Summer Olympics 2012 London

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'We can't afford to compete with you': France accuses Britain of techno-cheating
The French Paralympic team deputy boss said Brits investment was turning the event 'into Forumla 1'


A French Paralympics official has claimed the British team is guilty of ‘technological doping’ by spending hundreds of thousands of pounds developing cutting-edge wheelchairs that give a significant advantage over poorer countries.

Rudy Van Abeele, the French Paralympic team’s deputy manager, said ParalympicsGB’s investment in state-of-the-art equipment was turning the event into the equivalent of Formula 1.

He even said Britain’s double gold winning track wheelchair racer David Weir would not have reached the finals of his events without his innovative chair.

His comments echoed French complaints at the Olympics, when cycling team director Isabelle Gautheron pointed an accusing finger at the British and their ‘magic wheels’.

And Jamaica joined in the new row, claiming it had not entered a single track wheelchair racer because of the costs involved.

Mr Van Abeele said: ‘The Paralympics is becoming like Formula 1. For me the wheelchair is at least 25 per cent of the performance and Britain has the most advanced technology.

‘It’s technological doping because it is not available for everybody.’

Asked how British world record holder David Weir would have fared in a wheelchair used by a poorer country, Mr Van Abeele said: ‘He would not even be in the final. The wheelchair’s balance is built for him.

‘The cost is around £5,000 to £7,000. Those amounts for some people are more than they can get in their lives. It’s very sad.’

Last week, The Mail on Sunday revealed UK Sport had spent £700,000 on wheelchair research and innovation.

To assess aerodynamic efficiency, wheelchairs have been blasted with air in wind tunnels built by defence firm BAE Systems and used to develop the Eurofighter Typhoon jet. Manoeuvrability has been measured using cutting-edge tracking technology developed by Formula 1 team McLaren, while the seats have been created by car firm BMW.

One argument for Paralympic teams being allowed unlimited investment is that the technology can later be adapted to help disabled people in the real world.

However, Mr Van Abeele said that the equipment being used by the British was so personalised that it was difficult for rival competitors to use it, let alone disabled people in everyday life.

The Secretary-General of the Jamaican Paralympic Committee, Suzanne Harris-Henry, said the high cost of competitive chairs had priced the Jamaican team out of entering the wheelchair events.

‘There is no point taking part if you don’t have the money to buy a good enough wheelchair,’ she said. ‘The cheapest ones cost £2,200 which we cannot afford.’

A British Paralympic Association spokesman said: ‘Our job, backed by funding from the lottery and commercial sponsors, is to make our athletes the best prepared to compete and win on the world stage, cleanly and fairly.

'We are aware that in the UK we are lucky with our funding and have a world-renowned science and engineering sector.’

Racing wheelchairs now weigh around three times less than they did 60 years ago, helping athletes reach 25mph.

Britons Shelly Woods and David Weir went the extra mile by visiting an Airbus base for wind-tunnel tests where engineers analysed the efficiency of their body positions and the chair’s design. This involved them being blasted by 30mph winds.

Team sport chairs are now designed purely for speed, acceleration and precision – athletes used to use their day chairs – with some players going as fast as 10mph.

 

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Bespoke racing wheelchairs designed and manufactured by UK firm Draft will be used by a number of medal hopefuls during the London 2012 Paralympics, including Beijing gold medalist David Weir and London Marathon winner Shelly Woods (below).

The chairs are custom built for each athlete with particular attention paid to the seat to allow optimum body positioning.

Frames built from lightweight aluminium for speed and durability are constructed in V, open V or T styles depending on the lower body of each athlete, and foot plates are added if necessary.

Wheels are designed with either stainless steel spokes for rigidity or carbon fibre bracing/disks that weigh less and can increase speed.

Athletes from Great Britain, Spain, Finland, Canada and other countries will compete with the Draft chairs in the T54 category.

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Michelle Stilwell didn't wear the black skull cap to make a fashion statement.

The wheelchair sprinter from Nanoose Bay discovered via wind-tunnel testing in Ottawa earlier this year that covering her head made her more aerodynamic in her chair.

The new headgear paid off. Stilwell defended her Paralympic gold medal in the women's 200 metres in 33.80 seconds Saturday. She shattered her Games record by over two seconds. The 38-year-old will go for a double dose of gold when she races the 100 metres Wednesday.

Her eyes shrouded behind dark glasses and her hair pulled back in a ponytail under the cap, Stilwell edged Belgium's Marieke Vervoort by three tenths of a second at Olympic Stadium.

"Even if it's just hundredths of a second, it saves me, honestly I should have had it in a bun tucked in, but I wanted people to know that I actually have hair," an elated Stilwell said following her race.

Stilwell is quadriplegic and races in the T52 classification. Wearing a cap in a race for the first time in her career was just one item in the life blitz Stilwell conducted in her bid to stand atop the Paralympic podium again.

Her diet, race chair setup, clothing and training location were all overhauled.

"Every little detail, we've worked at it," Stilwell said. "It's an incredible training plan that Peter [Lawless] my coach and I came up with. Obviously, it worked."

Stilwell, her husband, Mark, and their 11-year-old son, Kai, moved to Australia for three months over the winter so Stilwell could get quality training prior to London. Mark quit his job in computer programming so he could home-school Kai, who is autistic, while his wife trained in Australia.

"It was a huge sacrifice we've all made to make it happen," she said.

Stilwell and her husband planned a quiet, belated celebration of their 15th wedding anniversary, which was Friday, following her race. No champagne, just water with lemon.

"I'm going to go spend the evening with my family," she said. "I'm going to stay out of the village tonight and have some relaxing time, come back in around noon tomorrow and refocus and get set for Wednesday night."

A clan of more than 20 supporters in red T-shirts with her nickname "Mikey Stilwell" are in London. Stilwell became tearful while relating that her brother Ken from Winnipeg was in Olympic Stadium to see her race for the first time.

At age 17, she fell backward onto basement stairs while riding piggy-back on a friend. Her neck struck the stairs, rendering her a quadriplegic. Stilwell won basketball gold in Sydney in 2000 and then switched to wheelchair racing.

Setting records in the 100, 200 and 400 metres already this calendar year made Stilwell appear untouchable as London approached. She had dominated American rivals Kerry Morgan and Cassie Mitchell at a meet in Windsor, Ont., in July.

Stilwell was unsure about Vervoort, whom she hadn't previously raced.

She peeked over her right shoulder at Vervoort over the final metres. The glance might have cost Stilwell a chance at breaking her own world record of 33.58, but she feels she has peace of mind now.

"I can focus on the 100 and be a little bit more confident knowing where she's at," Stilwell explained.

 

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At the Paralympics Games now taking place in London, two American wheelchair racers from Maryland will make history: Tatyana McFadden and her sister Hannah will be the first sisters ever to compete against each other at these world championships for athletes with disabilities.

The story of how these sisters came to race each other illustrates the opening up of civil rights laws, providing people with disabilities more opportunities — including sports. It was a legal fight by Tatyana to win the right for herself, and now Hannah, to more fully compete in school sports. And that helped them advance in international competition.

Tatyana, 23, has already won medals at the games in Beijing in 2008 and Athens in 2004. She has also won eight world championships and marathons in New York and Chicago. London is the first Paralympics for Hannah, 16.

Sports 'Saved My Life'

Tatyana was born in Russia with spina bifida, paralyzed from the waist down. "I was adopted from Russia at the age 6," she says. "And I was very anemic and weak. And so the only point that saved my life was sports."

When she says sports saved her life, she means it — literally. Deborah McFadden, the American who adopted her from a Russian orphanage, bought Tatyana her first wheelchair and then encouraged her to participate in sports as a way to get her healthy.

McFadden says every time she introduced Tatyana to a new sport, she took to it right away: swimming, gymnastics, wheelchair basketball, and downhill skiing. "She kept saying 'ya sama.' And ya sama in Russian doesn't mean: I can do it. It means, I can do it myself. So I'd say, 'Let's go swimming.' 'Ya sama. Ya sama.' "

Tatyana competed in her first Paralympic Games in Athens when she was 15.

At the end of that summer, she came home and started high school at Atholton High in Howard County, Md. She wanted to be part of the high school track team. But on the eve of the first track meet, the coach refused to give her a uniform. She wouldn't be allowed to compete.

After her mother complained, Tatyana was allowed to race, but not side-by-side with her teammates. At her first meet, her teammates and other competitors in the 400-meter race ran first. Then the track meet stopped and Tatyana was allowed to race — going around the track in her wheelchair, racing against no one. "That was the most humiliating, embarrassing thing I've ever done, ever," she says.

She didn't want to be the girl in the wheelchair; even then, she wanted to be seen as a top athlete. "People look at you and in their minds [they] see, 'Oh, the girl with a disability in a wheelchair is running for a high school team. Congratulations.' And for me as an elite athlete, it's not what you want as an elite athlete."

The Legal Battle

Tatyana and her mother sued the Howard County Public School System, which bitterly divided the community. Deborah McFadden had been the head of the U.S. Administration on Developmental Disabilities in 1990 when President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act, which banned discrimination against people with disabilities. The lawsuit sought clarification on how disability civil rights laws applied to high school sports. Tatyana wanted to compete alongside other high school students.

In 2006, a judge issued an injunction allowing her to race. A final agreement was worked out with the school system the following year. Later, Maryland legislators passed a law that expanded the rights of students with disabilities to compete in school sports. More than a dozen other states have since passed similar legislation.

"So it was definitely a tough battle but it's worth it," says Tatyana, who looks to her sister. She says she thought about Hannah and future generations when she sued and then advocated for the state law.

Hannah, who walks with a prosthetic leg, says her sister's battles, just a few years ago, made a difference. She's a junior and on the track team at her high school. "I love being on the track team," she says, "It gets me involved. I've been treated equally. I've been given a uniform. Thanks to Tatyana, I don't have to fight every day with people, and I get that respect and I get to be on the team."

'We're Crushing World Records'

More opportunities have opened for Tatyana, too. She attends the University of Illinois on an athletic scholarship. More and more of those are being offered to student athletes with disabilities.

For the Paralympics, she has corporate sponsors, including BP, which ran black and white TV ads during the Olympics that showed Tatyana racing.

And U.S. Paralympians now train with Olympic athletes at U.S. Olympic Committee training centers under the supervision of the same Olympic coaches.

With better training, more opportunities and better equipment, more people with disabilities are involved with sports — and getting better and better at it.

"For me being 23 and Hannah just being 16, we are nowhere near our peaks, and I think that's what makes the sport really exciting to watch," Tatyana says. "We're crushing world records and the sport's getting faster and more competitive."

The two sisters will line up in nearby lanes in the 100-meter sprint on Saturday, Sept. 8.

But before then, Tatyana will set out on another first. She'll participate in every wheelchair race from the 100-meter sprint to the marathon. It's an exhausting schedule, requiring her to compete over seven straight days. Her first competition — the 400 meters — starts Monday.

Racing To Survive

Last month, before heading to London, Tatyana and Hannah got in one last practice, on a high school track in Columbia, Md. They practiced their starts in their sleek racing wheelchairs, made of carbon fiber to keep them ultralight at just 10 pounds. The chairs have high wheels in the back and then taper down to a long point at the front. Tatyana's chair is purple. Hannah's is yellow.

The young women prod, push and tease each other. Tatyana's shoulders are broad. She pumps her muscular arms to push the wheels on her racing bike.

Their mother watches. "I never set out to say, 'Hmmm, I wonder how I can make her a Paralympian,' says Deborah McFadden, as Tatyana rushes past. "I was thinking, 'How can I keep her alive?' "

 

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Xiaofei Ji of China's track cycling team is helped by a Chinese support staff after winning Gold in the Mixed C 1 to 5 Team Sprint Gold Medal Final at the London 2012 Paralympic games in the Velodrome, at the Olympic Park in Stratford, London September 2, 2012. In the C class competition, athletes

 

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Mallory Weggemann of the U.S. embraces her teammate Jessica Long after winning the Women's 50m Freestyle S8 swimming final as Jiang Shengnan of China looks on at the London 2012 Paralympic games at the Olympic Park in Stratford in London, September 2, 2012. REUTERS/Andrew Winning

 

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South Africa's Oscar Pistorius congratulates Brazil's Alan Oliveira after Oliveira won the men's 200m T44 classification event at the Olympic Stadium during the London 2012 Paralympic Games September 2, 2012. This classification is for athletes with an impairment that affects their arms or legs.

 

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Paralympics: Medals bungle takes another twist

Nobody likes playing the bad guy, including Paralympic officials.

That was the only logical conclusion following the decision to restore medals to athletes who had been stripped of glory following a computer error.

In the latest twist to the farcical situation surrounding Friday's women's F35/36 discus competition, it was decided that both the original and corrected winners would receive gold medals.

Same goes for the bronze with Australia's Katherine Proudfoot and fourth-placed Bao Jiongyu of China each collecting a medal.

If that was not all confusing enough, only the corrected results will be reflected on the medal table.

International Paralympic Committee spokesman Craig Spence said the decision was made "in the spirit of fair play'' as the athletes were competing against the scoreboard.

After originally handing out the medals on Friday, the ceremony for the revised winners was supposed to be held on Saturday before being postponed until Sunday.

In combined class events, a mathematical formula is used to determine final positions on points rather than distance.

Unfortunately, an out of date version was used during Friday's event and Australia launched a protest that resulted in Proudfoot being elevated from fifth to third place.

 

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Paralympics: "Blade Runner" Oscar Pistorius loses 200m final, complains to officials

LONDON - Having spent years fighting for the right to race his own blades, Oscar Pistorius is now complaining about a rival's artificial limbs after a stunning loss at the London Paralympics on Sunday.

The "Blade Runner" had never been beaten over 200 meters in Paralympic competition until Brazilian sprinter Alan Oliveira came storming down the home straight past him to win by 0.07 seconds.

The icon of the Paralympics had been dethroned and wasn't taking it lightly.

Pistorius immediately raised concerns with Paralympic officials that Oliveira's surge came through rule-bending blades helping with the late strides.

Pistorius, who won a legal battle to compete wearing carbon-fiber blades alongside able-bodied runners at the Olympics last month, suggested that Oliveira ran with longer prosthesis than should be allowed.

Oliveira won gold in 21.45 seconds after overtaking Pistorius at the line at Olympic Stadium in the T44 classification race in front of a capacity 80,000-strong crowd.

"Not taking away from Alan's performance - he's a great athlete - but these guys are a lot taller and you can't compete (with the) stride length," Pistorius said in a broadcast interview. "You saw how far he came back. We aren't racing a fair race. I gave it my best. The IPC (International Paralympic Committee) have their regulations. The regulations (allow) that athletes can make themselves unbelievably high.

"We've tried to address the issue with them in the weeks up to this and it's just been falling on deaf ears."

Alan Fonteles Cardoso Oliveira of Brazil is congratulated by Oscar Pistorius of South Africa after winning gold in the Men's 200m - T44 Final at Olympic Stadium on September 2, 2012 in London, England.

While Pistorius tried to be more magnanimous later, he still claimed it was "ridiculous" that Oliveira could win after being eight meters adrift at the 100-meter mark and deny him a third straight 200 gold.

"He's never run a 21 second-race and I don't think he's a 21-second athlete," Pistorius said. "I've never lost a 200-meter race in my career."

The South African double amputee had the support of compatriot Arnu Fourie, who finished fourth and questioned Oliveira's lengthened blades

"Ask anyone out there - does it look weird? Does it look out of proportion?" Fourie said. "I think 99 percent of people are going to tell you, 'Yes it does.'"

"If they are within the rules you can't fight the athlete, so you're going to have to fight the formula and fight the rule if we're going to do anything about it."

Oliveira insisted he had not broken the rules, and expressed disappointment with Pistorius' criticism.

"He is a really great idol, and to listen to that coming from a really great athlete is really difficult," Oliveira said through a translator. "I don't know who he's picking a fight with, it's not with me."

The 20-year-old Oliveira was backed by Paralympic leaders.

"There is a rule in place regarding the length of the blades, which is determined by a formula based on the height and dynamics of the athlete," the IPC said in a statement. "All athletes were measured today prior to competition by a classifier and all were approved for competition."

Paralympic officials, including the top medical official, agreed to meet with Pistorius after the race.

"He wanted to voice his concerns and we listened to those concerns," said IPC spokesman Craig Spence, who was at the meeting. "The IPC will meet with Oscar at a later date to discuss his concerns once the emotion of tonight is out of the way."

The second half of Pistorius' year in London is not running to script.

At the start of last month, Pistorius reached the 400 semifinals and the 4x400 relay final. Competing at the Olympics was some achievement alone, though the medals were meant to come at the Paralympics.

But Oliveira could stand in the way of Pistorius and glory for the rest of the games, competing in all of his events.

Next up is the 4x100 relay on Wednesday before Pistorius defends his titles in the 100 on Thursday and 400 on Saturday.

Earlier Sunday in the Olympic Stadium, a Ukrainian athlete who was stripped of her Paralympic discus title after an error by scorers was told she would be allowed to keep her gold medal.

Mariia Pomazan had been relegated to silver after officials said the placings from Friday's F35/36 final were incorrect because an outdated scoring system had been used. China's Wu Qing was promoted to first place.

However, the IPC that in the "spirit of fair play," Pomazan would be allowed to keep her gold although it would not be added to Ukraine's medal tally.

She said she was "extremely emotional" and called it an "unforgettable experience."

 

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Paralympic poster boy Pistorius was the favourite to win, but Brazil's Alan Oliveira raced ahead in the final 60m, taking over from the South African to win gold in an incredible finish.

Speaking after the race, Pistorius said that the Brazilian's long legs, helped by longer artificial limbs, meant that it was not a "fair race".

"I'm not taking away from Alan's performance but I can't compete with Alan's stride length," he said in an interview straight after the race.

"The IPC have their regulations and their regulations mean that some athletes can make themselves unbelievable high...his knee-heights are four inches higher than they should be."

Oliveira completed the race in a personal best of 21.45 seconds. Responding to Pistorius's claims, he said that the length of his blades had been approved by the IPC and that he had not changed them during the competition.

The IPC responded with a statement, saying that all athletes' blades are measured and confirmed that Oliverira's passed the test.

Pistorius beat the world record in his qualifying heat for the 200m, but he failed to run as fast on Sunday evening.

 

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WELL DONE
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Sophie Christiansen of Great Britain (L) with Helen Kearney of Ireland (C) and Laurentia Tan of Singapore during the Dressage Individual Championship Test Grade Ia on day 4 of the London 2012 Paralympic Games at Greenwich Park on September 2, 2012 in London, England.

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Laurentia Tan of Singapore during the Dressage Individual Championship Test Grade Ia on day 4 of the London 2012 Paralympic Games at Greenwich Park on September 2, 2012 in London, England.

 

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Equestrian rider Laurentia Tan has won Singapore's first medal at the 2012 London Paralympic Games.

The 33-year-old, who suffers from cerebral palsy and profound deafness, won a bronze in the Paralympics Grade IA individual championship dressage test with a score of 73.650.

She finished behind Britain's Sophie Christiansen (82.750) and Ireland's Helen Kearney (76.700).

Tan, who is based in the United Kingdom, won two bronzes at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games and will be awarded S$50,000 for her achievement in London.

A delighted Tan said, "I had a smooth ride and it all went well. I'm happy that I got the medal as the competition standard is higher and harder this time.

"I'm really happy and it hasn't quite sunk in yet. I have worked hard and I am grateful to the team and all the members for all the help and support provided."

Fellow Singaporean Gemma Foo finished 13th place out of 14 with a score of 65.050.

Helen Kearney of Ireland celebrates winning Silver during the Dressage Individual Championship Test Grade Ia on day 4 of the London 2012 Paralympic Games at Greenwich Park on September 2, 2012 in London, England.

 

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LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 02: Liu Lei of China celebrates a world record lift and takes gold in the Men's 67.5kg competition on day 4 of the London 2012 Paralympic Games at ExCel on September 2, 2012 in London, England.

 

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Amalia Perez of Mexico celebrates winning gold in the Women's 60kg Powerlifting on day 4 of the London 2012 Paralympic Games at ExCel on September 2, 2012 in London, England.