Cheers to Paralympics!

This post came quite late.. has wanted to talk about it last week.. becos I am so touched by the performance of these athletes.. no matter which countries they are from.. they have shown all of us what is sportsmanship.. what is determination and hard work.. they are truely the sportsmen..

this was the first time that I have watched the matches on tv.. sitting volleyball where the handicapped volleyballer will sit down to play.. even if some of them don't have a leg.. they still could play with their hands and move about using their one legs and buttocks.. when the match finished they also jump up in joy and hopping around and hug each other like any other able bodied athletes..

The swimmers also have shown to us that even if they have lost the strength of their legs they still could swim well to complete the lap..

Goal ball.. an interesting game.. it may seems just an easy throw ball game.. but it is not so for the blinds.. they have to feel the ball and also use their hearing..

Marathon runners may have lost the strength of their hands, they still could train their stamina and leg strength to run the marathon..

These athletes have shown to us that whatever difficulties they have they could overcome them.. they are both mentally and physically strong.. and I feel that the problems that able bodied people face seem to be very small compared to theirs.. so how can we give up easily when they can do it!

Congrats to Swimmer Yip Pin Xiufor clinching gold and silver and breaking the world and paralympics records.. we are so proud of you.. seeing the singapore flag being raised and the singapore anthem being played is so emotional to everyone.. no gold for olympics but still have have one at paralympics.. and it is clinched by a true singaporean..

and also congrats to rider Laurentia Tan for clinching two bronze for equestrian.. she is the first Singapore paralympics medallist.. I found an article on her and will like to share with you all..

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/cna/20080912/tap-273-singapores-laurentia-tan-wins-se-231650b.html

"When she was five, Laurentia Tan was described as a "vegetable". Born with cerebral palsy, she could not speak, hear, walk or sit, and her parents Anselm and Jannie were advised to admit her into an institution.

They refused.

Today, their 29—year—old daughter is an Oxford Brooks University graduate based in the United Kingdom. She has a career, drives a car and is now a star athlete, after collecting a second bronze medal at the 13th Paralympic Games on Thursday.

...

Anselm and his wife Jannie moved their family, including son Ephraim, to the UK when Laurentia was four.

"When she was a year old, the doctor said she was spastic. Back then, they didn’t call it cerebral palsy," said Jannie, a government officer.

"We moved to England because the special schools there are very good with the necessary facilities. It was there her deafness was diagnosed. I’m not sure if she could have achieved all this if she had stayed in Singapore then."

Anselm, a businessman, added: "That was Singapore then. Singapore has come a long way in the last 20, 25 years. With the present conditions, she would definitely have been able to achieve this. The level of awareness is much greater now, and we’ve received so much support, including from the Singapore Sports Council, the Singapore Disability Sports Council and so many kind souls."

..."

This is called miracle..

I feel that Singapore still has a long way to go, even now, to have the right facilities to take care of these people with handicaps.. only the last few years that the MRT has built lifts and slopes and other facilities allows these people to take the train conveniently..

More awareness still has to be created.. and the society still has some old mentality needs to be changed.. like "scared" of them or avoiding them.. viewing them as "weird".. I feel this is only a start but it is a great start.. as the medals have sort of open our eyes..