Disability Magazine | PosAbility Magazine» Dan Greaves http://posabilitymagazine.co.uk The UK's most innovative disability lifestyle magazine covering sports, careers, education, relationships, holidays or activities and experiences that are accessible to all. Mon, 28 Oct 2013 13:47:47 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.6.1 London 2012 medallists on board as ParalympicsGB Sports Fest heads to Worcester http://posabilitymagazine.co.uk/2013/10/22/london-2012-medallists-on-board-as-paralympicsgb-sports-fest-heads-to-worcester/ http://posabilitymagazine.co.uk/2013/10/22/london-2012-medallists-on-board-as-paralympicsgb-sports-fest-heads-to-worcester/#comments Tue, 22 Oct 2013 13:27:36 +0000 PosAbility http://posabilitymagazine.co.uk/?p=28934 Paralympic_0658The British Paralympic Association (BPA) today announced that the third ParalympicsGB Sports Fest will take place at the University of Worcester Arena on Sunday November 24 and Monday November 25, 2013. London 2012 gold medallist Josie Pearson and silver medallist Dan Greaves have been confirmed as ambassadors for the event.

 
The third edition of Sports Fest follows the fantastic success of the event first held at Surrey Sports Park in December 2012 and subsequently hosted at EIS Sheffield in April 2013. In all, over 1,700 people have so far attended Sports Fest to ‘meet the medallists, try the sports, get inspired’.
 
Sports Fest is a free two-day multi-sport event for disabled people that aims to capture some of the enthusiasm built up over the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
 
Visitors to the event can participate in come-and-try sessions for the vast majority of Paralympic summer and winter sports. Additionally, they are invited to take part in meet the medallists sessions, where they can put their questions to athletes, pose for photos and receive autographs.
 
Tim Hollingsworth, Chief Executive of the BPA, commented: “We’re absolutely delighted to be bringing Sports Fest to Worcester. We were thrilled to see such a great turn out at the first two events in the series and they attracted fantastic feedback from visitors of all ages. It is now really clear that Sports Fest provides a wonderful opportunity for people to how learn they can get involved in disability sport and to discover what’s out there for them.
He added: “Sports Fest is a crucial part of the BPA’s commitment post-London to support the development of disability sport opportunities and to capitalise on the increased levels of interest in disability sport following the Paralympic Games last year.”
 
London 2012 gold medallist and World Champion Josie Pearson has been announced as one of the first Sports Fest ambassadors. Commenting on the announcement, she said: “I’m delighted to be named as a Sports Fest Ambassador as the event is celebrated in Worcester. As a Paralympian who has competed in both Wheelchair Rugby and Athletics, I know how fantastic it is to have the opportunity to try out a range of different sports under one roof! I’m really looking forward to the event and to meeting some of the people who sign-up to Sports Fest Worcester.”
 
London 2012 silver medallist and Dan Greaves was also thrilled to share the news. He said: “I’d encourage people to get involved with Sports Fest and register to attend the event in Worcester. Sport has been a huge part of my life, but the great thing about Sports Fest is that it’s not just for people with a competitive edge who want to find out how they can get more involved, it’s also for people who want to maybe try something new and just get more active.”
 
ParalympicsGB Sports Fest will go to different regions of the UK in 2014. Register for the Worcester event or for more information on future events via www.sportsfest.uk.com
]]>
http://posabilitymagazine.co.uk/2013/10/22/london-2012-medallists-on-board-as-paralympicsgb-sports-fest-heads-to-worcester/feed/ 0
Anniversary Games: Alan Oliveira world record, Jonnie Peacock PB http://posabilitymagazine.co.uk/2013/07/29/anniversary-games-alan-oliveira-world-record-jonnie-peacock-pb/ http://posabilitymagazine.co.uk/2013/07/29/anniversary-games-alan-oliveira-world-record-jonnie-peacock-pb/#comments Mon, 29 Jul 2013 08:38:06 +0000 posabilitymagazine http://posabilitymagazine.co.uk/?p=28223 _68993178_olivieirapeacockBrazil’s Alan Oliveira enhanced his reputation as the world’s fastest double amputee athlete as he smashed the T43 100m world record at the Paralympic Anniversary Games in London.

The 20-year-old ran 10.57 seconds to beat his previous mark of 10.77.

In the same race, American Richard Browne improved his T44 100m world record to 10.75, while Jonnie Peacock set a new British mark of 10.84.

British wheelchair racers David Weir and Hannah Cockroft both also won.

Four-time London gold medallist Weir was a class above the rest of the field in the rarely-run T54 one mile event, posting a new world record time of 3mins 16.40secs.

Cockroft was dominant in her T33/34 100m race, setting a new stadium record of 17.80secs in blustery conditions.

Elsewhere, there were victories for Paralympic champions Richard Whitehead (T42 200m) and Aled Davies (F42 shot), while Dan Greaves took victory in the F44 discus and both Graeme Ballard (T36) and Libby Clegg (T12) won over 100m.

With Oliveira, Browne and Peacock all putting in strong performances at this week’s IPC World Championships  in Lyon, the combined T43/44 race was the most eagerly anticipated event on Sunday – and it did not disappoint the 60,000-strong crowd.

Speaking through an interpreter, Oliveira said he was happy with his time but played down the idea he would try to compete at both the Rio Olympics and the Paralympics in 2016.

“I want to compete in the Brazilian national championships against able-bodied competitors, but I’m not thinking about international competition,” insisted Oliveira.

Sunday’s record was his second of the week after he broke the 200m mark of Oscar Pistorius in Lyon.

Browne, whose time of 10.75 seconds beat the 10.83 record for single amputees he set in winning his semi-final in Lyon, told BBC Sport he believes that he and his rivals can go even faster and eventually challenge able-bodied times.

“You are going to see sub-10.5 times, maybe even 10.2,” said the American. “If anyone can do it, it is us.”

He also praised Pistorius for breaking down “so many barriers for us”, adding: “We owe him a lot of gratitude because he showed the world it isn’t crippled people trying to run, it is the best athletes in the world.”

Browne also said he wanted to emulate Pistorius by running in able-bodied competitions.

Pistorius was only cleared to run in able-bodied competition in 2008 after initially being banned by the IAAF, the body that governs world athletics.

The South African successfully appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but it is likely that any other amputee sprinter who wants to compete against able-bodied runners would have to go down the same route.

“There will be more than one amputee in the Olympics by 2016,” said Browne. “I think the IAAF have to be ready for it and get their rules ready.”

Peacock told BBC Sport he was disappointed not to have made more of the favourable conditions in front of his home crowd.

“The conditions were perfect for me to run a great time and I didn’t make use of them and execute the race I should have done,” said the 20-year-old.

“Alan and Richard did and they had great times because of it. I just panicked at the start and lost it. I don’t think my drive phase was very good either.

“I am capable of those times and I really want more races against Richard. He got me today, I got him in Lyon.”

Elsewhere, Whitehead passed Australian Scott Reardon with a trademark late surge to win the T42 200m, while Davies set a new stadium record in the F42 shot put, although his mark of 14.31m was just short of his world record of 14.71.

Greaves gained some revenge on American rival Jeremy Campbell, who took his world title in Lyon, with his winning throw of 57.42m well clear of the Paralympic champion’s 49.40m.

BBC

]]>
http://posabilitymagazine.co.uk/2013/07/29/anniversary-games-alan-oliveira-world-record-jonnie-peacock-pb/feed/ 0