Pearson adamant he is on track for record-breaking Paralympics

EquestrianParalympics

By Nick Clowes, Sportsbeat

NINE-time Paralympic gold medallist Lee Pearson insists history counts for nothing as he continues his preparations for a potentially record-breaking London 2012 Games.

EXPECTATION: Paralympic star Lee Pearson admitted the pressure will be cranked up as he bids for a record-breaking 2012 challenge
EXPECTATION: Paralympic star Lee Pearson admitted the pressure will be cranked up as he bids for a record-breaking 2012 challenge (Getty Images)

Cheddleton-based para-equestrian star Pearson is bidding to be the first person to win three gold medals at four consecutive games and the early signs are good after an all-conquering 2009.

The 35-year-old scooped another three gold medals at the European championships in Norway in June and Pearson has now focussed his attentions on the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky next year.

But after admitting he felt the weight of expectation in Beijing last year, Pearson insists his previous record will be irrelevant when he goes for gold again in London.

"The pressure was on in Beijing so I can't even imagine what it will be like by the time London comes around," said Pearson.

"At the end of the day it is just about you and your horse and it doesn't matter what you have done before.

"There is so much attention around the Paralympics now in the run up to London and it's brilliant to be a part of it. We've campaigned for so long to get the recognition and now it's coming.

"The Great Britain team are the best in the world at para-equestrian and we are determined to stay there all the way up to 2012."

Pearson, who won his trio of Beijing gold medals on Gentleman, has added a new horse to his stable in 2009 - Zeon - and plans to give him his international debut at next summer's world games. Read more at...more than the games

On two wheels and determination

Disabled but not limited: Columbia cyclist aims for 2012 Paralympics
By JOEY HOLLEMAN - jholleman@thestate.com

Aaron Trent's little sister learned to ride a bike without training wheels before he did.

She was 5 and proud. He was 6 and frustrated.

It didn't matter that one of Aaron's legs was much shorter than the other, that his left arm and hand were bent from a cerebral palsy-like condition, making it hard to grasp handlebars. He was determined.

Columbia resident Aaron Trent took one silver and one bronze medal at the Para-Cycling World Championships recently in England. He spent most of the summer training with the U.S. Paralympic team in Colorado Springs, and his goal is to compete at the 2012 Paralympics, held in London immediately after the Olympics. PHOTO: Gerry Melendez/gmelendez@thestate.com

Columbia resident Aaron Trent took one silver and one bronze medal at the Para-Cycling World Championships recently in England. He spent most of the summer training with the U.S. Paralympic team in Colorado Springs, and his goal is to compete at the 2012 Paralympics, held in London immediately after the Olympics. PHOTO: Gerry Melendez/gmelendez@thestate.com

And before long, he had managed to teach his body to balance on a bike without training wheels.

Seventeen years later, "beating my sister no longer is the goal," Aaron said, smiling at his understatement.

Aaron, who earned one silver and one bronze medal at the 2009 Para-cycling Track World Championships this month, is aiming for the 2012 Paralympics in London. The 23-year-old Columbia resident took a break from classes at USC this school year to train at home and at the U.S. Paralympic team headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Much like that 6-year-old fixated on riding without training wheels, Aaron plans to put his entire focus on the 2012 event for the next two years.

"I want to do everything I can to ensure I'm as fast as I can be in London," Aaron said.

Peggy Trent, who home-schooled her son through high school, wholeheartedly approves of him putting college on hold to chase his dream. She used to work with a woman who gave up on an Olympic dream to move on with her life and later regretted it.

"You've got one shot at this, you need to go for it," Peggy Trent said. "You'll never know if you can do it if you don't try."

That attitude has been in place almost from the day 4-month-old Aaron suffered a severe allergic reaction to penicillin. The resulting stroke damaged the infant's brain, causing a condition similar to cerebral palsy.

The limbs on the left side of his body are smaller and malformed. For years, he wore out the top of his left shoe because he dragged that leg. His left hand was bent back toward his forearm, and his left elbow didn't flex properly. Surgery at age 12 straightened his wrist a bit and gave him more use of his left hand and arm.
Read more at...the state

Beijing 2008 Paralympics Pictures

Celebrating 1,000 days to go until the London 2012 Paralymic Games!

The London 2012 Games will see 20 Paralympic sports played in 21 venues across London and beyond, by 4,200 athletes over 12 days and are set to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for athletes and spectators alike.

In fact, the Paralympic Games has its origins in Britain, as a sporting competition for World War II veterans with spinal injuries was organised at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in 1948 to coincide with London hosting the Olympic Games.

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Today, the Paralympic Games is the pinnacle of achievement for many disabled athletes. The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) has planned both Games together for an unforgettable sporting spectacle that will last 29 days.

My journey from hospital to 2012 Games

Matthew Beard, Sports News Correspondent Matthew Beard, Sports News Correspondent
02.12.09
Few people can be more immersed in the build-up to London 2012 than Nikki Emerson.

The Oxford University graduate is tipped to make the Great Britain wheelchair racing team for the Paralympics just 18 months after breaking her back in a car accident.

Between training sessions, she has a full-time job with 2012 organisers at Canarf Wharf developing Olympic merchandise - from baby clothes to duvets - which will raise millions towards the cost of staging the Games.

The 21-year-old was inspired to train for the Paralympics after watching the Beijing Games on TV from her bed at the spinal injuries unit at Stoke Mandeville hospital in Aylesbury.

She said: "I was lucky because I had the Olympics and the Paralympics to watch and it was inspirational. I didn't have a moment when I wondered what I was going to do or what a horrible thing had happened to me, because it isn't. I was in hospital with people so badly injured they can only move their heads." British Paralympic champion Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson advised her that her best chance of success was wheelchair racing, building on her strength as a former endurance runner. She came ninth in the London marathon in April.

On a typical day she trains from 5am on rollers in the bedroom of her Aylesbury home before taking the 7am Tube to Canary Wharf. Post-work training sessions at Stoke Mandeville start at 8pm. Dame Tanni said: "She's got an amazing chance of making the Paralympics."

Tomorrow, there will be 1,000 days to go until the London Paralympics.

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Team GB still searching for 2012 Paralympic stars

Paralympic logos are displayed at the Olympic velodrome site with 1,000 days to go until the Games
Paralympic logos are displayed at the Olympic velodrome site with 1,000 days to go until the Games

Disabled athletes still have time to take up new sports and win gold medals at the 2012 Paralympics, says UK Sport's head of athlete development.

A talent search called Paralympic Potential is being launched with 1,000 days to go until the London Games.

"The ability to achieve a Paralympic Gold medal is a rare commodity," said UK Sport's Chelsea Warr.

"With hard work, dedication and the right coaching set up, we can make someone's dream a reality."

Research has shown that potential participants for a Paralympic Games can be ready to compete at an elite level much sooner than their Olympic counterparts.

In Beijing in 2008, 33% of British medallists had been part of their sports' elite programmes for less than two years and 15 of the 42 British gold medals were won by first time Paralympians.
David Smith
A new talent search hopes to find athletes like rower Smith

ParalympicsGB chief executive, Phil Lane, said: "Whilst we have come second in the medal table at the past four Games, there are many events that we simply haven't been able to field an athlete in.

"With the competition getting tougher all the time it is vital that we have explored all avenues to recruit new athletes."

The new campaign hopes to find athletes like Dave Smith, who won a world rowing medal within 12 months of taking up the sport and who is now aiming for London 2012.

Smith's hopes of competing in bobsleigh at the able-bodied Winter Olympics were frustrated by a fused ankle, which is classed as a "minimal disability".

"The switch to Paralympic rowing was a challenge for me, and I'm improving all the time," said Smith, 31, from Dunfermline.

"I was delighted to become a world champion in my first season and am completely focused on achieving success in 2012."

Source: BBC

As the torch passes from Beijing to London, a British newspaper celebrates with Paralympics pictures

From The Telegraph in the UK:


Thursday December 3 marks 1000 days to go to the lighting of the Paralympic flame in London in 2012. For the next three days, a blog a day will celebrate pictorially the passing of the flame from Beijing to London, with photos from four British photographers - Graham Bool, Roger Bool, Tom Griffth and George S Blonsky, which formed a joint exhibition after the Beijing Games.

Coverage of big events like the Paralympics is dominated by Getty, Reuters, AP and the rest of the world’s leading news and picture agencies, however, none of this could stop Graham and his young charges, Tom, 26, son Roger 24, and seasoned international photojournalist George S Blonsky from seeing their images snapped up by the Daily Telegraph, South Wales Press, and Disability Now, as well as several charity and non-governmental organizations.

At London 2012, Graham plans to field the team again with the added advantage of working on home ground.

Graham added: “I’m certain that London and the UK will rise to the challenge and show the world that when it comes to disability sport, accessible environments, transport, hospitality and organization, we can compete just as well as previous host nations.”

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