Nordic Skiing Season Finally Opens Season

TOBLACH, Italy — After cancelled events in Poland last week the Nordic Skiing system finally got underway this weekend in Toblach.

The United States came away with four wins in the 10km classical events. Jake Adicoff (Guide: Jake Brown) won the men’s vision impaired double, finishing in a time of 30:37.9 in the time trial, just clear of Zebasitian Modin (SWE, Guide: Emil Joensson) who had a factored time of 30:53.4. Thursday’s finish was even closer, a one second win for Adicoff in the mass start, Modin just couldn’t close the gap.

The other US golds were won by a familiar face, Oksana Masters, finishing just 20 seconds clear of teammate Kendall Gretsch to win the women’s sitting races both days.

North America wasn’t done with medals in the 10km classical races there; Canadian Mark Arendz claimed the men’s standing race finishing almost one minute ahead of his nearest rival. His was the only win that wasn’t repeated in the mass start race, swapping second place with Japanese skier Taiki Kawayoke.

His teammate Brittany Hudak medaled in the women’s standing interval start, finishing a distant second to Norwegian great Vilde Nilsen before finishing third in the mass-start which was again won by Nilsen.

The hosts had something to cheer about in the men’s sitting which was claimed by Giuseppe Romele who beat out Ukrainian Pavlo Bal twice. This race saw more medals the Canadians with Derek Zaplotinsky claiming bronze in both races.

Germany dominated the women’s vision impaired races with Linn Kazmaier (Guide: Florian Baumann) finishing well in front of her teammate Leonie Maria Walter (Guide: Christian Krasman) to win both races.

Sundays saw the event switch to freestyle after the sprit races were cancelled. It opened with another home gold for Romele to sweep the men’s sitting classification. This time it was Brazilian Cristian Westemaier Barrera who finished second, relegating Bal to bronze.

Masters also completed her sweep, again beating teammate Gretsch, by just five seconds, as the two set a marker for the rest of the field to try and catch next week in Martell.

The men’s standing saw a drastically different result on Sunday with German Marco Meier claiming gold with Arendz not starting the race. Serheii Romaniuk (UKR) finished in second just seven seconds back. Nilsen completed her sweep of the women’s standing events easily, more than a minute ahead of Ukrainian duo Oleksandra Kononova and Liudmyla Liashenko.

Adicoff completed his sweep of the men’s vision impaired races, putting the Americans top of the medal table with six. The German domination of the women’s standing was broken in the freestyle race when Simona Bubenickova (CZE) claimed the gold by seven seconds from Kazmaier.

Photos: Newspower.it

Liana Mutia relaxed ahead of Paris 2024

The last three years have been full of change for American Judoka Liana Mutia. After competing in her first Paralympic Games in Tokyo in 2021 she has found herself as a college graduate, in a new job, and a new town and those things have helped her come in to her second Games more relaxed.

Those changes have created some security in her life, for many para athletes winning at the Paralympics is a must to earn money. This perhaps speaks to the discrimination that people with disabilities face every day. For Mutia that security gives freedom.

“That’s the biggest change between my first Paralympics when I was a student and I had no money,” said Mutia. “Now I have a job, it’s disposable income. I am extremely happy to represent my country on the world’s biggest stage and then going back to my regular day job instead of going back and having to do all this work to survive.”

Not every athlete has that luxury and that is something the American doesn’t take for granted.

“This isn’t there for other athletes. If they don’t get a medal or they lose they lose their job, their resources, their home. I’ve been able to mitigate failure, I’m not worried about losing my home.”

That doesn’t mean that those changes don’t come with challenges. Even couch warriors know that it’s hard to work 40 hours a week and compete at a sport, that increases infinitely for an elite athlete like Mutia where it’s essentially two full-time jobs.

“I work a regular nine to five and I train 30 to 40 hours a week,” explains Mutia. “There’s a gym literally a few floors above where I work so I train all morning right before work. It’s very meticulous and organized. I majored in project management so it’s just management skills and resources.”

The other thing elite athletes have to deal with is time off of work and fortunately her employer has been understanding. Much like other workers, she just has to line up her calendar and request the time off but she says she feels comfortable doing so.

Beyond her personal changes much has changed around the Paralympics in the last three years. Judo has changed how it works, with weight class changes and for the first-time classifications.

“I feel more natural in this weight class. Instead of feeling undersized or oversized or whatever I feel natural at 57 kilos rather than 63 which is great,” said Mutia. “When I was younger I felt a bit undersized. From 21 to 25 (years-old) I feel like my body has only got better and I feel like physically I’ve adapted to the sport.”

Mutia is currently ranked number one in the world, that may heighten expectations, she’s certainly expectant, but for her that doesn’t equate to pressure.

“If anything the ranking takes a lot of pressure off. Qualification isn’t as stressful and so I can be more confident going in to Paris, and not stress about dropping out early, I know what I can do. Gold is my goal.”

Mutia will compete in the women’s B1 57kg classification in Paris coming in after winning silver at the 2023 Para Pan American Games.

Brazil dominates Para Pan American Games Badminton

Danielle Souza (BRA) in action on the way to winning the SH-1 title (BWF)

SANTIAGO, Chile — Much like the rest of the Para Pan American Games Brazil proved to be the most successful team in badminton in Santiago. Brazilian players won nine gold medals in a dominant performance.

Two gold medals came from the pair of Marcelo Conceicao and Rogerio Olivera both winning their singles and doubles titles. Conceicao won the WH1 men’s singles and WH1-2 men’s doubles and Olivera won the SL4 men’s singles and SL3-SU5 mixed doubles. The WH1-2 men’s doubles was guaranteed to be a Brazilian gold as Conceicao and partner Julio Cesar Godoy defeated fellow Brazilians Edmar Francisco Barbosa and Radolfo Renato Cano.

Yuki Rodrigues was the only other male winner, claiming the men’s SU5 men’s singles. Brazil swept the WH1 singles crowns with Daniele Souza claiming the women’s, the same holding true in the SL4 with Ana Carolina Reis completing the sweep. The other gold medals came from women’s singles through Abinaecia Silva (SL3) and Mikaela Almeida (SU5).

Two non-Brazilians claimed double gold with Peru’s world champion Pilar Jauregui claiming the WH2 women’s singles and WH1-2 women’s doubles with Jaquelin Burgos Javier. The other double champion was from the USA with Miles Krajewski claiming the SH6 men’s singles and the SH6 mixed doubles with Jayci Simon.

Chile also managed one gold through Jaime Aranguiz who defeated Godoy in the WH2 men’s singles final, denying Brazil another gold medal.

While there was no automatic qualification spot on the line for winning the Para Pan American Games, there were vital “Race to Paris” rankings points that will give the winners a significant boost.

Paralympic Champions add to their resumes at Para Pan American Games

SANTIAGO, Chile — The big names in the athletics at the 2023 Para Pan American Games showed that they are still at the top of the game with gold going the way of the superstars on the first day of competition on the track and in the field.

Omar Durand (guide: Yuniol Kindalen) cruised to gold in the women’s 200m T12 for the third straight time. It wasn’t just winning that was expected it was the margin as the Cuban finished two seconds clear of silver medalist Alejandra Perez (VEN) with a time of 23.63.

That wasn’t her best time of the event, breaking the meet record with a 23.59 in the qualifying round. If she can shave half a second in the next year she could break her own world record in Paris.

One world record did fall, with Elizabeth Rodrigues (BRA) breaking her own women’s discus F53 record. At 58 years old Rodrigues just keeps getting better, breaking the world record she set in Tokyo with a throw of 17.80m, winning the gold and sending a message to the rest of the world.

“I am extremely happy with this world record. It means that the work that we are doing is great. I am already preparing for Paris 2024, but this result in the Parapan American Games makes me feel like if I were in my first competition”, said Rodrigues after the event.

Brazil’s favorites continued winning in the men’s 5000m T11 with Yeltsin Jacques Ortega (guide: Edelson De Avila) running 15:13.10. That saw him demolish the meet record by 26 seconds, showing continued improvement after winning gold in Tokyo.

There was a Brazilian battle in the women’s 200m T11 in a thrilling race. Jerusa Gerber edged out Thalita Simplico, reversing their finishing order from the Paralympic Games where they were second and third. Gerber went on to tell the world that the 100m is the one she really expects to do well as it is her preferred event.

Another meet record fell in the women’s shot put F20 through Poleth Isamar Mendes (ECU) as she extended the record with a throw of 13.91 for her second straight gold in the event.

The biggest upset of the day came in the men’s 400m T38 as American Ryan Medrano beat Mexico’s Paralympic Champion, Jose Rodolfo Chessani.

Brazil is well out in front in the Para Pan American Games medal tally with 67 gold, 45 silver and 43 bronze. The USA is second but well off the pace with 20 gold.

All photos: Marcelo Hernández / Santiago 2023 via Photosport

European sailors dominate opening days of World Sailing Championships

Sailors in action in the men’s Hansa 303 classification (Photo: Isabel van Opzeeland/World Sailing)

THE HAGUE, The Netherlands —All but one para classification is led by European Sailors as the World Sailing Championships continued on Monday, but the battle is not over yet.

A win in the sixth race of the men’s Hansa 303 for Polish sailor Pitor Chichocki extended his lead from one point to three. With two wins in the last three races he sits top with seven points ahead of Japan’s Takumi Niwa who came third taking him to 10 points. With four races to go it’s still close enough that either of the pair could win but Chichocki will need to slip up.

Pitor Chichocki leads the men’s Hamsa 303 (Isabel van Opzeeland/World Sailing)

The only classification not led by a European is the women’s Hansa 303 which is led by American Betsy Alison with six points after six races. While Alison has been dominant, finishing first or second in all of her races that count, her race that doesn’t count was a disqualification after a starting line violation.

That opens the door for second placed Olga Gornas-Grudzien (POL) whose discarded score is 4. Any more mistakes from Alison will almost certainly open the door for Gornas-Grudzien. For Alison it’s been an astounding journey to lead this field having had a cancer diagnosis in 2021 which led to her having much of her hip removed in a hemipelvectomy.

Betsy Alison leads the women’s Hansa 303 (Isabel van Opzeeland/World Sailing)

Alison has long coached para-sailors and now finds herself competing against them for the first time.

“It’s kind of a very ironic thing that I spent nearly 25 years coaching Paralympic sailors, only to find myself on the flip side, doing what I’m doing now, being an athlete. It’s kind of a crazy situation.”

Betsy Alison before the regatta

It could be a history making moment for Alison as a win for her would make her the first person to win a sailing world championship in para and non-para events.

Heiko Kroger leads the open 2.4 meter (Isabel van Opzeeland/World Sailing)

With one race to go in the open 2.4 meter only an improbable collapse would stop German Heiko Kroger from winning the event. Kroger’s domination has him seven points clear with just two second-place finishes, one he has discarded. Race 10 would need Italian Davide Di Maria to win the race and Kroger to finish ninth for the German to not win the race.

The French pair Ange Margaron and Olivier Ducruix celebrate after a race win in the RS Venture Connect classification (Isabel van Opzeeland/World Sailing)

A similar story has unfolded in the RS Venture Connect event with the French pair of Ange Margaron and Olivier Ducruix all but world champions. Much like Kroger they have nine points after two second-place finishes, they are six points clear of Canadian pair John McRoberts and Scott Lutes who need to win and need the French to finish seventh.

Close finishes dominate the final day of the Para-Cycling World Championships

BAIE-COMEAU, Quebec, Canada – It was a day of very close finishes, with some needing a photo finish, as the world para-cycling championships wrapped up on Sunday.

France had the best of the final day, winning three gold medals. They finished first and second in the men’s C2 road race. Alexandre Leaute completed a double with a nine-second win over compatriot Florian Chapeau.

Kevin Le Cunff improved from his bronze in the time-trial to claim the men’s C5 road race. It took a photo finish to give him the gold medal after the top four all finished simultaneously. Another photo was needed in the women’s C5 with Marie Patouillet declared the winner narrowly ahead of Kerstin Brachtendorf (GER).

Dutch pair Tristan Bangma and Patrick Bos celebrate winning gold. (Photo: Swpix/UCI)

The Netherlands claimed the top spot in the medal tally after winning the final event of the championships with Tristan Bangma winning the men’s B road race with his pilot Patrick Bos. It completed a stunning season for the pair, who have won every event they’ve competed in.

Ireland also had an impressive final day, claiming two gold medals. A photo finish gave Ronan Grimes the win in the men’s C4. It was the most extended wait for any of the photo finishes of the day and sparked big celebrations.

The podium from the women’s B road race (photo: swpix/UCI)

A big push on the final lap of the women’s B road race saw Katie-George Dunlevy claim gold with her pilot Eve McCrystal. That saw them overcome the British pair who beat them in the time trial.

It wasn’t all bad for British cyclists, with Finlay Graham claiming gold in the men’s C3 road race. A second gold was added by Frances Brown in the C1.

The most dominant performance of the day came in the men’s C1 when Spaniard Ricardo Ten Argiles won by five minutes.

German Maike Hausberger backed up from her time trial gold to win the women’s C5 road race. Japan picked up its first championship gold medal with the women’s C3 road race through Keiko Suguira in just two seconds. Samantha Bosco claimed gold for the USA in the women’s C4 road race, finishing three minutes clear.

Photo: UCI

Carson Pickett becomes first player with a limb difference to play full women’s international game

SANDY, Utah, U.S.A. – Carson Pickett made history on Wednesday as she became the first woman with a limb difference to play a full Women’s National Team match in the USA’s 2-0 win over Colombia at Rio Tinto Stadium.

Pickett was named in the starting 11 and played the full 90 minutes for the United States, playing a crucial role at the back to help her side to a clean sheet.

The call up was reward for her strong performances for North Carolina Courage in NWSL this season. She was named to the All-Tournament Team in the NWSL Challenge Cup as she helped her side win the tournament. She also came up to score the game winning goal in her team’s 2-1 win over Houston Dash.

The best night of my life🇺🇸 https://t.co/foc8eYRYsa

— Carson Pickett (@Cars_Pickett16) June 30, 2022

She took that form into the regular season and was named into the NWSL team of the month for June. That is an impressive appointment given how the Courage has struggled in the regular season, but she has kept them in matches.

It’s been a big few months for football for women with impairments. Two women’s para events have been completed for the first time. England won the first women’s blind football European Championships in June. That followed on from the first women’s CP World Cup which was won by the United States in May.

Pickett will be hoping her international career has the trajectory of the only other person with a limb difference to have played for a full national team, Hector Castro.

Hector Castro scores the winning goal in the first world cup. (Photo: AFA Library, Public Domain)

Castro scored Uruguay’s first world cup goal, and the first goal at Montevideo’s famous Estadio Centenario, helping the hosts beat Peru. He then went on to score what may be the most historic goal in men’s soccer history, the game winning goal of the first world cup final.

Playing as the center forward in Uruguay’s attack, he did the job in the 89^th minute stabbing home the goal to make it 4-2 and clinch Uruguay the trophy. Pickett will be looking to score her own world cup winning goal when the USA heads to Australia and New Zealand next year.

Italy tops World Para Swimming Championship

MADEIRA, Portugal – Italy claimed the number one ranking in the 2022 Para World Swimming Championships this weekend in Madeira. It was the second straight time the Italians finished on top of the medal tally, winning 27 gold medals.

The final of those medals came in the last event of the championships, the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay 34 points, breaking the world record with a time of 4:02.53. That saw Simone Barlaam and Stefanoe Raimondi claim their sixth gold medals, joined by Giulia Terzi and Xenia Palazzo on top of the podium for the event.

It was the second win for Baralaam and Raimondi of the night. Baralaam won the men’s 50m freestyle S9, equaling his world record. Raimondi won the men’s 100m backstroke S10 earlier in the day.

The USA had an excellent final day, claiming five gold medals to lift itself up to second place in the table. Leanne Smith completed a perfect week, winning her seventh gold medal after two more gold medals on the final day.

Brazil was third in the medal tally, managing 19 gold medals. Two gold medals, one to Gabriel Bandeira and the other to Mariana Ribeiro, pushed them into third.

Tully Kearney (GBR) set her third world record for the meet. This time it was the women’s 100m freestyle S5 with a time of 1:13:34. That will be something Kearney tries to continue on next year at the home world championships in Manchester.

Three Players win triples in Cancun Table Tennis Event

CANCUN, Mexico – Jenson van Emburgh (USA), Alvaro Puerto (COL) and Kang Seohyeon (KOR) all managed to sweep their classifications at the ITTF Copa Cristina Hoffmann in Cancun this week.

Van Emburgh won the men’s class 2-3 singles comfortably. He beat Luis Alberto Valencia Henao (COL) 11-6, 11-6, 11-5. A day later, he partnered with Ahad Bakhshaei Sarand to win the men’s doubles class 8 against the host pair 12-10, 13-11, 11-2. He then beat Sarand in the mixed doubles final, partnering with Pamela Fontaine to win the all-US tie 11-5, 11-7,11-8.

Puerto didn’t have any issues in the men’s singles class 10, beating Melvin Munoz Benitez 11-2, 11-8, 11-7 in the final. He partnered with Jessica Alzate to claim the mixed doubles class 17-20 final over the Chilean team 11-6, 6-11, 11-6, 12-10. He was back at the tables just hours later to claim the men’s doubles class 18 title with Jose Vargas. The American pair pushed the two all the way but claimed the win 11-7, 10-12, 8-11, 11-5, 11-8.

Seohyeon was the only woman in Cancun to achieve the same feat. She squeaked past her compatriot Nahea Sin to claim the women’s singles class 11 title, 7-11, 14-12, 5-11, 11-2, 11-8. The two then paired up, not dropping a game to win the women’s doubles class 22 title, which had no final. She partnered with Narongsak Paengjai (THA) to claim the mixed doubles title, only dropping one set, to the Mexican team, on the way to the crown.

While those three players managed sweeps, five others secured doubles. Rungroj Thainiyom and Phisit Wangphonphathanasiri (THA) teamed up to win the men’s doubles class 14 after winning their singles titles. The same was true for Tamara Leonelli (CHI) and Lucie Bouron (GBR), who won the women’s doubles class 10 crown.

All photos Carlos Duarte/ITTF

Record Roland Garros field heads to the semi-final stage

PARIS – For the first time, a grand slam had a wheelchair singles field of 32, increasing opportunities on the sport’s biggest stage. And with that has come some stunning upsets in Roland Garros with at least one player that would have missed out if it was 16 making the semi-final stages.

The biggest upset in the men’s singles draw is Tokito Ota, ranked ninth in the world, who has set up an all-Japanese semi-final with world number two Shingo Kunieda.

After playing in the new first round, he took out the French legend Nicolas Peifer 6-1, 6-3. After that, he took on Gordon Reid (GBR #4) and again came through in straight sets 6-1, 6-4.

No.2 seed Shingo Kunieda won his men’s wheelchair singles quarter-final against France’s Stephane Houdet.

In the semi-final, he will take on Kunieda, who continued the rough tournament for French players against Japanese players. Kunieda beat Stefane Houdet 6-3, 6-2.

The other semi-final will see the British number one seed, Alfie Hewett, take on Argentina’s number three seed Gustavo Hernandez.

After a bye to the second round, Hewett beat Tom Egerbink 6-1, 6-2. Fernandez also took a bye to the second round and won a challenging first set 6-4 before beating Martin De La Puente (ESP) 6-1 in the second.

Japanese No.2 seed Yui Kamiji

The women’s singles went precisely as the seeding suggested it would. The world number one Diede De Groot (NED) is through to the semis after a 6-2, 6-1 win over Angelica Bernal (COL). She will play Kgothatso Montjane (RSA), who also won through in straight sets 6-3, 6-3.

The other semi-final will pit the second and third players in the world against each other. Anniek Van Koot (NED) came back from a set down to beat Dana Mathewson (USA) 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. Yuji Kamiji won the all-Japanese second round match against Momoko Ohtani in three 7-6(7), 3-6, 6-2.

All photos Fédération Française de Tennis