Sorry, this is fairly unrelated to this blog's central content. But I'm right ticked off, your Honour.
Only one sports report I saw this morning (that of 7's Sunrise) bothered to mention our Paralympic Games gold medal wins first up. It was, of course, rugby-AFL-motorsport first elsewhere.
Matthew Cowdrey, inspiring young swimmer with a congenital amputation, is a good medal chance in Beijing. At the Athens Paralympic Games, he won a phenomenal 3 gold medals, 2 silvers and 2 bronzes. Surely one of the most (if not THE most) decorated athlete in the pool behind Michael Phelps and Ian Thorpe.
At the 2006 Commonwealth Games, he was the most successful of ALL our male swimmers (able-bodied or disabled) winning 2 gold medals, both in world record time. And yet we're going to hear about Stephanie Rice for the next 4 years. *sigh* Not that three gold medals is something to be sniffed at entirely. But why are able-bodied athletes always the first to come to mind when we reflect on sporting achievement? Why are they the first on the motivational speaking circuits, the cereal boxes, the underwear ads, the reality show 'guest judge' seats?
There was another young swimmer profiled last night, Sam Bramham, who made great efforts in the pool alongside Cowdrey. He is apparently the 'joker' of the team, the morale booster and one-man cheer squad. What a cheeky young thing. Yet when sports profile shows come around, it's quirky Libby Trickett and daggy-dancing Grant Hackett who get all the air time.
Last night's basketball match, in which Australia beat Brazil by one point(!) with a clinch goal in the last 5 seconds(!) was more exciting than anything I watched at the Olympics last month. It was a mammoth effort and Australia came from behind to make a specacular win. But I didn't hear about it in the news this morning.
It's not entirely fair, is it? The opening ceremony of the Paralympics got a half-page picture and short detail in the Herald Sun yesterday. The 'real Olympics' received multiple pages of coverage. Including a daily liftout. If our Paralympic team manages a better medal tally than our Olympic team, and with three gold medals on the first day alone, our chances look good, it will be a shame not to hear about it.
Just because the personal circumstances are a little different doesn't make them any less of an athlete or an inspiration.
Monday, September 8, 2008
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6 comments:
there was a beautiful story on two women from Warrnambool and Geelong who are competing in the rowing and athletics, respectively, at the Paralympics - it was on 60 minutes last night. They were truly awe-inspiring, with the stories giving an insight into their life living with a disability. The girl competing in the athletics in particular struck me for her tenacity and her good looks (to rival Stephanie Rice).
Hear hear! I am currently tuned into ABC 2 for all their coverage. So far tonight it has been drama after drama, much more tension filled then the 'I know Bolt will win the 200' etc etc.
One of our female swimmers made it into the 400Free final with a 5second PB only to get up on the blocks and her lane's light didn't work so while everyone else dived in she was left standing there in tears. Meanwhile the other girls swam about 75m before they stopped the race!!
Then on the athletics track there was a huge crash in the final of the female 5000m where an official also nearly got ran over!!
Aussie kicking it in the cycling though! Maybe the goverment should look at helping them out a little more seemings at this Olympics they have already done SO SO much better then our 'cycling track stars' and look set for even more medals.
Yes, I saw some of that last night. I felt so devastated for the girl who was left crying on the pool deck. I didn't see the track crash as it happened by they interviewed an Aussie guy who was in the event after that and when they asked if he'd been affected by it, they replayed the footage. Owch!
I find it interesting that the AOC are pent up on getting more funding so we can "beat the Poms" come London 2012.
1. They should be doing it for real reasons, like getting our athletes some international experience. I'm thinking of Georgia and Shona missing out on pre-Beijing comps because they couldn't be covered financially.
2. What about the Paralympians!? They're already doing better than the Olympians and the Games are only about 3 days in.
3. Don't be so jingoistic, John Coates! That's what makes them beating us much sweeter for them.
i think there was a comment made during the olympics to the effect that the UK's combined Olympic and Paralympic swim team get more funding than just the Aussie Olympic swim team. Something drastic needs to be done, no way should the Poms be beating us overall.
Be that as it may, it shouldn't be the sole reason behind, or justification for, additional funding.
Sometimes it seems like sportswomen and paraolympians just don't count in the media. Except of course, unless they win gold and are completely photogenic a' la rice. It's depressing innit?
I went to a trivia night the other night with some friends. Out of about forty questions, at least ten were sport related. The sports they asked about were all male dominated sports. Aussie Rules. Formula one racing. Horse Racing and cricket. Not even a token Lauren Jackson question.
Then the quiz master had the gall to tell us that next week, to celebrate some football thing, we have to wear our favorite team colours.
It wouldn't even occur to him that someone might not have a favorite football team. As a form of feminist protest I am wearing the Romanian gymnastics team's colours!! (I hope they don't resemble any Aussie rules teams colours. I wouldn't have a clue!)
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