Bay Harbour: September 22, 2021

Bay Harbour News Wednesday September 22 2021
4
NEWS
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Stint at Paralympics a battle with
• From page 1
“But Scott worked through it
and we had good data coming
back from each session on the
water at the city of Komatsu, on
the western side of Japan.
“Our hosts, the Ishikawa
Prefecture Government. Laid it
all on for us. The training facility
was just down the road from
the local air force base so as we
trained we could see fighter pilots
taking off overhead every day.
“It was amazing country
but we were there to race and
Scott was out on the water every
day.
“It’s one of the sacrifices we had
to make to be there, as we were
not even sure we would get to the
Paralympics because of the rising
rates of Covid infections in the
country during the Olympics.’’
Barker said this time it was
very different from Rio in 2016.
“There we had a big security
presence around us all the time,
reducing our exposure to any
criminal elements, if you wanted
to go sightseeing you needed a
security plan, this time the security
was all about keeping us safe
from illness.
“From the moment we got
there, there were saliva tests daily
and we were GPS-tracked wherever
we went, it showed us if we
were within 50-100m of a known
infected person.
“In the hotel we had a whole
floor to ourselves, as we were
isolated from the general public,”
Barker said.
When they moved to the
official games village in Tokyo
they had a great reception by the
Paralympic New Zealand staff
there.
“We briefly shared a floor
with the Wheelblacks but
they left the next day as their
WE’RE HERE:
Paralympic
canoe coach
Leigh Barker
in front of a
sign at the
Paralympics
village in
Tokyo.
competition had finished.”
Barker said he remembered
with fondness the cardboard
beds and firm mattresses in the
village rooms and recalled the
amazing amount of food on
offer at the cafeterias.
“The menus covered all the
bases with all types of food on
offer, 24/7.
Getting between the village
and the canoe racing venue at the
Sea Forest waterway wasn’t the
chore it had been in Rio, Barker
said the canoe team quickly
found the PNZ staff had a sevenseater
van and so they booked it
every day so that they reduced
their risk of exposure to other
athletes and games staff using the
communal games buses.
“We did it because we wanted
to stay within our bubbles.”
Once the games were over
Barker and Martlew flew home
and entered MIQ in Auckland
where they stayed until Monday,
their rooms were near Dame
Valerie Adams and her gold
medal-winning sister Lisa
Adams.
“They were great to be
alongside, in the village, on the
flight home and at MIQ, they
really helped all the athletes
get over their Paralympic
experiences, especially Scott who
worked extremely hard and yet
finished in fourth spot, just 30cm
or .3 of a second away from a
medal.
“It was hard to console him
on the day. Reflections are easier
now as we are both planning for
the next 12-36 months.”
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