Friday, September 19, 2008

Paralympic Track Action

Check out these shots of some of the track racing action at the Laoshan velodrome during the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing. It's a real shame that the Paralympics doesn't get more media attention. Anyway, enjoy these photos.

Australians Kieran Modra, right, and his pilot Tyson Lawrence compete in the Men's 4000m Individual Pursuit. AP PHOTO/ANDY WONG

Britain's Aileen McGlynn, right, with her pilot Ellen Hunter reacts after they won the Women's 1km Time Trial final. AP PHOTO/ANDY WONG

Tang Qi of China cycles during the women's individual pursuit. STR/AFP/Getty Images

Gold medalist Simon Richardson of Britain, center, is flanked by silver medal Masaki Fujita of Japan, left, and bronze medal Greg Ball of Australia during the award ceremony of the Men's 1km Time Trial (LC3-4) final. Britain killing it on the track again. AP PHOTO/ANDY WONG

Carlos Arciniegas and Juan Careno of Colombia (R) race against Ben Demery and Shaun Hopkins of Australia in the men's sprint. Awesome. STR/AFP/Getty Images

Dong Jingping of China cycles during the women's individual pursuit track cycling. STR/AFP/Getty Images

Australian Kieran Modra, right, and his pilot Tyson Lawrence reacts after they win the Men's gold medal 4000m Individual Pursuit. They set a new world record at 4 minutes 18.961 sec. AP PHOTO/ANDY WONG

Cool shots, huh? The tandem sprint in particular looks feckin' mental!! Do they trackstand?? As far as I know, the stoker of the tandem is the paralympian, and is usually blind. The pilot basically just steers. No disrespect to the pilots, but the idea of being a blind track cyclist is so impressive and inspiring.

5 comments:

El Duke said...

Really awesome. Thanks for posting these!

Ben VC said...

Yeah those are amazing.

Unknown said...

For the tandems, the stoker is visually impaired/blind. The pilot is always ablebodied and does all the steering and shifting/breaking on the road.

Anonymous said...

wow, so awesome.

Simon said...

Thanks for the confirmation, Greta, and congratulations on setting that American record!