The_Guardian_-_2016-12-29

moments from the Games in Rio
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Let’s move on to the Aquatics Centre, though, where Britain won an unprecedented 47 medals,
including 16 golds. Bethany Firth swam brilliantly, Ellie Simmonds became the first SM6 swimmer to
race below three minutes in the 200m medley and Ollie Hynd took up two golds, while the youngsters
excelled as well. Ellie Robinson, who took up swimming after watching Simmonds in London, won
S6 50m butterfly gold at the age of 15. The youngest member of the team, 13-year-old Abby Kane,
became a silver medalist.
All of which explains why Rob Greenwood, the head coach of Britain’s Para-Swimming team, was
named High Performance Paralympic Coach of the Year at the UK Coaching Awards last month. The
glory always belongs to the athletes in major tournaments, but it is worth taking a moment to
acknowledge the guidance they receive from the people behind the scenes. With Greenwood in
charge, the future looks bright for Britain’s swimmers. JS
5) Chelsea Gray
Chelsea Gray has spent most of her basketball career on the sidelines. Literally. She has spent the
majority of her college years on the physio table after two potentially career-ending injuries. When
she has been fit, as a back-up point guard in the WNBA, she is generally found on the bench, rather
than the court.
It is a miracle that Gray ever made it to the WNBA. In college at Duke, she badly dislocated her right
kneecap, one of the most gruesome injuries a basketball player can sustain. After 11 months of
intensive rehab she returned to fitness, but only 16 matches later dislocated it again, this time
compounding the injury with a fracture. Two surgeries later, Connecticut Sun took a chance on the 5ft
11in Californian, giving her an annual salary of $30,000.
The Joy of Six: comedy football goals | Rob
Smyth
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Her earnings increased when she was traded to the LA Sparks in the off-season, but her bit-part role
remained. In context, Gray started zero games out of 34 for the Sun in the 2015 season; for the Sparks,
who boast five WNBA All-Stars in their ranks, she did well to start one match out of 33 in 2016. Yet
without her, the Sparks would have never won their first championship since 2002, and her efforts in
the deciding fifth match of the play-off final against the much-heralded Minnesota Lynx earn her a spot
on this list.