seconds left on the clock, she produced a three-point move to seal the bout and India’s first medal at Rio 2016 Olympics.
It wasn’t an ideal start for the 23-year-old as she conceded a five-point lead early in the contest, and like in three out of the four bouts earlier in the day, she was back from behind to produce the moves when they mattered, and seal the win
Tynybekova started on a positive note as her leg-grab put her in the lead. She repeated the move again and sat in a comfortable position. Malik opened the scoring in the second period of the bout when she pushed her opponent down and out of the mat. She hit back with a similar move to reduce the deficit to just one point.
Repechage rounds of the women’s freestyle 58kg event and made most of the second life as she outplayed Mongolian wrestler Orkhon in the Rd 2 contest 12-3 to advance to the bronze-medal match.
It was a convincing performance by the Indian as she took the early lead and kept the Mongolian under pressure with smart moves. There was a brief moment early in the first period where Sakshi lost balance and allowed her opponent to make most of it, but apart from that she was in complete control of proceedings.
Malik got another chance at a medal after her quarterfinal opponent Valeria Koblova reached the gold medal match.
In the quarterfinal, Malik was easily trumped by the superior and much quicker Koblova to lose 9-2. And crash out of contention for a gold or a silver medal.
In her Round of 16 match, Sakshi beat Moldova’s Mariana Cherdivara on the back of a bigger point margin in a single move after both were locked at 5-5. And in the opener, Sakshi produced a scintillating turnaround from 0-4 down to win 5-4 with her final two points coming in the closing stages of the contest.
It’s Really Hard to Make Money as an Olympian
Gwen Jorgensen celebrates after crossing the finish line to win the women's triathlon ITU World Olympic Qualification Event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on August 2, 2015.FELIPE DANA/AP
THE OLYMPICS DRIVE athletes to get ever faster, higher, and stronger, to quote its Latin motto: “Citius, altius, fortius.”But while the Games show athletes at the peak of human potential, it rarely does much for their earning potential.
Event schedule
Athletics
Olympic Stadium
- Men's Decathlon 100m (4 events)
- Men's Hammer Throw Qualifying Round - Group A
- Men's 5000m Round 1 (2 events)
- Men's Decathlon Long Jump (2 events)
- Women's 800m Round 1 (8 events)
- Men's Hammer Throw Qualifying Round - Group B
- Men's 3000m Steeplechase Final
- Men's Decathlon Shot Put (2 events)
Wednesday's Rio Olympics schedule and results
Michael Phelps wins 200 IM showdown for 22nd career gold medal
Tuesday's Rio Olympics schedule and results
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But what exactly is the backstory of Usain Bolt's signature move?
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