Paralympics

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Paralympian Dies Trying to Row Across Pacific Ocean

Angela Madsen was attempting to set world record

(Newser) - A spinal cord injury during her time in the Marines left Angela Madsen a paraplegic, but it didn't slow her down. She went to the Paralympics three times, including a 2012 trip during which she won bronze in the shot put event, and won several gold medals at the...

Famed Paralympian in Coma After Terrible Crash

'All of Italy is fighting with you,' PM tells Zanardi

(Newser) - After a horrific CART racing crash in 2001 cost him both his legs, Alex Zanardi built his own prosthetics and made an incredible comeback as a Paralympic athlete, winning gold in handcycling four times. Now, a second horrific crash for Zanardi. The 53-year-old former Formula One driver was placed in...

Paralympic Athlete Legally Ends Her Life

100m champ Marieke Vervoort was 40

(Newser) - Paralympian athlete Marieke Vervoort made the most out of her life—and ended it at a time of her choosing. The 40-year-old died Tuesday by euthanasia, which is legal in Belgium. Vervoort, who won the 100 meters gold and 200 meters silver medals in wheelchair racing at the London Paralympics...

Big Surprise for Strangers Who Helped Stranded Wheelchair Racer

Woman they assisted during NYC Marathon was Paralympic gold medalist Zou Lihong

(Newser) - In a New York minute, a Paralympic athlete's distressing experience turned into an inspiring one thanks to a smartphone app and the kindness of strangers. The New York Times reports on the plight of Zou Lihong, a Chinese wheelchair racer who beat US favorite Tatyana McFadden to win gold...

Paralympics Ends With Celebration, Mourning

Brazil's 1,192-day run of mega-events is over

(Newser) - The Paralympic Games came to an end Sunday night with a closing ceremony before 45,000 spectators at Rio's Maracana stadium filled with tributes to Bahman Golbarnezhad, the Iranian cyclist who died after a crash Saturday , the BBC reports. International Paralympic Committee president Philip Craven said the movement is...

Iranian Cyclist Killed in Paralympics Crash

Bahman Golbarnezhad believed to be first athlete killed in Paralympics

(Newser) - An Iranian cyclist died after crashing in a road race at the Rio de Janeiro Paralympics on Saturday. Bahman Golbarnezhad, 48, received emergency treatment on the course and was transported to a Rio hospital where he died, reports the AP . "This is truly heart-breaking news, and the thoughts and...

Improving Paralympian Tech Causes Controversy

Some worry technology is making double amputees unbeatable

(Newser) - Here's how good technology for prosthetic running blades has become. The AP reports Greek runner Michail Seitis set a world record for his division with a time of 49.66 seconds in the men's 400-meter final on Thursday. He came in sixth place out of eight runners. The...

4 Paralympics Runners Best Olympic Gold Time

Visually impaired athletes impressive in 1500 meters

(Newser) - Four visually impaired runners in the 1500 meters at the Rio Paralympics Games just earned some bragging rights: All put up times better than the US runner who took gold in the same Olympics competition, reports the Independent . Their times ranged from 3:48.29 (by gold medal winner Abdellatif...

Vogue Gave Models Fake Disabilities for Paralympics

And people aren't happy about it

(Newser) - Vogue Brazil is taking heat this week after Photoshopping physical disabilities onto models for a Paralympics promotion instead of using actual amputees as models. The BBC reports the fashion magazine posted the offending image to Instagram on Thursday. It features models Cleo Pires (with her arm erased) and Paulo Vilhena...

Team Russia Banned From Paralympics

Blanket ban for doping, unlike IOC's ruling

(Newser) - The entire Russia team was banned from competing in the upcoming Paralympic Games on Sunday as punishment for the country's doping operation that polluted sports by prioritizing "medals over morals." The International Paralympic Committee's blanket ban on Russia is in sharp contrast to the earlier decision...

Athletes Are Already Getting Robbed in Rio

Australian Paralympian robbed at gunpoint on Sunday

(Newser) - The Olympics are still six weeks away, yet several athletes have already become victims of crime in Rio. Australian Paralympic sailor Liesl Tesch, 47, says a man with a gun demanded money, then pushed her off her bicycle as she rode in a park on Sunday. A second man stole...

Paralympics Bars Paralyzed Athlete, Says Problem All in Her Head

Doctors can't find a physical reason for woman's paralysis

(Newser) - A British athlete who has had no feeling from the chest down for four years has been barred from competing in the Paralympics—because doctors say she should not be paralyzed. The strange case involves 23-year-old Charlotte Wilkinson-Burnett, who has been in a wheelchair since slipping in the shower in...

Report: Paul McCartney's Ex 'Lunged at' Sports Official

After Heather Mills' Paralympic dreams were thwarted

(Newser) - Heather Mills was apparently hoping to head to Sochi, and not as an observer: Paul McCartney's ex was gunning to qualify for the British Paralympic skiing team, but had those hopes dashed Monday when the International Paralympic Committee ruled a new prosthetic she was using hadn't been ratified...

Pistorius Put Legs on to Shoot Reeva: Prosecutor

Argues Steenkamp's death was premeditated as she's cremated in hometown

(Newser) - Oscar Pistorius put on his artificial legs to walk to the bathroom where girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp had fled after an argument and then fired into the locked door, hitting her three times, a prosecutor said at a dramatic court hearing today. Pistorius sobbed at the bail hearing as the prosecutor...

London&#39;s &#39;WeirWolf&#39; Wins 4th Gold
 London's 
 'WeirWolf' 
 Wins 4th Gold 
PARALYMPICS
Sep 9, 2012 9:55 AM CDT

London's 'WeirWolf' Wins 4th Gold

David Weir is home country's undisputed star of the Paralympics

(Newser) - If you're looking for the star of London's Paralympics, look no further than British wheelchair racer David Weir. The man nicknamed the "Weirwolf of London" completed his clean sweep of golds today, timing his sprint finish to perfection to win the wheelchair marathon in 1 hour, 30...

1 Year After Losing Sight, US Serviceman Wins Gold

Brad Snyder competes in Paralympics after Afghan blast

(Newser) - Exactly a year after losing his sight while on military service in Afghanistan, American Brad Snyder captured swimming gold at the London Paralympics by winning the 400-meter freestyle. Snyder won his second gold of the games in convincing style, beating Enhamed Enhamed of Spain by nearly six seconds in a...

Pistorius Doesn't Medal in Bid to Defend Title

He loses in 100 meters, is no longer world's fastest amputee

(Newser) - It's shaping up to be a Paralympics to forget for Oscar Pistorius. In his bid to defend his title as the "world's fastest amputee," the South African failed to even make the medal stand, reports AP . He finished fourth in today's 100-meter race, while British...

Whiny Pistorius Apologizes for Outburst

Complained opponents' prosthetics too long, in first-ever Paralympic loss

(Newser) - Oscar Pistorius, one of the most acclaimed Paralympic athletes of all time, suffered a stunning defeat yesterday in the T43/44 200 meters, his first-ever loss in that distance at the Paralympics, reports the Telegraph . Brazil’s Alan Oliveira won with a time of 21.45 seconds, earning accusations from Pistorius...

Why Paralympic Athletes Break Their Own Bones

...to cheat, basically

(Newser) - Top athletes will go to extremes to get a competitive edge, but a BBC look at Paralympians shows just how painful, and illegal, those extremes can be. It delves into "boosting," a practice in which these athletes, who have a physical disability, increase performance by upping their blood...

London Unveils Weird, One-Eyed Olympic Mascots
 London Unveils 
 Weird, One-Eyed 
 Olympic Mascots 
WAS CREATOR VODKA EYEBALLING?
May 20, 2010 1:22 AM CDT

London Unveils Weird, One-Eyed Olympic Mascots

World blinks as Wenlock, Mandeville debut

(Newser) - The mascots for London's 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games met the public for the first time yesterday and they're more science fiction than cute and cuddly. Wenlock and Mandeville—named after two small English towns—each have a single eye and the light from a London taxi mounted on their...

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