31 August, 2012 - Another beautiful day in London. I’ve been surprised every day when the sun shines, after the soggy wet spring and early summer Britain had. Fingers crossed that the weather holds as the Track and Field and Soccer events are starting!
30 August 2012 – First Day of Competition
After a gala night of fireworks and celebration, the London 2012 athletes got right down to business today.
29 August 2012 midnight+ London Time
by Judith Vecchione, for MEDAL QUEST
Opening Ceremonies for the London 2012 Paralympics ended an hour ago, and they were amazing. I could pick out one moment after another that was tremendous:
Less than a half hour to the Opening Ceremonies! Last night, the Paralympic torch was created from four flames ignited on the highest peaks of England, Scotland,Wales and Northern Ireland. Joined together in Stoke Mandeville, where the Games originated in 1948, over the last twenty-four hours, 116 teams of 5 people have run, rolled, and carried the flame the 92 miles to and through London.
Producer Lindsay Gillette and I looked in at the Copper Box today, the venue where goalballers Jen Armbruster, Asya Miller, and Lisa Czechowski will be competing in just two days.
Last night the athletes of Team USA selected their 2012 flag bearer for 2012 -- 5-time Paralympian Scott Danberg, who competes in discus this year and also has competed in shot put. On Thursday morning, US swimmer Trischa Zorn, the most decorated Paralympian of all times - 51 medals, 37 of them gold! - will be inducted into the Paralympics Hall of fame.
That’s what they call it on the official Paralympic schedule “Day -2” as in “minus two” or two days to go. And it has that feeling of “almost ready and just you wait!” It’s very exciting.
As we travel along the road of life, we are often called back to our roots in unexpected ways. This return can elicit mixed and complex emotions of nostalgia, excitement, reflection of times past, pride, and even contentment. They are associated with events that we know were formative to who we are today, and that create the summative experience of our lives.
FROM: Anjali Forber-Pratt, Track and Field (Wheelchair Racing)
Pre-London Paralympic Games: Training Camp
The Travel
In today’s world, we all dread flying. What happens if my bags get lost? How much does it cost to check this? What if there is a delay? Take all of these questions, multiply the number of bags by 3, the level of importance by 30 and the chaos that ensues when a large team of disabled athletes travel together by 300.
Hi MQ fans,
As you know, MEDAL QUEST will be reporting live from London starting next Monday, two days before Opening Ceremonies. We’ll have descriptions of what’s happening and what it feels like to be there cheering, photos from the arenas, stats like who won and how fast they went, more -- and we’ll be posting new video every day after the Games start.
Eric Hollen came to Paralympic shooting after an accident: a 4,500-pound tractor fell on top of him. “I lost everything.”
Here's a picture of the 2012 Track and Field team: 58 athletes, including four guide athletes, making us the largest sports delegation in Team USA. I'm in the front row, center.
Starting next Monday, MEDAL QUEST will be blogging live from the London 2012 Games. We’re really excited to be going, to share with you our experiences and the experiences of the amazing Team USA Paralympians.
August 17, 2012
Wow, I can’t believe I leave today to go over to London. We will be staying in Lakenheath for a ten-day training camp. This is very important to get used to the time change and get adjusted to the food. I will also be training once a day.
Dartanyon Crockett was a star wrestler, just "a kid from Cleveland," when the U.S. Paralympics Judo team came calling.
FROM: Dartanyon Crockett, Judo
The past couple of months have been very intense, leading up to the Paralympic Games. We have been to four different training camps preparing for London, with one more to go.
In the Beijing Paralympics in 2008, the women’s 100m butterfly was a battle between U.S. swimmers Jessica Long and Amanda Everlove.
Swimmer Jessica Long won 3 gold medals at the Athens Paralympics at age 12. Then she won 4 gold medals, a silver and a bronze in Beijing at age 16, setting 3 new world records – and she still felt she’d failed.
The 2008 gold medal match in women’s sitting volleyball was a hard-fought contest between the home country, China, and Team USA.
Growing up in a small town, according to runner Sabra Hawkes, she didn’t know people had cerebral palsy.
