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Personal tragedy, a bout of chicken pox and other injuries have harrowed Australia’s athletes ahead of the Beijing Paralympics, but nothing will dent their top five aspirations.
Australia’s hopes of a top five finish on the medal tally remain in place despite a run of bad news to have hit the team just days out from the Games, which begin on Saturday.
Blind 1500m runner Gerrard Gosens turned on his mobile after flying in to China this week only to be told his father-in-law had died in a plane crash in Brisbane.
Shane Winter and his friend Peter Boreham were both killed when their glider nose-dived during landing on Monday.
But athletics head coach Scott Goodman said the news, which happened immediately after the majority of Australia’s 169 athletes arrived in Beijing, had galvanised the squad.
“It was one of those things that was a uniting thing,” Goodman said.
“We spoke about it as a team and we said, `we need to keep what we’re doing here in perspective’.
“That was our message.”
After considering his options, Gosens eventually decided to stay in Beijing and dedicate his performance to Winter.
Long jumper Aaron Chatman was also a potential last minute withdrawal from the team, after coming down with chicken pox while on a training camp in Hong Kong.
Although his arrival in Beijing will be delayed by six days, he is expected to make a full recovery and keep his gold medal chances alive.
Cyclist Mark Le Flohic’s late withdrawal from the team after breaking his collarbone while in Perth days before his Beijing arrival means that no Australian will contest the road time trial for cerebral palsy athletes.
Despite the string of bad luck, Australia were still determined to do well in Beijing.
The country’s top athletes will need to be at their best if they are to curtail China’s expected second wave of dominance following on from the Olympics last month.
The Chinese won 51 gold medals – the best haul in two decades – and are widely considered to be even stronger in the Paralympics than the able-bodied competition.
For Australia, wheelchair racer Kurt Fearnley is the country’s best chance of athletics gold, especially in his speciality, the marathon.
Track and field traditionally bring home the most medals and Beijing appears to be headed along the same path, with contenders Christine Wolf, Richard Coleman and Lisa McIntosh all set to make their mark.
McIntosh caused a small scare when she fractured her little toe in Beijing – the latest among a small sprinkling of injuries to have impacted the team – but will be right to compete.
As with the Olympics, a number of athletes have complained of scratchy throats, an injury not attributed to China’s smog but to the change in climate.
Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) boss Jason Hellwig said as with the Olympics, air quality was not an issue and the Chinese had already proven to be exemplary hosts, with facilities and accommodation well above par.
More than 4,000 athletes will compete in 20 sports at the Paralympics, with Australia set to contest 13 of them.
All three of the country’s team sport contenders – the men’s and women’s wheelchair basketball and the wheelchair rugby team – are strong medal hopes.
Some 6,000 journalists will cover the event, which concludes on September 17.
Top 10 Australians to watch at the Beijing Paralympic Games:
1. Kurt Fearnley – Athletics
Fearnley’s freakish talent has him competing in a veritable feast of events, tackling six of them in Beijing. He’ll be aiming for back-to-back golds in the marathon and 5000m, while his appearance in the relay teams alone have cemented Australia’s position as the top gold medal contenders. One of the Paralympics’ favourite sons.2. Michael Milton – Cycling
For one of Australia’s most successful paralympians, it’s rather odd when you consider Milton will be competing at his first ever summer Games. The former world champion skier fought the toughest possible fight to win selection in Beijing after a second cancer scare. Just making the team would be enough for most, but the indefatigable Milton says he will do all he can to bring home a medal.3. Wheelchair rugby team
The Steelers are hellbent on improving on their fifth placing at Athens and are well placed to do so. A climb up the world rankings has them sitting in second place, just behind the United States and has firmed them as one of the gold medal contenders. Crashes galore, the sport is not for the weak or faint hearted, but will provide some of the best Paralympic action of the Games.4. Matt Cowdrey – Swimming
A world record-breaking swimmer at age 19, Cowdrey has been dubbed the “Michael Phelps” of the Paralympic Games. The South Australian is contesting six events and is a strong chance of taking home gold in all of them. Beijing will be his second Games and he is a dead-set certainty to add to his already hefty collection of three golds, two silvers and two bronzes.5. Michael Gallagher – Cycling
Gallagher burst onto the cycling scene in 2005 and hasn’t looked back. With his debut in Beijing, great things are expected of the 29-year-old, who is competing in both road and track cycling events.6. Evan O’Hanlon – Athletics
An unbackable favourite in the 100m and 200m, O’Hanlon broke both world records in the same meet last year. In doing so, he eclipsed Tim Sullivan as Australia’s premier Paralympic sprinter, and the two are expected to line up against one another at the Bird’s Nest. As well as his world championship victories, he can add another title to the list: being a contender for Cleo’s Bachelor of the Year.7. Annabelle Williams – Swimming
The 20-year-old Games debutante will contest three events in Beijing – the 50m and 100m freestyles as well as the 100m butterfly. Though hotly contested events, Williams has the weight of expectation riding heavy on her shoulders and is expected to bring home at least one medal. She made her first big team debut at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games, where she won bronze, and is one of the rising stars of Australian swimming.8. Richard Colman – Athletics
The Geelong-based athlete has one Paralympic gold and one bronze to his name after his debut at Athens. Another star of the track – where Australia is expected to achieve the majority of its medals – Colman will contest six events.9. Russell Short – Athletics
There are not many Olympians that can brag about partaking in multiple sporting disciplines, but Paralympians seem to take it in their stride. Short will contest both the shot put and discus yet again after making his debut in Athens four years ago. He won a bronze in the shot put and came fifth in the discus, but if expectation has any part to play, there’s much more to come from him in Beijing.10. Libby Kosmala – Shooting
The oldest member of the Australian team at 66 years of age, Kosmala has lost none of her competitive edge. Beijing will count as her 10th successive Paralympics, not including the 1968 Games when she attended as an administrator. She’s won nine gold and so many silvers and bronzes she says she can’t count them all. She needs just one more gold to become Australia’s most successful Paralympian of all time, although runner Tim Sullivan is in the same boat and could easily go one better in the men’s relays.