Sports : Paralympics

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The three weeks I spent in Spain at the Paralympics was the best time of my life.

Of course, when it came to racing, it was all business. When people watch the Olympics on television, they don't realize all of the time spent in the heats before the final race they are watching. Here is an early morning 200m heat race. I'm in lane 3. As you can see it was a little wet that morning.

The support from the city of Barcelona and the world was overwhelming.

Here is a shot of the stadium. In the evening it was packed to capacity, between 60 and 70 thousand spectators.

It wasn't all business. We had plenty of time to goof off. One evening before a race, I had a chance to do a little trick photography with a friend at the warm-up track. Bah...who needs wheelchair racing, give me the long jump, the high jump, and the hurdles.

The Mediterranean was right outside my window. One day with the family we took a break and played around a little. I don't know which was better, the Sun or the topless beaches.

Back to business, the 200m semi-finals.

This is as far as I got. One race from the finals. I found out a few months later that I had torn a ligament in my left shoulder sometime during my training that year. I knew my performance had been degraded that whole season, but I didn't know why until my shoulder started screaming later that year. I had orthoscopic surgery on it which repaired it for the most part, although it still pains me occasionally.

I got a commemorative medal for competing in the greatest sporting event in the world. This means very much to me as I remember the times I spent there. The closing ceremonies were just wonderful, concluding with the biggest fireworks display I've ever seen. This went on for about 15 minutes.

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