Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Another round-up of Paralympics coverage worldwide

The British Paralympics archery team

Here's who is being covered around the world as disabled athletes ready for the Beijing Paralympics, and if it were a competition for media coverage, the USA would definitely lose. This informal look at coverage of Paralympians shows that the British and the Canadians are giving the most press to their athletes, with the Australians not far behind. Why aren't all the small newspapers all over the USA covering their local Paralympians?
  • The British Columbia equestrian team in The Province.


  • Canadian Kyle Pettey, who will be competing in the shot put and discus events in the Peterborough Examiner in Ontario.


  • Goalkeeper Jon Pugh, who is one of the two sighted shot-stoppers on the Great Britain Blind Football squad, in the Hereford Times in the UK.


  • British cycling star Jody Cundy, who only took up cycling about two years ago. He previously competed in the Paralympics as a swimmer – winning three gold and two bronze medals. In the Fenland Citizen in the UK.


  • Papua New Guinea's Paralympians Francis Kompaon and Joylyn Jeffrey on Radio Australia.


  • The University of Illinois' Adam Bleakney, who in addition to competing in the 400 meter, 800 meter, 5,000 meter and marathon events in Beijing also serves as a coach. In 2007 he was named the 2007 Paralympic Coach of the Year by the U.S. Olympic Committee. In the Daily Illini.


  • The BBC covered the British Paralympics archery team (pictured above.)

  • Paralympic cyclist Jayme Paris in The Australian.

  • Stephanie Dixon of Victoria, BC, who won eight medals at the 2004 Athens Paralympics and five at the 2000 Sydney Paralympics, with six of that total being gold. She competes in swimming, according to The Times Colonist. It covered Team Canada in another story.

  • Swimmer Marayke Jonkers, 26, from Queensland in The Courier Mail in Australia. She is preparing to compete in her third Paralympics.

  • NBC in Philadelphia reports on members of the U.S. Para-Equestrian Team training nearby.

  • Shot putter Ed Cockrell of New Athens, Ill., in the Belleville, Ill. News Democrat. He won a silver medal at the 2004 Paralympics.

  • Alastair McKean and James Morgan of the eight-person British adaptive rowing team in Your Canterbury News in the UK.

  • Canadian swimmer Chelsey Gotell, who broke her world record in the 200 metre backstroke on July 12 at the Can Am Open competition for swimmers with a disability, in the Toronto Globe and Mail.

  • Wake Forest University student Jamie Dean, who will compete in rowing, according to the Winston-Salem, N.C., Journal.

  • Valerie Grand'Maison of Montreal who broke the women's 50-metre backstroke world record at the Can-Am Open Championships on July 11, according to The Canadian Press.

  • Lisa Franks of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan in Canada is switching from ’s her world record-setting speeds in wheelchair racing to play wheelchair basketball, according to The Moose Jaw Times-Herald.

  • For Surrey, BC, residents, Alison Kabush (boccia), Ashley Gowanlock (equestrian), and Ian Chan and Say Luangkhamdeng (wheelchair rugby) will compete in Beijing, according to the Surrey Leader in Canada.

  • Australian Grace Bowman, who at 18, is the youngest member of the Para Equestian Team there, according to the Yorke Peninsula Country Times.

  • Australian Kathleen O'Kelly-Kennedy's who is on the Australian Gliders' wheelchair basketball squad, according to Maroondah Leader.

  • Australian swimmer Sarah Rose in the Manly Daily.

  • Inside Toronto reports on wheelchair racer Jeff Adams who had to fight to get onto Team Canada after being suspended for a positive drug test for cocaine in 2006. He says a female fan put cocaine-laced fingers in his mouth unwantedly.

  • Graham Edmunds of the UK is competing on the gold-medal-winning 4x100m freestyle relay swimming team, according to BBC Radio.

  • New Zealand will be represented in 30 athletes in athletics, boccia, cycling, power-lifting, shooting, swimming and wheelchair rugby and the team says it wants to take home 13 or more medals. Team New Zealand won 10 medals in Athens – six gold, one silver and three bronze, according to Scoop NZ.

  • Team USA's win at 2008 Canada Cup International Wheelchair Rugby Tournament made ESPN, which says they are the No. 1 team in the world.

  • Naomi Riches of Britain who will compete in adaptive rowing, according to the Maidenhead Advertiser.

  • Australians Hannah MacDougall and Samantha Gandolfo who train in swimming together, according to the Stonnington Leader.

  • The South African national wheelchair basketball squad are featured in the Sowetan.
  • British sprinter Neil Fachie visited Aberdeen University in Scotland to talk to members of the children’s sports school. The visually impaired athlete won silver in the 400m and bronze in the 100m for Great Britain at the Paralympic World Cup in Manchester, according to The Press and Journal in the UK.
  • A report in WTVM in Columbus, Ga., on the U.S. National Men'sWheelchair Basketball Team preparing for the Paralympics.
  • The Macau government providing financial support for the Paralympics, according to the Macau Daily Times.
  • A Q&A with Richard Nortje, one of the stars of the Sasol South African wheelchair basketball team, in the The Times in Johannesburg.
  • Californian Jessie Lorenz, who is a member of the U.S. women's goalball team, in the Contra Costa Times.
  • Simon Laurens, 40, who has multiple sclerosis, will make his Paralympic debut on the British Para Equestrian Team, according to This is Gloucestershire in the UK.
  • Matthew Cowdrey, a member of the Australian Paralympic Swimming Team's who filmed a video with the ABC, which is this year's official Paralympic Games broadcaster, and a TV commercial with Toyota, according to City Messenger in Australia.
  • Mark Robertson, 17, who has cerebral palsy, becomes the first Midnight League soccer player from Scotland to make it to an Olympic or Paralympic Games, according to The Herald in Glasgow.
  • British wheelchair tennis star Lucy Shuker will compete in both the singles and doubles tournaments in China, according to the BBC.
  • Wirral Tennis Centre in Britain has produced another world-class wheelchair tennis players in Jamie Burdekin, who will compete for Britain in Beijing, according to the Wirral News.
  • The 12 Olympians and Paralympians from Nova Scotia who received an official send-off at the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron in Halifax, Canada, on July 22, according to The Chronicle Herald.
  • Kylie Gauci, who is a member of the Australian women's wheelchair absketball squad (the Gliders), also won silver at the Athens Paralympics four years ago, according to St. Mary's Standard in Australia.