Sailors in the Spotlight - 2008 Paralympic Teams
Qingdao, China - Over the last two weeks, the 2008 Beijing Paralympic games have been under way, and in the waters of Qingdao, the Paralympic sailors took to their boats and sailed like the world-class athletes they are. Like any other Olympian, these competitors have trained and sacrificed and made their way to this competition through blood, sweat, sheer will and the help of family, friends and supporters. Though they may face a few more challenges than others, their ability to overcome them is both the mark of a true champion, and to these folks, just part of the game.
80 athletes represented 25 countries in three classes this year - the 2.4mR single class, the SKUD18 double, and the Sonar triple. The Qingdao weather was pretty much as expected, and much like the Olympics - hot and humid with unreliable winds, but that didn't do much to hamper the spirits of the competitors. Come to think of it, it seems that nothing can hamper the spirits of the 2008 Paralympic Sailing Teams, which is why we're proud to feature this group of truly outstanding athletes as this week's Sailors in the Spotlight.
The 2008 Paralympians
Australia
Aaron HILL - 2.4mR
Rachel COX and Daniel FITZGIBBON - SKUD18
Russel BOADEN, Colin HARRISON and Graeme MARTIN - Sonar
Austria
Edmund RATH, Sven REIGER and Helmut SEEWALD - Sonar
Brazil
Luiz Cesar FARIA, Rossando LEITAO and Darke MATTOS - Sonar
Canada
Paul TINGLEY - 2.4mRStacie LOUTTIT and John Scott MCROBERTS - SKUD18
Ken KELLY, Marc SHAW and Don TERLSON - Sonar
China
Mingxue QI - 2.4mR
Xiujuan YANG and Hailiang JIA - SKUD18
Ke LI, Tao WANG and Jingkun XU - Sonar
Denmark
Jens ANDERSEN - 2.4mR
Finland
Juhani MATTILA - 2.4mR
FranceDamien SEGUIN - 2.4mRBruno JOURDREN, Jerve LARHANT and Nicolas VIMONT-VICARY - Sonar
Germany
Heiko KROGER - 2.4mRJens KROKER, Siegmund MAINKA and Tobias SCHUTZ - Sonar
Great Britain
Helena LUCAS - 2.4mR
Alexandra RICKHAM and Niki BIRRELL - SKUD18
John ROBERTSON, Stephen THOMAS and Hannh STODEL - Sonar
Greece
George DELIKOURAS - 2.4mR
Theodoras ALEXAS, Vasileios CHRISTOFOROU and Nikolaos PATERAKIS - Sonar
Hungary
Zoltan PEGAN - 2.4mR
Ireland
Amy KELEHAN and John TWOMEY - SKUD18
Paul MCCARTHY, Paul RYAN and Richard WHEALEY - Sonar
Israel
Dror CHOHEN, Arnon EFRATI and Benny VEXLER - Sonar
Italy
Fabrizo OLMI - 2.4mR
Marco COLLINETTI, Antonio SQUIZZATO and Massimo VEBTURINI - Sonar
Malaysia
Sin Ying LOKE and Al Mustakim MATRIN - SKUD18
Netherlands
Thierry SCHMITTER - 2.4mR
Norway
Bjornar ERIKSTAD - 2.4mR
Jostein STORDAHL, Per Eugen KRISTIANSEN and Aleksxander WANG-HANSEN - Sonar
Philippines
Cherry PINPIN and Pedro SOLLIQUE - SKUD18
Portugal
Luisa SILVANO and Bento AMARAL - SKUD18
Puerto Rico
Julio REGUERO - 2.4mR
Singapore
Kok Liang Desiree LIM and Wei Qiang Jovin TAN - SKUD18
Spain
Emilio FERNANDEZ - 2.4mR
Sweden
Birgitta JACOBSSON NILEN and Carl-Gustaf FRESK - SKUD18
USAJohn RUF - 2.4mRMaureen MCKINNON TUCKER and Nick SCANDONE - SKUD18
Tim ANGLE, Rick DOERR and Bill DONOHUE - Sonar
- B. Hampton exclusively for YachtPals.com
Read more about:
- Sailors in the Spotlight
- Nick Scandone - Paralympic Sailor in the Spotlight Interview
- Paralympics - Nick Scandone (Nick's blog about sailing in the Paralympic Games)
- Disabled Sailing
- Sailing in Qingdao
- Sailing in China
- 2008 Olympics - Sailing
Video: Maureen McKinnon-Tucker of the US Paralympic Team about sailing at the Paralympic Games.
Submitted By YachtPals on 15 Sep
Paralympics, Beijing, Qingdao, China, disabled sailing, disabled, sailing, racing, Olympics, Disabled Olympics, sailing, yachting, sail, para-olympics, sailboat, paraplegic, quadraplegic, sailor, sailors
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paralympic sailing teams
what an inspiration. you are all gold medal winners to us.
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