Well, another great day at the paralympics! Today we watched tennis and goalball. First the report on tennis. We watched Peter Norfolk of Great Britain play Shraga Weinberg of Israel. This was in men's singles, quad wheelchair tennis. Quad is short for quadripeligia, which is all four limbs with some affection. Norfolk is the reigning gold medal winner, but had way too many unforced errors. We watched for a while, but then wandered over to a women's single. This was Netherlands vs. Germany. They were not as affected physically and played incredible tennis. Lots of topspin, placement shots, aggressive serves, etc. We came into that match late, and watched the German (Ellerbrock) win the third set.
Then we sauntered out to see a leader's board. I was asking what quad meant, and a lady looking at the board said we had to go see Nick Taylor of the US play. She said he is in a motorized wheelchair and it is amazing to watch him. Well, she was right. He is incredibly independent, (would not let anyone hold the umbrella over him in the heat--all the other players did), particularly for someone who appears to have no movement in one hand and one leg and limited in the other two. When he would use his towel, he would work it onto his lap, then go to the net, and use the tennis net to hold the towel to wipe his face. He would have to have one of the ball people open his Poweraid and put it in is mouth and then he would hold it with his teeth to drink. We thought he was going to be killed by the other player (in a wheelchair, but much greater dexterity and movement), but Nick won in three sets. Nick was the bronze medal winner in 04, silver in 08, and let's cheer for gold in 12. Mom sat next to the US contingent cheering for Nick, from Portland, OR, so heard more about his signature shot (high lob to the back line, so the other player cannot hit it--the ball bounces against the fence before it comes down low enough for the opponent to get it).
We then went to see two games of goalball. All the players are blindfolded and the stadium has to be quiet as there is a bell in the ball as the players try to roll it into the opponent's net. Players guard their own net with their bodies across the floor.
We are working on packing and then will spend the day flying. See you all soon!
