Behind the Scenes in the 2004 Paralympic Village -
by Team Quickie Athlete Tracey Furgeson

I have been trying to figure out an appropriate description for the Paralympic Village and if I had to sum it up in a word then I would say...BIG!

The residences are very typical european mediterrean style with these 2-4 floor condo style apartments. Our building is 3 floors and there are 2 condos on each floor. For the purposes of housing all the athletes, at present there are no kitchens in the places just a small living room and then 3-5 bedrooms per suite. Ours has 5 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms and we have a huge balcony off the living room and my room has a small balcony off the back. The floors are all marble as are the stairs. They have installed really small elevators in the places and we can usually squeeze 2 wheelchairs in there but it can be tight so leaving on mass as a team is not really possible...we tend to stagger our departures. You can see which walls they will knock down to put in the kitchens and stuff as we are guessing that after the Games the condo we are living in will become a 3 bedroom with a kitchen and larger living room. I have to say that this, being my 4th trip to the Games, have the largest bedrooms we have ever had. The place is so big there are shuttle busses that come every 3-5 minutes to drive people around the village. Orion block is in the North of the Village at the top of the hill...so to get to the dining hall in my chair is about a 6 minute wheel...I have no clue how long it is to wheel back since it is up hill and I always take the bus back.

The village is truly that, a village...I am currently typing this note in one of the 2 resident centers...Proteas North (Proteas is the Seahorse mascot for the Paralympics...his name means first or the best). This resident center has about 50 computers, pool tables, a video arcade, a small cafe for coffee and snacks and the ever-important laundry drop off/pick up. There is another big resident center in the south part of the village.

Then there is the dining hall..., which I am guessing can sit about 5000 people at any one time for a meal. Try finding your people in all of that...our team has a system now where we establish a rendezvous point for eating before going in because there are about 8 different places to get food...Asian, Greek, Hot food, Pizza and Pasta, Salad, Fruit, Sandwiches...and these places are repeated in about 6 different locations so as to minimize the wait in line. I am sure you have must have heard there is also a McDonalds...which is always busy. I think many of the athletes from some countries consider it a treat to have McD's as they cannot afford it at home or have no access to it...I can say I went there once because they have the Apple pies that are deep fried (like they used to be in Canada before they went to the baked kind)...I do not eat at McD's for healthy food...so why bake the pies? It isn't like we think that because the pies are baked that all the food is healthy...bring back the deep fried apple pie in Canada!

Besides the dining hall and resident centers, there are training sites on the perimeter of the Village. In the North section by us, about a 10-minute wheel (further up the hill) is Dekelia, which has a 3-court basketball gym, a huge track, a throwing area for the field athletes and more…I just have not seen it all. Inside the perimeter in the North end there is a 50m 8-lane swimming pool for the athletes to kick around in (because the swimmer's training site is elsewhere) and there is an amazing state of the art weight room that is beyond anything I have seen at home and is better than Sydney's in 2000. So tomorrow we have training at 9-11 am and then our coaches are giving us the rest of the day off...so many of my teammates are going to the acropolis (they have installed an elevator to take the people in wheelchairs to the top - very cool of them)...but some of us are going to lie by the pool and get some sun and a swim...have I mentioned I love the sun...so since I have seen the acropolis - tomorrow you will find me by the pool.

I hope that my overview explains a little about the Village.
Cheers for now,
Tracey

Tennis Seeds Named

QUAD SINGLES
1 - Peter Norfolk (GBR)
2 - David Wagner (USA)
3 - Bas van Erp (NED)
4 - Nicholas Taylor (USA)

QUAD DOUBLES
1 - Nicholas Taylor/David Wagner (USA)
2 - Mark Eccleston/Peter Norfolk (GBR)

MEN’S SINGLES
1 - Robin Ammerlaan (NED)
2 - David Hall (AUS)
3 - Michael Jeremiasz (FRA)
4 - Stephen Welch (USA)
5 - Martin Legner (AUT)
6 - Satoshi Saida (JPN)
7 - Tadeusz Kruszelnicki (POL)
8 - Shingo Kunieda (JPN)
9 - Jayant Mistry (GBR)
10 - Peter Wikstrom (SWE)
11 - Eric Stuurman (NED)
12 - Kai Schrameyer (GER)
13 - Miroslav Brychta (CZE)
14 - Jon Rydberg (USA)
15 - Ha-Gel Lee (KOR)
16 - Lahcen Majdi (FRA)

MEN’S DOUBLES
1 - Shingo Kunieda/Satoshi Saida (JPN)
2 - Michael Jeremiasz/Lahcen Majdi (FRA)
3 - Robin Ammerlaan/Eric Stuurman (NED)
4 - John Greer/Stephen Welch (USA)
5 - Simon Hatt/Jayant Mistry (GBR)
6 - Anthony Bonaccurso/David Hall (AUS)
7 - Piotr Jaroszewski/Tadeusz Kruszelnicki (POL)
8 - Herbert Baumgartner/Martin Legner (AUT)

WOMEN'S SINGLES
1 - Esther Vergeer (NED)
2 - Daniela Di Toro (AUS)
3 - Sonja Peters (NED)
4 - Florence Gravellier (FRA)
5 - Jiske Griffioen (NED)
6 - Maaike Smit (NED)
7 - Britta Siegers (GER)
8 - Sakhorn Khanthasit (THA)

WOMEN'S DOUBLES
1 - Maaike Smit/Esther Vergeer (NED)
2 - Sonja Peters/Jiske Griffioen (NED)
3 - Chiyoko Ohmae/Mie Yaosa (JPN)
4 - Sandra Kalt/Karin Suter-Erath (SUI)

Men's Basketball

LOSS - Germany 63 vs. Netherlands - 52

WIN - USA - 54 vs. Japan - 46

WIN - Canada - 78 vs. Brazil - 66

Table Tennis

LOSS - Tomas Pinas ESP - 3 vs. Sheng Cheng Wu TPE - 2

WIN - Rene Taus CZE - 1 vs. Gragory Rosec - 3

WIN - Maria Pillarova SVK - 3 vs. Alice Rast - 2

Women's Swimming

GOLD MEDAL - Mayumi Narita 100m Freestyle - S4

Men's Basketball

WIN - CAN 83 vs. ITA 54

Women's Basketball

LOSS - USA - 61 vs. Australia - 62

WIN - CAN - 63 vs. MEX - 34

Men's Singles - Open

WIN - Eric Stuurman NED (11) 6-3 6-1

WIN - Larry Quintero USA 7-6(3) 6-1

LOSS - Csaba Prohaszka HUN (70) 6-0 6-0

WIN - David Hall AUS (2) 6-0 6-1

LOSS - John Greer (USA) 6-2 7-5

Racing

Advanced to finals in 800m - T53: Tanni Thompson, Shirley Reilly

Advanced to finals in 1500m - T54: Jacob Heilveil, Ralph Brunner, Robert Figl

Advanced to finals in 10000m - T54: Jacob Heilveil, Scot Hollonbeck, Heinz Frei, Ralph Brunner

Men: Canada - Brazil

Per-tournament favorites and defending champion Canada took care of Brazil in easy fashion for their Paralympic opener, winning 78-55. The Canadians were led by Team Quickie.Sopur athletes Patrick Anderson, 28 points and 13 rebounds, and Joey Johnson, 15 points and 7 rebounds.

Men: USA - Japan

The USA squad took a different route, struggling against Japan before seeking out an eight-point win. The young Americans, with only two players from the bronze medal winning Sydney team, trailed Japan by two at halftime before taking a nine point lead going into the final quarter.

Japan stayed tough and cut the margin to four before the USA closed out the game.

Men: Netherlands- Germany

Poor shooting by the Dutch helped a much-improved German side to an upset 63-52 win in first round play. Team Quickie.Sopur athletes Gerd Jan van der Linden and Koen Jansens led Holland with 19 and 18 points respectively. Jansens also grabbed 14 rebounds while van der Linden, a point guard, had eight.

Women: USA-Australia

In a rare first game match up between two top seeded teams, # 3 Australia came from behind to upset the USA 62-61.

Women: Canada-Mexico

The defending champion Canadians easily dispatched Mexico in their first game 63-34. Danielle Peers, a Team Quickie.Sopur member, paced the Canadians with 14 points as all but two players made the score sheet.

Athletics

Several Team Quickie.Sopur wheelchair racers - Tanni Grey Thompson, Shirley Reilly, Scot Hollonbeck, Jacob Heilveil, Robert Figl and Ralph Brunner - started their Paralympic odysseys on a cool clear night at the Olympic Stadium on the first day of track events.

Atlanta's Scot Hollonbeck saw his Paralympic record of 3:05.47 in the 1500 meters broken in the qualifying heats but had no regrets as he moved forward into the semifinals on Monday evening.

“My record was broken twice in the first ten minutes,” he said with his ever-present ear to ear grin. “Ernst wanted my record and Joel wanted to make up for the Olympic race (where he crashed).”

After Ernst van Dyk of South Africa set a new record in the first heat, seven of the ten racers in Hollonbeck's heat including himself, beat his record from Sydney, all by more than four seconds. In all, 13 racers beat or tied the old mark. The new record holder is Joel Jeannot of France at 3:00.17.

“There are 20 guys that could win this race,” said Hollonbeck, referring to each one of the semifinalists.

Also qualifying were Germans Robert Figl from Karlsruhe and Ralph Brunner from Kempton. Figl, from comes into the Paralympics on a roll having won the prestigious Olympic 1500 meter wheelchair exhibition race in August during the Olympic Games.

“I'm in good shape at the moment,” understated Figl, who is finishing his dissertation to become a doctor of dermatology. He liked the pace of the second heat finishing in 3:00.63.

“I have no problem with a good speed race,” said Figl.

Jacob Heilveil of Botham, Washington had the 16 th fastest time overall but was towards the back of the first heat and did not move on as automatic qualifiers from the third heat bumped him out by less than half a second.

Hollonbeck, Heilveil and Brunner, along with Team Quickie.Sopur member Heinz Frei, who already has 12 gold, 7 silver and 8 bronze summer Paralympic medals to his name, qualified for the next round in the men's 10,000 meters.

In the women's 800 meters, a late addition, turned the final into two semifinal heats, a turn of events that was not unwelcome by defending champion and world record holder Tanni Grey Thompson of Great Britain.

“It's a huge bonus to have an extra race,” she said of not having to start the games with a final.

Even though she was here several weeks ago for the women's 800 meter Olympic exhibition race, Grey Thompson has been itching to get back on the track and said that “Athens has really felt like it's been a long time coming.”

She finished second in her heat at 1:57.11, just under two seconds off the world record she set in Atlanta and easily moves on to the final on Monday. As for her chances in a race that she believes will be her most difficult during the games, “I need to race really well to win but I think I can do it.”

Shirley Reilly of Los Gatos, CA also qualified for the final, finishing second in her heat at 2:07.99.

2004 Paralympic Opening Ceremony

The 12th Paralympic Games were initiated in spectacular fashion before a sold out Olympic Stadium in Athens. One hundred and thirty six countries entered the stadium on a cool cloudless Mediterranean night, the largest participation ever for a Paralympic Games.

Dimitris Kostantaggas, pictured here, carries the torch into the Olympic stadium in his new Sopur Easy Max"

In Paralympic tradition, the procession of athletes came at the beginning of the ceremony.

Joining International Paralympic Committee president Phil Craven in opening the games were the president of the Hellenic Republic, Konstantinos Stephanopoulos, Athens 2004 president Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, and his predecessor Juan Antonio Samaranch, who mandated that the organization of the Olympic and Paralympic Games would always be a combined celebration of sport were there as well.

Over the next two weeks, 518 ceremonies will see 3,337 medals awarded to the very best of the 3837 athletes that did not begin their quest this evening but four years earlier at the close of the Sydney games. One hundred Team Quickie.Sopur athletes and many more using the latest technology in sports wheelchairs will be among them. Forty-four radio and television networks from 40 countries, spanning from Argentina to the Ukraine will provide daily coverage to their home audiences.

In describing the ultimate achievement embodied by the athletes competing here in Athens, Craven used the words first spoken by the Greek philosopher Democratus some 2000 years ago, “To win oneself is first and best of all victories.”

Behind the Scenes - Olympic Stadium transformation

With the first events of track and field beginning on Sunday at five o'clock, the deconstruction of an elaborate opening ceremony set began almost immediately after the last athlete had left the stadium.

First the centerpiece of the ceremony, a huge tree, more than 85 feet in height that symbolized “humanity without boundaries” had to be dismantled. At 75 feet in diameter, it had great presence, even in the middle of such a large stadium and was inspired by the historical reference to a very large tree where Hippocrates, the father of medicine, once taught his students.

The track was then uncovered and a massive assembly line of forklifts and rollers was engaged to return the 1100 trays of natural grass, each almost four feet square, that had been removed to make room for the tree and the slight hill that it sat on. In all the center of the stadium is covered by almost 6000 of the grass trays.

Meanwhile, other workers and volunteers push to prepare each aspect of the competition surfaces for the 1050 athletes that will take ownership of the stadium for the next nine days.

Behind the scenes -

USA Team's Journey to Athens by USA Basketball Assistant Coach Dave Kiley
Today is Sunday and we have been in the Paralympic village for 8 days.  The USA team, consisting of 300 athletes, daparted from DC on a charter jet loaded with wheelchairs. All wheelchair athletes have as many as 3 chairs - Wow there was so much equipment it was mind boggling. Not to mention, loading all those gimpy people on to the plane took hours.
We left Greece as a young basketball team with 10 rookies set on upsetting the world. GOLD is what we are after nothing less. While in DC we trained and we participate in a clinic that I led touched us all very deeply.  About 20 young soldiers from the war in Iraq and Afganistan came to learn ball from us. The soldiers were from the Walter Reed Hospital and all of them were young and amputees or burn victims from war incidents. The team was shaken by the gravity of what these people gave up to protect our country. No doubt this weill remain very high in our memories for years to come.
All of our Team Quickie athletes are sporting their wonderful team apparrel put together by kathryn McDougal and Dawn Perez. Many thanks to Sunrise for literally years of support in all sports, but we all know B-ball is the most important and the Big  Daddy...! Tennis ?????
God Bless all who read this. David Kiley

Team Quickie.Sopur secure FIRST GOLD MEDAL

Swimmer Mayumi Narita of Japan won the first gold medal for Team Quickie.Sopur at the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games in the women's 100 meter freestyle, beating her own world record time, set in Sydney four years ago. As ecpected she started the race strong and managed to keep her competiors in her wake for the entire race.  Her new record of 1:25.07 cut almost five seconds off the old mark of 1:30.06.  This is the second Gold medal thus far for the Japanese team.

BASKETBALL: IRI 50 - USA 73

Coming from a 54-46 win over Japan in the opening game of the 2004 Paralympic Games Wheelchair Basketball Tournament, Sydney bronze medalists United States used their inside strength en route to their second consecutive win over Iran.
Team Captain Jeremy LADE was the go-to-guy, since he scored 19 points on the 7-of-11 shooting from the field, but ti was centers Jeff GLASBRENNER and Jeffrey GRIFFIN that caused most fo the damage in the paint, scoring 15 and 13 points respectively and grabbing 7 rebounds a piece.  The United States dominated under the boards, getting 13 more than Iran (45-33) and shot 1-of-4 three-pointers compared to Iran's 0-of-12.
Iran managed to stay close (10-14) at the end of the first quarter, but when teh second period stated the Americans showed their strength and allowed no hope to their opponents.  Adel TORFI MANSHADI led Iran with 13 points, while team captain Mohammadreza KARIMI had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds and Ahmad DAGHELLE POUR contributed 9 points.  Iran has now a ties record of 1-1, after a 81-33 win over host Greece in the opening game.

BASKETBALL: NED 95 - GRE 34

A recent 63-52 loss to Germnay was not a psychological obstacle for the Netherlands at all.  The 2000 Sydney Paralympic Games silver medallists had a great performance, as they crushed hosts Greece 95-34, tying their record at 1-1.  The Greeks, who scored 33 points against IRan in the opening game, showed that they have a definte offensive problem and need time to reach such a high level as their opponents'.
At the end of the first period, the Netherlands were leading the game 23-3, and then 54-19 at halftime, so the game against Greece turned into something like a good practice for them.  Koen JANSEN led the winners with 36 points, which is the new tournament scoring record.  The previous one belonged to Australian Troy SACHS (32 points aganist France in the opening game). JANSEN shot 15/21 from field.
Mario OOSTERBOSCH contributed 18 points, while team captain Gert Jan van DER LINDEN missed the triple-double

ATHLETICS

It was a rough and rugged night on the track at the Olympic Stadium. Crashes marred the semifinal of the men's 1500 meter race and a strategy unfulfilled in the women's 800 meter final left Team Quickie.Sopur members battered, bruised and disappointed.

Women's 800 Meter Final (T53)
It wasn't meant to be for Great Britain's queen of the track and Team Quickie.Sopur member Tanni Grey Thompson, in the 800 meter final. After a comfortable semifinal, she looked to engage the same strategy but it never materialized. American Cheri Blauwet took the gold in 1:59.05. Grey-Thompson got stuck in the back and finished seventh in 2:03.11, well off her world record pace of 1:55.12.

According to Ian Thompson, the Great Britain track coach as well as her husband, said Grey Thompson was looking to get up front and tuck behind the Blauwet, whom Tanni considered to be a favorite in this race.

Grey Thompson pushed out hard at the start, possibly too hard said Thompson, noting that the defending champion from Sydney seemed uncharacteristically smooth in tonight's race.

As his wife took care of her obligations to the media, giving a post-race interview to the BBC, which broadcast her race live back home, Thompson said, “The plan was to kick at 250 meters but she was too far off at that point.”

Tanni

Shirley Reilly, another Team Quickie.Sopur member, finished sixth at 2:02.81.

Men's 1500 Meter Semifinals (T54)

Figl

The carnage started early in the first heat when less than 100 meters from the start, a collision with Canadian Kelly Smith left Scot Hollonbeck's Quickie racing chair on its side. His chair was undamaged but the four-time Paralympian's uniform torn and his body battered and bruised.

“I don't know who started the chain reaction but it was basically ten guys trying to go into four lanes and everybody was basically equal.”
“It was a nice wreck, I hope the crowd liked it.”

Because the crash had happened early, the start was called back and the race rerun.

It didn't get any saner. Coming into the last turn, there was another spectacular crash that took out at least three racers with wheels flying into the air and bodies tumbling across the lanes. Hollonbeck managed to avoid this mess but Team Quickie.Sopur's Robert Figl, the winner of the Olympic 1500 meter exhibition race a few weeks earlier was not so lucky.

“It was a wall of humanity on the outside. Thank god I wasn't with that bunch. There was human debris and wheelchair parts that you had to swerve in and out of.”

Nonetheless, Hollonbeck finished fourth with only the top three finishers in each heat guaranteed to move on to the final and the next four qualifying on time. Unfortunately, his heat was slow and his own time more than seven seconds off from the previous night. As he sat in the tunnel watching the second heat on a monitor, he slowly saw his chances slip away

Until tonight, Hollonbeck had never missed the final of a 1500 meter race. As for a change in strategy if he had the chance, he smiled as he always does and admitted, “I would do it different, that's for sure.”

Team Quickie.Sopur racer Alhassane Balde finished sixth in the first heat and did not qualify while Ralph Brunner finished fifth in the second heat and qualified on time for the Tuesday final.

TENNIS

Three Team Quickie.Sopur tennis stars won on Monday.


Vergeer    Norfolk

World number one Esther Vergeer's first match went as smooth as the ride of her Quickie Match Point in a 6-0, 6-1 win over Great Britain's Kimberly Blake in the women's open singles. Nonetheless, the defending Paralympic champion admitted to some pre-game jitters.

“I was truly nervous at the beginning because this was the first match.”

Vergeer said she enjoyed playing Blake because she takes a hitter and it will help her in upcoming matches. The look of the venue was also comforting.

“The venue is beautiful and reminds me of Sydney. I particularly like the colors,” she said, referring to the orange and blue signage that just so happens to be the national colors of the Netherlands. Even without the signs and banners, it would have been orange for Esther as there were a large contingent of Dutch fans there to root her on.

Quad singles
Peter Norfolk of Great Britain won 6-1, 6-2 over Kevin Whalen of the USA on center court while Sarah Hunter of Canada won by a similar score over Hiroshi Toma of Japan.
Defending men's open singles champion David Hall of Australia easily won his first match on Sunday 6-0, 6-1 over Oscar Diaz of Argentina.

Team Quickie.Sopur Updates

McFadden

Team Quickie.Sopur Medal Count
Gold - 2
Silver - 1
Bronze - 0

Men's Basketball
WIN - CAN 66 - AUS 38
WIN - USA 62 vs. NED 78

Athletics:
100m - T54 FINALS:
SILVER Tatyana McFadden (USA)
4th to Yvonne Sehmisch (GER)

Men's 10000 - T54 FINALS:
Frei Heinz (GER) 7th, Jacob Heilveil (USA) 10th, Scot Hollonbeck (USA)11th

Men's 1500m T54 FINALS:
Ralph Brunner (SUI) 6th

Tennis - Men's Singles:
David Hall (AUS) advances 6-0 6-2
Peter Norfolk (GBR) advances 6-3 7-5

Tennis - Women's Singles:
Esther Vergeer (NED) advances - 6-0 6-0

Swimming
GOLD - Mayumi Narita (2nd for Narita)

Men's Basketball

Canada vs. Australia

The last game of the morning session featured two undefeated teams, the 2000 gold medallists Canada and the Asia-Oceania champion Australia (5th in Sydney)

From the first quarter the Canadians showed why they are considered the top favorites in Athens. They allowed the Australians to score only 9 points, putting in 20 themselves. And when the two teams went to their locker rooms the score had exploded to 42-13 for the defending gold medallists.

Same scene in the second half, with the final 66-38 considered a totally fair result. The victory assures Canada of a berth in the Quarterfinals, with two games to spare, against France and Great Britain. Still, the Canadians aim to finish the Preliminary Round without defeat. Australia (2-1) shares second place with Italy, but the two teams clash on Wednesday.

Patrick ANDERSON was unstoppable once more, as he came close to a triple figure (19 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists), while Richard PETER added 13 points and Joey Johnson has a great day with 9 points and 14 boards (plus 3 assists and 4 steels).

Netherlands beats US 82-66

The Netherlands repeated what they did in Sydney four years ago: they beat the United States, this time 82-66, and as a result the two teams now share second place in Pool B, behind undefeated Germany (3-0).

The 2000 silver medallists faced no difficulties dominating over the 2000 bronze medallists and 2002 World champions. They led by 21-12 at the end of the first quarter, by 41-25 at halftime and by 62-53 at the end of the third period, showing high confidence for their second win.

Wheelchair Tennis Update

After two easy victories in the early rounds, world number one Esther VEGEER (NED) faces a strong challenge on Wednesday, against the number eight seed Sakhorn KHANTHASIT (THA) in the Women's Singles quarterfinals.

Number two see and Paralympic champion David HALL (AUS) faces Jon RYDBERG (USA).

The two finalists in Quads Singles will also be decided on Wednesday, as number one seed Peter NORFOLK (GRB) faces number three seed Bas VAN ERP (NED) in the Semi-finals.

The second place is a great success, as this is the third Paralympic medal in my career after Sydney (gold) and Atlanta (silver).” Commented Michal Stefanu (CZE) after winning the Silver in the Men's Individual Class 4 Table Tennis Gold medal round.

Kenny van Wheegal during medal ceremonies Tuesday night for the Men's 200m - T54 event.

XII Paralympic Games - Athens Facts & Figures

From a competition as well as an organization aspect, the Paralympic Games are the second largest sporting event on the planet after the Olympic Games. Athens is the first organizing committee to undertake both the Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games. These games have the widest live coverage of any previous games with over 300 combined hours of live coverage. Athens will play host to:

Paralympics vs. Special Olympics

The Paralympics are sometimes confused with the Special Olympics, but these are two very distinct events. The Paralympic Games is an elite competition event open to athletes from many disability groups and it scope is competition-centered. The Special Olympics are open ONLY to athletes with intellectual disability and whose main purpose is to offer the opportunity to participate and socialize.

USA vs. Japan

Tatyanna McFadden and Yvonne Sehmisch

Team Quickie.Sopur Medal Count
Gold - 4
Silver - 2
Bronze - 0

Team Quickie.Sopur Competition Results

Women's Basketball
Can 51 - JPN 28
USA 74 - GBR 24

Men's Basketball
CAN 63 - FRA 43

Athletics
200m - T54 FINALS:
SILVER - Kenny van Weehgel (NED)
400m - T54 FINALS:
GOLD - Kenny van Weehgel (NED)

Swimming
GOLD - Mayumi Narita 200m Freestyle
GOLD - Mayumi Nartia 50m Freestyle

Tennis

Men's Singles:
David Hall (AUS) advances to finals 6-0 6-3

Women's Singles:
Esther Vergeer (NED) advances to SEMIFINALS 6-3 6-1

Mixed Singles:
Peter Norfolk (GBR) advances to finals 6-2 6-3

Men's Doubles:
Greer/Welch (NED) advances 6-1 6-3
Bonaccurso/Hall (AUS) advances 6-1 6-3
Quintero/Rydberg (USA) LOST

Women's Doubles:
Vergeer/Smit (NED) advance to SEMIFINALS 6-2 6-3
Hunter/McPhate (CAN) advance to SEMIFINALS 6-3 6-0

Kenny VAN WEEGHEL Wins Gold

Kenny VAN WEEGHEL (NED) lined up with some familiar faces for the men's 400m T54 on Wednesday night. Kenny, in lane 5, flew off the line at the start quickly assuming the lead early on. "The start felt good. I was actually close to a false start, as I was a little nervous. But it felt good and I just kept going and going." Kenny said.

VAN WEEGHEL lead for the remainder of the race, but felt pressure from Choke Yasuoka (JPN). "From the start until like 50m you don't see and hear anything around you. Then you hear the constant sound of the wheels and you just keep going and going. Then in the last 50 meters knew I had it and that was just the most unbelievable feeling."

Mayumi NARTIA - 3 Gold Medals

With another outstanding, world-record-breaking gold medal performance Japan's Mayumi NARITA is fast becoming the swimmer of the Paralympic Games. In the past three nights the 34-year-old NARITA has collected three gold medals, all in Paralympic record time and two in world record time. Mayumi has swam to the gold in 50m, 100m, 200m Freestyle events.

Wheelchair Tennis

Peter NORFOLK (GBR) and David WAGNER (USA) will fight for the gold in Friday's Quad Singles final. No 1 seed NORFOLK overcame Bas VAN ERP (NED) 6-2, 6-3 in today's first Semi-Final, while No 2 seed WAGNER managed to surpass the challenge posed by Nicholas TAYLOR prevailing 7-6 (4), 7-5 in the all-American, second Semi-Final of the event.

VAN ERP had the encouragement of his compatriot Esther VERGEER, who was cheering for him, but NORFOLK, who has won nine out of ten tournaments since July 2003, was too strong for the Dutchman to beat. "It was too hot and that made our efforts more difficult. I qualified for the final and now I want the right color medal - the gold," said NORFOLK after the match.

TAYLOR, the only top player to use a power chair, was up 5-2 in the second set but he could not finish the job. He was in the court for 1 hour 42 minutes and didn't make any double-faults, despite having to use his feet in order to serve. "It was a very difficult match. Now, against VAN ERP I will try to leave Athens with the bronze medal. Participating in the Paralympic Games was an unbelievable experience for me," TAYLOR said.

WAGNER is looking forward to the final: "Peter NORFOLK is a tough player. We have played together several times and I will do my best to beat him," he said.

Behind the Scenes - A Note From Dave Kiley, Assistant Coach of the Men's USA Basketball Team

We had beaten Iran and moved forward at 2-0 to the next round which was the Netherlands. Unfortunately, the Netherlands team was too experienced for our young guys. We played very poorly and we are not trying to fix the cart so it runs on 4 wheels not just 2 or 3.

Time passes slowly which is good for the experience, but we have so much time to think and plan - it is almost surreal. I really do not know if our young rookies have really comprehended where they are at or the true competiveness of the Paralympics.

We really need to be better as a team and we need leadership. Unfortunately one of our two veterans is hurt and out for three days (Trooper Johnson). We need someone to step up and take his place - which I know will happen. I also think we need to just need reach really deep like any athlete has to win the gold.

On a very positive note - there are so many Quickie Allcourts Worldwide now - it really makes me proud. I want to give a huge shout out to the engineers, specialized and or customer service(Pepe),.marketing and the entire Sunrise team who have invested in us here in Athens. We all are trying to do our best and with out you we would be 2nd rate - Many Props to you all!!!!

Peace through Heaven and Hoops

DK

Who are the ATHENS 2004 Volunteers?

Where would the ATHENS 2004 Paralympics be without the tireless support of 8,863 volunteers? Without the commitment from so many workers, these first few days of competition certainly would not have run as seamlessly as they have.

So who are these volunteers who were handpicked from some 160,000 personal applications? The vast majority (93.5% or 8,293) are permanent residents of Greece and by and large Greek. Of the 570 volunteers that came from outside the country, 382 descended from Greek ancestors who settled in some 25 different countries.

Describing an "average" volunteer would begin with female, as 60% or 5,328 of the volunteers are women. She would probably be between 18 and 34 years old, as are 5,033 of the volunteers, though over 2,000 are between the ages of 35-54. Lastly, our hypothetical volunteer would have at least a secondary education (47%), and more than likely, a university degree - 38.5% undergraduate and another 12% postgraduate degrees.

These volunteers are helping in everything from sport to transport, communication to telecommunications, and medical to medals. The IPC salutes and thanks all of these 8,863 volunteers, who are donating their time to make the ATHENS 2004 Paralympic Games a success.

Team Quickie.Sopur Medal Count
Gold - 5
Silver - 3
Bronze - 0

Men's Basketball
NED 83 - IRI 51
JPN 73 - GRE 32
USA 71 - GER 49

Athletics

Men's 4 x 400
Balde, Brunner - anq Figl qualified

Men's Marathon
Christoph Etzlstorfer - BRONZE

Tennis

Men's Singles:
David Hall (AUS) advances to FINALS 6-2 6-4

Women's Singles:
Esther Vergeer (NED) advances to SEMIFINALS 6-3 6-1

Mixed Singles:
Peter Norfolk (GBR) advances to finals 6-2 6-3

Men's Doubles:
Bonaccurso/Hall (AUS) advances 6-4 6-3

Women's Doubles:
Vergeer/Smit (NED) advance to SEMIFINALS 6-2 6-3
Hunter/McPhate (CAN) advance to SEMIFINALS 6-3 6-0

Mixed Doubles:
Hunter/ McPhate advance to FINAL 6-3 6-0

Quickie in the USA TODAY!

While Team Quickie.Sopur athletes are making the news around the world, so has this company and its place in the evolution of sports wheelchairs. USA Today ran a feature story on Thursday in the sports section that discussed how far the technology has come in helping the human machine, the athletes themselves, perform at their highest level.

Quickie founder Marilyn Hamilton, one of the first people to bring sport specific wheelchairs to the public, was interviewed along with engineer Tim Raiskup, director of basketball David Kiley and USA player/Team Quickie.Sopur member Jeff Glasbrenner.

Click here to read the story http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/sports/20040923/c14paraoly23.art.htm

Athletics

Tanni Grey-Thompson came to the 2004 Paralympic Games in search of gold. This hope of bringing home the most coveted of all medals was looking doubtful until Thursday night. Tanni was focused as she readied for her start in the women's 100m T-53 finals Thursday night. The field of five competitors broke quickly, however Tanni managed to break from line a few 10ths of a second over Francesca PORCELLATO (ITA) and held her lead until the end

Tears filled her eyes moments after crossing the line. "There's been a lot of self doubt over the last few days after the 800m race." said Tanni "I was extremely nervous going into the race and was kind of shaky during the first 10 meters, but then it just all came together."

Tennis

The first three medals in the 2004 Paralympic Games Wheelchair Tennis Tournament will be decided on Friday afternoon. World number one Peter NORFOLK (GBR, who has won nine out of ten tournaments since July 2003, faces number two David WAGNER (USA) in the Mixed Singles gold medal match on center court.

World number two Daniela DI TORO (AUS) and Florence GRAVELLIER (FRA) will fight for the bronze in the Women's Singles. GRAVELLIER lost to world number one Esther VERGEER in the other Semi-Final. "It was a great match." Esther commented. "I was a bit tense at the beginning, because in the last match we played against each other, I had beaten Florence 3-0. But I knew that her serve was what was giving me problems; I dealt with that and managed to regain my concentration to win the match."

Friday's schedule also includes the Men's Singles Semi-finals, with Michael JEREMIASZ (FRA) taking on David HALL (AUS). The Paralympic champion HALL said of his bout against JEREMIASZ: “We have had a lot of close matches. He is very good, a very tough player, so I expect a tough match”.

The Men's Doubles Semi-Finals and Women's Doubles Semi-Finals will follow the Men's Singles, Women's Singles and Quads events in Friday's schedule. In the Men's Doubles KUNIEDA/SAIDA (JPN) are up against BONACCURSO/HALL (USA) and JEREMIASZ/MAJDI face AMMERLAAN/STUURMAN (NED). In the Women's Doubles SMIT/VERGEER (NED) play OHMAE/YAOSA (JPN).

Basketball

In Paralympic basketball, the high level of competition rings like an old western movie, the quick and the dead.

The tremendous pace and skill needed to play at the top level requires equipment that is quick and responsive as well as able to take the consistent pounding that come with the territory in international basketball. Perhaps that is why most of the top players and teams here in Athens are using the Quickie All Court. It is the chair of choice for Canada's Pat Anderson, Dave Durepos and Joey Johnson, Americans Jeff Glasbrenner, Matt Scott, Jeremy Lade, Jennifer Warkins and Janna Crawford, Holland's Gert Jan van der Linden and Koen Jansens, Japan's Tomohiko Oshima and Mika Takabayashi, as well as many of their teammates.

After two sluggish wins and a big loss to the Netherlands (3-1), the USA (3-1) finally showed their best game in a 71-49 demolition of Germany (3-1), who had previously upset Holland in their first game. That left a three way tie between the three for first place in the group going into Friday's last group matches. The margin of victory gives the USA the upper hand if it comes to a tiebreaker.

The Americans play Greece Friday night in what should be an exciting event given the tremendous support that the local fans have given their home team though they have yet to win a game. To help the Greek wheelchair basketball team prepare for and compete in the games, their first ever appearance, the entire team was given Quickie All Court chairs to help them play at their best.

Holland plays Japan on Friday

In the women's tournament, the USA's (2-1) first game loss to Australia has put them into a semifinal match with top seeded Canada (3-0), which easily won its group. Many expected this to be the gold medal match. One team will end up playing for bronze.

Team Quickie.Sopur players Koen Jansens (Netherlands) and Jennifer Warkins (USA) are the leading scorers in the tournament averaging 34.4 and 21 points per game respectively. Pat Anderson (Canada) follows Jansens at 21.2 ppg. Both he and Jansens are averaging 10.8 rebounds per game.

Team Quickie.Sopur Medal Count

BASKETBALL

Coming up - Gold Medal Matches Men: Canada vs. Australia, Women: USA vs. Australia

In the men's wheelchair basketball final, it will be Canada, featuring Team Quickie.Sopur athletes Patrick Anderson, David Durepos, Joey Johnson and coach Mike Froggley, against Australia.

Defending Paralympic champions Canada defeated the Netherlands 91-70 to make it to the gold medal match.

Team Quickie.Sopur athletes Pat Anderson led Canada with 35 points, including five three pointers and 14 rebounds. Joey Johnson had 18 and Dave Durepos chipped in with five.

Koen Jansens, the tournament's leading scorer with a 34 point average and three 40+ point games here in Athens, led the Dutch with 20 points while Gert Jan van der Linden had 17. Both pulled in 10 rebounds apiece.

On the women's side, the USA will be looking to make things right and avenge a first game one point loss to Australia when they meet them again in Monday's gold medal game. The Americans advanced by defeating the three-time defending champion Canada 57-40 in the semifinal on Saturday night.

USA forward and Team Quickie.Sopur athlete Jennifer Warkins leads all scorers with 20.2 points per game.

In a roundup of other action over the weekend…

Men's Quarterfinal Great Britain 62 - USA 59

Since 1776 the Americans and the British have fought close battles and those on the Paralympic basketball court have been no different. In a heartbreaking reversal of the USA's buzzer beating three-pointer that won the bronze medal in Sydney four years ago, this time the last points were scored by Great Britain in a 62-59 upset at the Olympic Indoor Arena.

Team Quickie.Sopur members Matt Scott and Jeff Glasbrenner led the USA with 35 and 13 points respectively. Jeremy "Opie" Lade had 10 assists.

After a USA miss, this time it was Great Britain with the ball and a chance for the final shot at 59-59. When Jeff Glasbrenner was called for an intentional foul with eight seconds left in trying to block Ade Adeptian's shot, the British player made both free throws. The harsh intentional foul call also gave the Brits the ball at midcourt. The Americans fouled quickly and Simon Munn's free throw put the margin at three. With less than one second left, the USA could not get off a shot.

"We never really got on track today," said Trooper Johnson, one of only two players on the team who played in Sydney. "Nobody comes here thinking of anything but leaving with a gold medal, so losing before the medal rounds is devastating.

Mat Scott

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

USA 57 - Canada 40

The USA women knocked the three-time defending Paralympic champion Canada out with a resounding 57-40 win that puts them into the gold medal match on Monday against the winner of Australia-Germany game.

Head coach Ron Lykins cautioned his team at halftime despite their 16 point lead.

"We talked about the time when we had a big lead on these guys at Roosevelt, and they came back on us. I said to remember the lesson we learned against Australia, (where they had a similar lead but lost) and we came out strong defensively. Our defense kept us in there and kept that comfortable lead."

TENNIS

There were a lot of medals over the weekend for Team Quickie.Sopur tennis players.

Esther Vergeer repeated her double gold performance from Sydney with championships in both singles and doubles. The Team Quickie.Sopur tennis star defeated her countryman Sonja Peters 6-0, 6-0.

Every time Esther played, the stands were a sea of orange. Dutch fans are perhaps the most fervent supporters of their Paralympic athletes and Vergeer is one of their favorites. But it was more than that which caught the Dutchwoman's eye.

Vergeer commented earlier in the tournament that she truly appreciated the blue and orange colors used in the backdrops and signage around the tennis venue.

In Sunday's doubles final, Vergeer and Maike Smit defeated Thailand 6-0, 6-4 for the gold.

As expected, the world's two best male singles players, David Hall of Australia and Team Quickie.Sopur and his nemesis Robin Ammerlaan of the Netherlands met in the men's final.

The two have traded the world number one ranking back and forth this season and going into Athens, Hall was second by only one point.

After winning a silver medal in doubles, Hall wasn't able to repeat his Sydney success in singles, falling to the Dutchman 6-2, 6-1.

Peter Norfolk, Team Quickie.Sopur's representative on the British tennis team celebrated the introduction of quad tennis to the games with gold and silver medals in the singles and doubles respectively.

Athletics

Men's 100m Final

A highlight here in Athens has been the Paralympic emergence of a new Dutch track star, Kenny van Weeghel, a Team Quickie.Sopur member. After leaving Sydney with no medals, he will have to clean off a shelf when he gets home from Greece. Following up his gold in 400m and silver in the 200m, Van Weeghel completed his collection with a bronze in the 100m on Sunday night.

Marathon

Running the traditional route that was also used during the Olympic Games, the Paralympic marathon was run on a sunny Sunday morning. Team Quickie.Sopur's Jacob Heilveil of the USA achieved a personal best time of 1:33:11 to finish eighth. Coming in one spot ahead of Heilveil was world record holder in the marathon Heinz Frei. Team Quickie.Sopur members Ralph Brunner and Robert Figl of Germany finished 12 th and 22 nd . The USA's Scot Hollonbeck, still smarting from a crash earlier in the week in the 1500m, came in 24 th .

Women's 400 meter final

The youngest member of Team Quickie.Sopur in Athens, America's 15 year old Tatyana McFadden finished fifth in the 400m final on Saturday and won her heat to move into the 200m on Sunday.

Hand Cycling

Christoph Etzlstorfer of Austria, a Team Quickie.Sopur hand cyclist won the bronze medal in Division A road race on Friday.

Team Quickie Sopur Update

Women's Basketball

USA 56 - AUS 44 (gold medal game)

Here are the new Wheelchair Basketball queens! After eliminating three-straight Paralympic Games gold medallists Canada (57-40 in the semi-final), the United States showed enormous power and determination, edging Australia (56-44) and celebrating the capture of the gold medal in the 2004 Paralympic Wheelchair Basketball Women's Tournament, which was completed tonight in Athens, Greece.

So 2004 was the lucky year for the Americans, who came up strong, dominating from the tip-off. They led 20-8 at the end of the first quarter, and ten minutes later they could as well start the celebration, knowing that a 34-16 halftime lead was the strongest base for the gold medal.

The scenario did not change at all during the second half, as the United States continued their great performance until the final horn sounded. Team Quickie.Sopur player Jennifer WARKINS offered a terrific performance with 21 points, 15 rebounds and 6 steals, while fellow Team Quickie.Sopur players Christina RIPP contributed 16 points and 7 boards and Janna CRAWFORD added 9 points and 10 rebounds.

CAN 63 – GER 47 (bronze medal game)

A medal is always a medal, so Canada, gold medallists of the three previous Paralympic Games, had to move on, despite their elimination by the United States in the semi-final game. And they did in perfect style.

After a slow start and a tied 14-14 at the end of the first period, the Canadians reacted as a top-quality team, closed the first half on a 28-18 lead and then took care of all small details that usually determine the winners. As a result, they beat Germany, 63-47, and closed their participation in the Tournament with an important win, preparing themselves for the 2006 Gold Cup in Amsterdam and already feeling hungry for the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games.

Team Quickie.Sopur member Sabrina PETTINICCHI added 12 points to the scoreboard for her team tonight.

Men's Basketball

USA 79 – JPN 56 (Places 7-8) - Classification Game

Despite the disappointment they felt about playing for seventh place, the United States had a terrific performance against Japan, as the 2002 World Champions and 2000 Paralympic Games bronze medallists crushed the Japanese 79-56, leaving the eighth place of the final standings to them.

Team Quickie.Sopur player Jeff GLASBRENNER led the USA with 14 points and 12 rebounds, while Jeremy LADE added 12 points for the winners (another Team Quickie.Sopur member) , who used almost all 12 of their players.

The United States had an excellent first period (22-4) and entered the locker room on a 39-21 lead at halftime, so it was too hard for Japan to follow such a rhythm and come back.

Athletics

The presence of thousands of Athenian school children and their Greek flags, once again, inspired athletes to succeed. One of the most enduring and popular Paralympic athletes, Tanni GREY-THOMPSON (GBR) set a new Paralympic Games record in the women's 400m T53 final. Her winning time was 57.36 seconds. Madelen NORDLUND (SWE) who held the previous record, finished second in 58.32 seconds with Francesca PORCALLETO (ITA) earning the bronze with a time of 59.59 seconds.

Young Tatyanna MCFADDEN raced to a third medal finish in the women's 200m, finishing right behind he was Tanni GREY-THOMPSON.

Swimming

Table Tennis

The Paralympic Table Tennis Tournament came to a close on Monday, at the Galatsi Olympic Hall, with medals up for grabs in all Men's Classes, the finals drew massive crowds as the competition came to a climax. Team Quickie.Sopur's Michal Stefanu, together with his fellow Czech teammates in the Men's Teams Class 5, crushed the defending Paralympic champion Korea 3-2 to take home the gold.

Archery

The Archery event of the XII Paralympic Games in Athens came to an exciting conclusion last night, as all 64 Men and 32 Women representing 30 nations displayed their talents gracefully over six days of competition, beginning with the Ranking Round on 21 September.

New world and Paralympic records were set in the Team category as Team Quickie.Sopur HIRASAWA and fellow teammates ISOZAKI and Aya NAKANISHI (JPN) shot in 1732 points in the 216-Arrows Ranking Round.

2004 Paralympic Closing Ceremonies

The ATHENS 2004 Organizing Committee (ATHOC) has decided to cancel the planned entertainment portions of the Closing Ceremony of the XIIth Paralympic Games, due to the tragic road accident that claimed the lives of high school students who were traveling to Athens to attend the Paralympic Games.

The Closing Ceremony will only entail the protocol segments (entry of athletes, Speech by the IPC President Mr. Phil CRAVEN, handover of the Paralympic Flag to the Beijing Organising Committee, extinguishing of the Flame).

Behind the Scenes - TV Coverage of Paralympic Games

Broadcasters report that the ATHENS 2004 Paralympic Games are being watched by a record number of viewers. Although the live broadcast of the Opening Ceremony coincided with the middle of the night in some parts of the world, 10 million Chinese and 8 million Japanese enjoyed the show.

Said, IPC spokesperson Miriam WILKENS: "Almost 50 broadcasters are present in Athens - this is a new record and a development, which confirms that there has been a good growth in interest for the Paralympic Games since the Sydney 2000 Paralympics. We expect to continue this positive trend for Torino in 2006 and Beijing in 2008."

Daily highlights programs are attracting millions of European viewers. German broadcaster ARD/ZDF report that the highlights aired on Sunday 19 September, were watched by nearly 1.5 million persons. In Great Britain, the BBC attracted approximately 2 million viewers for their first Sunday Paralympic program, whereas 634,000 persons watch the summary broadcast in Spain on 19 September.

Italian television reports an average of 600,000 viewers for their daily broadcasts of Paralympic highlights.

THE LAST GAME

For every Paralympic Games, there has to be a final event and for Athens 2004, it was the gold medal match between Canada and Australia for the men's wheelchair basketball gold medal.

While the dynasty that had been Canadian women's basketball for the past 12 years was ended by an American side that looks poised for success in the future, the Canadian men are working to establish their own mark as they overwhelmed Australia 70-53 to win their second consecutive gold medal.

Coach Mike Froggley, a Team Quickie.Sopur expert, said that his team came to Athens with the plan of being dominant. And they succeeded, winning every game except the final by overwhelming margins of at least 20 and most times far more points.

Team Quickie.Sopur athletes Patrick Anderson, quite arguably the best all-around wheelchair basketball player in the world right now, and Joey Johnson led the Canadian charge with 13 and 15 points respectively. Anderson also passed for seven assists and grabbed 13 rebounds. Johnson had 10 rebounds. Dave Durepos also played strong for Canada.

For coach Froggley, who coaches both men's and women's teams at the University of Illinois, it was, at least in spirit, his second gold medal win. Ten of the 12 women on the gold medal winning USA women's team have previously or currently play for him at Illinois.

Farewell to Athens -

Like people with disabilities, the organization of the Athens Paralympic Games, as well as the Olympics that preceded them, was precipitated with doubt.

And just as when a person with a disability is given the chance to perform, so have these 12 th Paralympic Games been a stalwart example of the truth; that to succeed, one must be first given the opportunity.

The Athens 2004 Paralympic Games will be remembered first and foremost for the highest levels of performance and achievement presented by the athletes from 136 countries.

It will be remembered for the warmth and generosity of the thousands of volunteers and ATHOC staff and the tens upon tens of thousands of Greek fans, especially the schoolchildren, who brought life to the OAKA plaza and filled the sports venues. They cheered hard and long for countrymen and women but also for every athlete who had the honor of competing in their presence.

From the opening ceremony to the close of the games, Athens and Greece and 4000 athletes with disabilities demonstrated determination and excellence on a daily basis.

“Welcome Home” said the signs, referring to the return of the games to Athens after 108 years.

Efchareesto Athena ke yassou.

Thank you Athens and goodbye.

It was a welcome home indeed.

On A Personal Note -

As the closing ceremonies draw near today, one cannot help but to reflect on the time spent here in Athens. There is not doubt that this has been an amazing two weeks. We have seen and experienced one of the most remarkable demonstrations of will power, endurance, and perseverance. For me, the 2004 Paralympic Games will forever be remembered as a profound celebration of the Human Spirit.

In total we have covered over 140 events during a period of 10 days. The Team Quickie.Sopur Team has thoroughly enjoyed bringing you the pictures and stories from the games - and we hope that in some way we have been able to capture the feelings and energy surrounding the Paralympics.

We thought that you might like to meet the team who has been working on bringing you this Newsletter

Metilde: Photography

Steve: Writer

Sandy: Photography

Bob: Photography

Kristin: Writer/Coordinator

Jurjen: Photography

Lutz: International Production

A special thanks to Christian Connolly and Masha Resink for their help - we couldn't have done it without them!