#para athletics

[positiveaboutdisability]

Hannah Dederick is an extremely talented, 18 year old, wheelchair racer from Washington State.

Hannah was born with spina bifida in the Chinese city of Suzhou. She was abandoned and left at the steps of the local hospital as a baby. Hannah spent the first years of her life in a Chinese orphanage. Around the age of two, Hannah underwent corrective surgery on her spine. During this operation, something went wrong, leaving Hannah paralyzed from the waist down.

Lori Dederick —an American volunteer at the orphanage where Hannah was staying– felt bad for her. She and her husband thus decided to adopt hannah and bring her with them to the USA.

Growing up with a caring and accepting family in the USA, Hannah eventually had a beautiful childhood. Parasports became her biggest passion. She practices a wide variety of sports during the year, including cross-country racing in autumn, wheelchair basketball in winter, and Para athletics in spring and summer.

Wheelchair racing is Hannah's specialty though. She races with the team of ParaSport Spokane, one of Washington's biggest adaptive sports organizations. Hannah managed to win four gold medals at the World Junior Championships in 2017, and four golden and a silver medal at the World Junior Championships of 2019. At the Parapan American Games in Lima in 2019, she won two golden, two silver and a bronze medal.

If all goes well, Hannah will compete at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo this year. Good luck Hannah!

[stadiumgods]

mpumelelo mhlongo - johannes floors - felix streng

[momdusa]

That’s so cool.

[polilacristina]

[bocciaraf]

A sporting account… on Tumblr?

Bit of an experiment, this. Hopefully not a mistake.

Hello. I’m Rafael. I play boccia, which is a Paralympic sport (e.g., a sport which is in the Paralympics, like goalball, wheelchair rugby, etc). It’s a cousin of pétanque, lawn bowls, curling, and all those other sports whose ancient ancestor is someone going “I bet I can get my rock closer to that pebble over there than you can get yours”. Boccia is played indoors, in a space almost exactly the same size as a badminton court, as individuals, in pairs, or teams of 3. In the UK the overwhelming emphasis is on individual play, although pairs and teams competition is growing in global significance.

I’m a member of the newly reformed England squad, run by our governing body Boccia England, and I’m classified as a BC3 athlete - that means that instead of throwing or kicking the balls, we roll them down a ramp instead. The ramp is positioned, and balls set up on it for us, by a Ramp Operator - for me, that’s either one of my personal assistants, or increasingly, my partner. The RO isn’t allowed to see what’s going on on the court, they have to keep their back to it at all times during matchplay - they’re only allowed to physically help, not tactically help.

Playing boccia changed my life - I’ve always been a competitive person but until I discovered the sport in 2012, aged 27, had not only no access to participate in sports but no idea that a sport I could meaningfully play even existed. My sporting career is a direct legacy of the 2012 London Paralympics; it was the presentation of the Boccia UK Squad at the opening ceremony which resulted in the penny dropping. I was at my first club session within a few weeks, and attended my first competition a few weeks after that - I won a bronze medal, and was hooked.

My breakout year was the 2018-2019 season; our last complete season before the pandemic brought everything to a screeching halt. That year I zoomed my way through the Heathcoat Cup national finals - our ‘second division’ competition, a precious space for beginner and improving players to learn their trade without getting steamrollered by the pros - which qualified me directly into the BE Cup Finals, which is the de facto England national championship. I won my pool, unbeaten, and ultimately came 4th, which saw me begin the 2019-2020 season ranked 5th in England, behind two international athletes and two England players.

After that came a funny couple of years; half a season and two bronze medals in BE Cup Qualifiers before the pandemic stopped everything, and then a heavily modified “Back to Boccia” season for 2021-2022, at which I won the gold medal at two of the three Back To Boccia Cup events, went and won the qualifying tournament for the German National Boccia Championships in Düsseldorf - broadening my horizons as a dual national - before being selected for my very first Boccia UK Challenger. The Challengers are events run by BUK to provide the UK national squad, and selected others from the home countries, with additional formal competition experience. At the Gloucester Challenger there were 4 Boccia UK-supported athletes; two men from the World Class Programme and two women being supported in their development with coaching and world-class equipment, including Paralympian Scott McCowan, who had come 4th in Tokyo just nine months earlier. I beat all four UK athletes, and ultimately came second to my England colleague Matt Berry. That silver medal is my greatest achievement, to date. Matt and I followed that up with another one-two finish at the special, pandemic-edition competition run within the talent pathway as a substitute for the England national championships, which resulted in my being selected for my very first UK National Championships, where I lost only to the two McCowan brothers, Paralympians both, and ultimately came 6th. Just a fortnight later I was in Berlin, where I won the silver medal in the German National Championships.

I’ve just kicked off the 2022-2023 season with a very solid 5th place at the first BE Cup qualifier competition, and I’m off up to the SMILE Boccia Open tomorrow, to train up a shiny new personal assistant as a ramp operator. Wish us luck!

http://www.rafaelyoung.co.uk

[cinemairon]

UsUk Para Pride Based on an rp AU I have with my bestie inspired by the anime "Breakers" which is about Para athletes. The background has the Pride Flag's colours while their clothes the Gay Men Flag's. When we talk about inclusion we better not forget or oversee the special members of the community. They are there and they are wonderful yet often left out...So knowing my friend's Bob's story and how he experiences this all these years, I wish for their behalf the community will be more aware and embrace all of its members.

[stadiumgods]

johannes floors - felix streng

[chakjoe]

(a GIPHY -n keresztül )

[fashionbooksmilano]

CR men’s book issue 6

Carine Roitfeld

Hearst Magazine Media, New York 2018,

euro 35,00

email if you want to buy :booksinprogressmilano@yahoo.it

CR Men's Book was available alongside CR Fashion Book issue 12 

Para-athlete champion Liam Malone, who took home two gold medals for New Zealand at the 2016 Summer Paralympics (and breaking records at the same time), fronts the sixth issue of CR Men's. In a new film lensed by Steven Klein, Malone shows off his athletic prowess by performing several push-ups for the camera, set to heavy rock music. Seen by Klein and the Style Council Paris, Malone, along with fellow para-athlete Rheed McCracken, covers the sports-themed men's issue and showcases a personal perspective rarely seen in athletics. Throughout the pages of CR Men’s Book Issue 6, Roitfeld celebrates these beliefs that these two honorable men represent and work vigorously to uphold. This issue features the dynamic mentor-mentee relationship of former NFL player Dale Moss and Special Olympics champion Danny Davila in a story titled “Can & Able”, a story on the controversial gene-editing technology called CRISPR, the importance of the “gym-buddy” relationship, and the psyche behind online gaming. Roitfeld and her team of up-and-coming stylists combine designers such as Prada, Gucci, Louis Vuitton with athletic wear from Champion, American Apparel, Nike and Adidas, pinning down spring 2018’s essential pieces. The issue also features UFC break-out star Mickey Gall andStranger Things actor Dacre Montgomery shot by Mario Sorrenti.

09/01/21

orders to:     booksinprogressmilano@yahoo.it

ordini a:        booksinprogressmilano@yahoo.it

twitter:         @fashionbooksmi

instagram:   fashionbooksmilano, designbooksmilano tumblr:          fashionbooksmilano, designbooksmilano

[hallospaceb0y]

Had another great evening at the Para Athletics Championships! Never get tired of hearing the place erupt whenever a British athlete is announced. Highlights of tonight: four more GB medals, being there to see Arnu Fourie’s last race, and can we talk about Johannes Floors? Pretty certain he’s going to become a star at the next Paralympics. Also: 😍

[risingphoenix24601]

Looks like the Earth Kingdom has a new Paralympic Judo champion!

[cinemairon]

Breakers AU UsUk (first meeting)

Just a doodle comic from an AU rp we have with my bestie inspired by the anime “Breakers” (check it) in which the characters are para-athletes.

(and yes hetaoni played a part in my decision to have Arthur as a blind athlete) 

[positiveaboutdisability]

Jill Moore is a gorgeous, 26 year old, wheelchair athlete from North Carolina. She played a wide variety of athletic competitions around the world. She competed internationally in both para-swimming and wheelchair basketball. And as if all this wasn't enough, she's also active in horseback riding and cheerleading...

She's paralyzed from the waist down because of spina bifida...

[stadiumgods]

felix streng

[winglssdemon]

Our team won gold at the Empire State Winter Games yesterday! Here’s some pics of me playing defense (wearing the pink helmet with pink sticks), a pic of my beautiful service dog Lexa, and a final pic of my team and the team that won silver. It was a terrific game. We were 0-0 until the shootout and I made the winning goal in the shootout and the score was 2-1. It was also my first ever goal. What a way to score for the first time! Both teams did amazing and everyone worked really hard and I’m really especially proud of my team and thankful that I get to be on their team.