Mobility Friends Together

The Paralympics are in full swing and athletes from around the world have joined together to compete with one-another. There are still five days left in the tournament and many different countries have been collecting Gold Medals. Among them the top three are China, Great Britain, and the United States.

So far China has a big lead in the medal counts. They have a total of 109 medals including 37 gold ones. Great Britain is close behind in the gold count, with 33 gold medals and 69 total. The United States has 69 total medals including 23 gold medals and 16 silver ones.

China has been quite successful in most of the events, but they have earned most of their medals in the Athletics discipline, which includes discus throw, javelin throw, long jump, and other field and track events. They have also been quite successful in the table tennis events, where the men have taken 2 gold medals and the women 4.

From the United States, Cycling has been a very successful event, with Barbara Buchan, Karissa Whitsell, and Mackenzie, Woodring all taking gold medals in women cycling events.

The United States has also been very successful in the swimming events with Jessica Long taking 6 medals, including 4 gold ones. Jessica Long is 16 years old and was originally born in Russia, but was adopted by a family in Maryland when she was around 1 year old. Her lower legs were amputated when she was eighteen months old, but she rarely let this slow her down.

Always athletic, she began swimming and entered into her first competition in 2002. She competed in the 2004 Paralympics, when she was only twelve, and won 3 gold medals.

We salute all the members of the United States Team and all the other great athletes that are giving it their all and showing the world how strong they are.

The Paralympics are set to begin next week and many athletes from all over the World are heading to Beijing for the games. Among them is a tennis star named Gordon Reid, who is 16 years old.

Reid has been playing tennis since he was 6 years old. He continued to be very active in sports, including football, until just prior to his 13th birthday he was diagnosed with Transverse Myelitis, which is a neurological condition that affects the spinal cord.

After his diagnosis and subsequent paralysis, Reid did not give up. The tennis club he belongs to started a fundraiser to buy him a wheelchair that was configured for wheelchair tennis. The club, Helensburgh Tennis Club, was able to raise these funds in only a short time and used them to buy a wheelchair for another athlete as well.

Only six months after being diagnosed with Transverse Myelitis, Reid won his first wheelchair tennis tournament and since he has rose through the ranks. Last year Reid one the National Men’s Singles champion and at 15 became the youngest athlete to claim this honor. That same year Reid also won the International Wheelchair Tennis Junior Masters.

Currently Reid is ranked at 36th in the world’s single ranking and is set to be the youngest member to ever represent Great Britain in the Paralympics.