The_Guardian_-_2016-12-29

That was a minor gripe, however, and it was possible to find a wall of noise elsewhere. Packed
crowds and brilliant acoustics meant that it was often difficult to hear yourself think at the Aquatics
Centre and the Velodrome, while the atmosphere inside Pavilion 3 at Rio Centro was raucous and
intimidating when ParalympicsGB’s Will Bayley faced Brazil’s Israel Pereira Stroh in the final of the
men’s class 7 table tennis. A feisty match ended with Bayley, who was born with a rare congenital
disorder that affected all his limbs and diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma at the age of seven,
climbed on the table to soak up the acclaim after winning his first gold.
Will Bayley takes to the table to celebrate his gold medal in the class 7 table tennis. He received a
yellow card from the judge, but hugged him in response. Photograph: Adam Davy/PA
It is easy to become unintentionally condescending towards Paralympians. It is understandable that
some of them feel as though they are being patted on the head when they are called brave or fighters.
Yet Bayley was someone who had repeatedly been written off. It was a triumph of resilience.
There were moments which brought home the challenges that face Paralympians, none more so than
when Marieke Vervoort, a Belgian wheelchair racer, gave a press conference in response to reports
she was planning to kill herself after the Games. But Vervoort explained that signing euthanasia
papers has allowed her to cope with the relentless pain of living with an incurable and degenerative
spinal condition.
Sadly this was the first Games to see a Paralympic athlete die in competition. Bahman Golbarnezhad,
an Iranian cyclist, lost his life on the penultimate day after a crash in the men’s C4/C5 road race.
I prefer to think of Vervoort’s message as she showed us her silver medal. “Believe you can!” she
shouted. “Yes, you can!” Her motto encapsulated the Paralympic spirit.
This article was downloaded by calibre from https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/dec/27/rio-2016-paralympicsipc-russia-team-gb
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