From the moment the flame entered the stadium in London, England on 29th August, till today, 5th September, the Paralympics’ athletes have been showing the world that a disability is simply an obstacle to overcome. Whether their disability is physical, mental, or both, the athletes of the Paralympics are the ultimate example of perseverance and heart.

Jose Efron, silver medal in 80 kg in Judo (Courtesy of the London Paralympics Press)

Argentine athletes are no exception. In just four days the team has managed to rack up as many medals as the Argentine Olympic team’s total of four. With three bronze and one silver, the decorated athletes have lifted Argentina up to 54th place in the medal count. Now the only colour missing is the ever-elusive gold. But with four and a half days left filled with athletic events there is still plenty of time for the men and women proudly wearing the blue and white to earn some hardware.

So here’s a look back at what went so well in the first half and a look forward to what you can expect in the remaining days of the London 2012 Paralympics.

Argentina’s First Medal

The first athlete to step onto the podium for Argentina at the London 2012 Paralympics was Rodrigo Fernandez Lopez.

Just two days into the Paralympics the cyclist donning the blue and white pedaled his way to a bronze medal by defeating Germany’s Michael Teuber in men’s track cycling individual C1 pursuit on 31st August.

The 33-year-old from Entre Rios finished with a time of four min and seven seconds, the athletes who competed in the gold medal sprint finished with times around the four-minute mark.

The bronze is the second Paralympics medal for Lopez who has cerebral palsy. He won bronze in Athens in 2004, for the men’s bicycle road race time trial C3.

The individual pursuit is a track cycling event in which two athletes start from stationary positions on opposite sides of the Velodrome. The athletes start at the same time and race around the oval track to finish cycling four kilometres in the fastest time. However, if one of the athletes catches up to the other athlete they are automatically crowned the champion. This makes the event an exciting spectacle as the athletes circle around the track trying to catch up to each other.

The classification system for cycling is broken down to event and number. In this case the “c” indicates cycling and the number represents the severity of the disability. One is allocated for athletes with the most sever activity limitation.

Lopez returns to the bike to compete in the road race on 6th September.

Piling on the Hardware

The second and third of Argentina’s medals came just hours after its first in men’s 81kg and 90kg judo. Jose Effron grabbed Argentina’s first silver medal after losing to the Ukraine’s Olexandr Kosinov in the men’s 81kj judo final. Kosinov defeated Effron with a score of 0122-0112.

Jorge Lencina shared the podium with Dartanyon Crockett of USA (Courtesy of London Paralympics Press)

Judo, meaning “gentle way” in Japanese is a sport where the object is to throw down or take down your opponent. Scoring is such that when an opponent is thrown onto his back in a position where he cannot move the athlete scores an ippon and wins the match. A lesser throw that puts the opponent on his back but does not immobilize him scores a waza-ari. Finally, a throw that places an opponent on his side is given a yuko. Kosinov earned one waza-ari and two yukos to Effron’s one waza-ari and one yuko.

In the Paralympics, Judo is reserved for athletes with varying degrees of visual impairment.

Argentina was also successful in the men’s 90kg Judo with Jorge Lencina’s bronze medal. Lencina defeated Hani Asakereh of the Islamic Republic of Iran 100-0001, Lencina scored an Ippon automatically winning the bout.

The event is organized so there are two bronze medal winners. Lencina shared the third place spot on the podium with Dartanyon Crockett of the United States of America.

The fourth and most recent medal was awarded to Nadia Baez in women’s swimming 100m breaststroke SB11. Baez earned the first medal for the swimming team and beat her Pan-American record with a finishing time of 1:31.21.

Swimer, Nadia Baez (right) came in third place behind Sweden (Courtesy of London Paralympics Press)

The blind 23-year-old athlete, who was runner up in the 2010 World Cup, secured her victory just 50 metres into the swim when the three podium athletes broke away from the rest of the heat. Baez finished almost four seconds ahead of the next best swimmer.

Baez competed in the SB11 category of swimming. The categories go from 11-13 with 11 indicating a complete or nearly complete loss of vision. To level the pool however, all athletes in the SB11 category compete in blackened goggles. The swimmers rely on the assistance of “tappers”, the trainers who signal athletes when they are reaching the end of the pool and must execute a turn.

Baez came in third place behind Sweden’s Maja Reichard and Ukraine’s Yana Berezhna.

Looking Forward

One of Argentina’s strongest medal hopefuls Los Murcielagos, the Argentine blind football team, has one of their biggest games coming up tomorrow, 6th September at 11:45 am local time, in the 5 vs 5 football semifinals.

Los Murcielagos, or “the Bats” will be going up against the mighty Brazil who are the back-to-back Paralympics gold medalists in Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008.

Brazil comes into the knock out round with two wins and one tie. They breezed through the game against Turkey beating them 4-0 but were stumped when it came to the European Champion, France and tied 0-0. They’re second win came against China 1-0.

Argentina comes into the game with one win and two ties. They beat Iran 2-0 but couldn’t find the back of the net against both Great Britain and Spain. Brazil will be their biggest challenge yet but if they make it through to the championship game they will be guaranteed a medal. Los Murcielagos already have an impressive trophy case with a silver in Sydney in 2000 and a bronze in Beijing in 2008, now all they need is the gold to complete the set.

In other Paralympic action Gabriel Copola and Fernando Eberhardt pick up their paddles today, 5th September at 12:30 pm local time, in the men’s class 3 table tennis quarterfinals. The Argentine team will be taking on the duo from Germany.

Los Murcielagos will face Brazil after two wins and one tie (Courtesy of London Paralympics Press)

Team matches consist of four singles matches and one doubles match, each played over the best of five games. Each team consists of either two, three, or four players and matches end when a team has won three individual games.

The team events are run in a knockout format. Players and teams progress through the draw until the finals. The winners of the semi-finals play in the gold medal match and the losers of the semi-finals compete for the bronze medal.

Classes 1-5 indicate athletes who compete in a wheelchair.

Korea takes on Austria while Spain and France square off to determine who makes it through to the semi-finals. There the three teams to advance will join China, who have already made it through.

Athletics also have yet to take place in which there are numerous medal potentials for Argentina. Hernán Barreto is one of those golden hopefuls. Barreto won gold in both the men’s 100m and 200m at the Para Pan-American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, in the T35 category, T35 is for athletes with cerebral palsy.

According to the International Paralympic Committee he was ranked number three in the world in 2011 in the men’s 100m. His biggest competition will come from China’s Xinhan Fu and Russia’s Teboho Mokgalagadi, who are ranked number one and two in the world and were Beijing’s silver and bronze medalists. Barreto takes to the starting blocks today, 5th September at 5:55 pm local time.

Yanina Martínez and Naudia Schaus are also hoping to step onto the podium at the London Paralympics. The women had a one, two finish in both the women’s 100 and 200m T36 in Mexico. T36 is also for athletes with cerebral palsy. They are currently ranked number three and four in the world for the 100 and 200m and are hoping to earn some hardware for Argentina. The women start with the 100m sprint on 6th September at 6:26 am local time.

For a complete list of when Argentina’s Paralympic athletes compete please visit our events calendar online.

The second largest sporting event in the world has finally gone home. Thousands of athletes have ascended upon London, England, for the 2012 Summer Paralympics, which is second only to the Olympics themselves. The Paralympics got their start in London in 1948 by the determined efforts of Dr. Ludwig Guttman, who believed strongly in using sport as therapy for people who were injured during World War II.

Guttman intentionally organised his wheelchair games to coincide with the 1948 London Olympics, and just like that the international competition for men and women with disabilities was born. Now, 64 years later, the Paralympics Summer Games are returning to London.

At the ‘home of cricket’, Lords Cricket Ground, a team of five members of the UK’s first blind women’s cricket team carried the Flame into the famous ground, which will play host to the Paralympic Archery competition. (Photo courtesy of London 2012)

Like the Olympics the best of the best have come to compete on the world’s biggest stage. Despite being blind, in a wheelchair, or mentally handicapped these athletes put on a show of incredible athletic prowess and ferocity. Even more impressive than the Olympic athletes, these men and women have already overcome a great obstacle in their lives and decided that being handicapped is no excuse.

Argentina will be well represented at this year’s competition with some medal hopeful teams and individual athletes. But even if they don’t make it to the podium, making it to the Paralympics is triumph in itself.

So it’s time again to grab your flag, paint you face in blue and white, and get comfy in front of the couch as the Indy highlights some of the many athletes at this year’s Paralympics’ Games.

Athletics

Argentina will have very high podium hopes for a few athletes on its athletics team travelling to London after a strong showing in Guadalajara where the team won eight gold medals at the 2011 Para Pan-American Games.

Top athletes from around the world competed at the Visa London Disability Athletics Challenge. The event showcased world-class athletes competing at the Olympic Stadium on 8 May. (Photo courtesy of London 2012)

Hernán Barreto is one of the athletes that is looking to run onto the podium in London 2012. Barreto won gold in both the men’s 100m and 200m in Guadalajara, Mexico, in the T35 category, T35 is for athletes with cerebral palsy.

According to the International Paralympic Committee he was ranked number three in the world in 2011 in the men’s 100m. His biggest competition will come from China’s Xinhan Fu and Russia’s Teboho Mokgalagadi, who are ranked number one and two in the world and were Beijing’s silver and bronze medalists.

Another medal hopeful is Sebastian Baldassarri. Baldassarri is the 2008 Beijing silver medalist in men’s discuss throw F11-12, which is the category for blind athletes. Baldassarri won gold in the discuss throw at the Para Pan-Am games in 2011, and also grabbed a silver in shot put. He is hoping for at least a repeat silver medal if not the gold itself.

Yanina Martínez and Naudia Schaus are hoping to step onto the podium together again, after a one, two finish in both the women’s 100 and 200m T36 in Mexico. T36 is also for athletes with cerebral palsy.

The women both qualified for the Paralympics and are hopeful to repeat the Argentine dominance of the podium. They are currently ranked number three and four in the world for the 100 and 200m.

Overall athletics is one of Argentina’s strongest events, boasting numerous medal contenders that are ready to bring home some hardware.

Swimming

Argentina has golden dreams for a few swimmers as they dive into the pool at the Aquatics Centre in London, England.

One of its biggest up and coming swimmers is Daniela Giménez. Giménez won three medals at the 2011 Para Pan-American Games in Mexico, two gold in the women’s 50m freestyle and 100m backstroke, and a bronze in the 100m butterfly.

The young 19-year-old swimmer from Chaco is missing her left hand placing her in the S9 category for slightly handicapped swimmers.

Trained by Sergio Sainz, the Argentine swimmer timed 38s10 in the 50m breast in a tournament in April 2011 at the National Centre of High Performance Athletics (CeNARD). The time was a world record but was not approved because of the lack of anti-doping control tests.

On the men’s side team Argentina will be well represented by Ignacio González and Guillermo Marro, who are both coming from a very strong showing at the Para Pan-Am Games.

González picked up a silver in the 200m individual medley and won three bronze in the 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 100m breaststroke all in the S12 or visually impaired category.

Competitors compete in the men's 100m Butterfly – S10 during day two of the 2008 Paralympic Games at the National Aquatics Centre on 8 September 2008 in Beijing, China. (Photo courtesy of London 2012)

Marro was the sole medalist at the Beijing Paralympics in swimming in 2008 when he won bronze in the 100m backstroke S7. S7 signifies the level of the physical handicap; Marro has very limited use of his legs and spends his time in a wheelchair right up until the moment he gets into the pool. In Guadalajara he proved he’s back to win by grabbing a gold in the 100m backstroke and a silver in the medley relay alongside Facundo Lazo, Marco Pulleiro, and Bruno Lemaire. This time he will try to win the gold in the 100m backstroke.

Marro is the flag bearer for team Argentina at the opening ceremonies in London.

Wheelchair Tennis

The serves are just as hard, the shots are just as fast and the rules are the exact same, but as the ball whips around the court so too do the metal wheels of the athletes’ chairs as they race back and forth trying to hit the tennis ball.

At the London Games, Gustavo Fernández will don the blue and white as he represents Argentina in the men’s singles.

Fernandez is ranked sixth in the world according to International Tennis Federation rankings and qualified for London 2012 after winning the 2011 Para Pan-American Games.

These Paralympics also mark the first time that the competition will be held in a purpose built stadium created specifically for wheelchair tennis. Eton Manor will have a capacity for 10,500 spectators to view the very best that the sport has to offer with a total of 112 athletes across all divisions.

For a complete list of all the Paralympic athletes and when they compete please visit our events calendar online.

Augusto Alonso had his leg amputated aged ten after a football injury developed into a malignant tumour. Last week, the 15-year-old from Mendoza scored two goals while wearing the blue and white stripes of Argentina in the opening game of the World Cup.

Thirty years after the sport was first created by Don Bennett in the US, the Amputee Football World Cup 2010 kicked off in Argentina last week. Over 200 players from 16 nations—each members of the World Amputee Football Federation (WAFF)—strode onto a floodlit field in Crespo, Entre Ríos, flying the banners of their countries.

Delegations from Angola, Great Britain, Russia, Liberia, El Salvador, Turkey, Iran, France, Haiti, Ukraine, Japan, Brazil and Argentina (with later arrivals from Ghana and Uzbekistan) were hailed with appreciative roars from a capacity crowd at the Crespo Union de Fútbol. As darkness fell, the atmosphere began to crackle with shouting voices, whistles, drums, streamers and confetti picked out by the bright floodlights.

The warm reception really set the tone for the ten day tournament as the towns of Cerrito, Viale and Paraná joined forces with main host Crespo to welcome the teams and celebrate the world cup of a sport that after three decades is still struggling to gain official recognition.

A world away from the ‘other’ World Cup in South Africa this summer, there was no wall-to-wall media coverage, shrieking vuvuzelas, or two-penny memorabilia here: amputee football still isn’t acknowledged by football’s governing body FIFA or included as a Para Olympic discipline.

Mauricio Gregnor, of the Mundial Organising Committee at Crespo said: “There are a lot of personal sacrifices made to play this sport because at first nobody took notice of amputee football players. Everything they have achieved they’ve done on their own and now finally they are getting some recognition.”

Setbacks are common: the tournament was supposed to be held in Brazil last year but was cancelled with less than three weeks to go for financial reasons. Each town’s preparation for this event was a labour of love and determination and each team’s journey to Entre Rios was complicated and uncertain. Many of them only made it by the skin of their hides.

Haiti

If anything captured the tournament’s battle against the odds, surely it was the sight of the Haitian national team making their way onto the pitch during the opening ceremony, merely ten months after an earthquake devastated the country. Three of the team were victims in the tragedy, including Francois McKewdy, who had to saw off his own leg to escape from the wreckage of the t-shirt factory he was working in when the quake hit.

Established not long after the natural disaster occurred, the team was created by the US-based International Institute of Sport (IIOS) and their arrival in Entre Rios came after a colossal fundraising initiative to pay for fares, equipment and uniforms.

Evens Esaïe Jovin, pastor and secretary of the national team said: “It was hard to organise because there were so many people that lost limbs in the earthquake. They came here without clothes because they literally didn’t have anything else to wear: every house was broken.

“Getting ready to come here was really hard. None of the players had travel papers or birth certificates, everything was lost,” he added.

Funding

In Haiti, amputee football is still in its infancy, but a lack of funding is an issue that is common to all teams that participate in the sport. Even in countries like El Salvador, where the sport has been established since 1986, the squad only managed to buy the last three plane tickets a few days before the competition started.

Their background is that of a 12-year civil war which ended in 1992 and there are only three players that don’t have an ex-guerrilla or military background. There was initial backing from the armed forces, but even that support has gradually dwindled.

Rene Velasco, 43, from Ilobasco, has been with the team since he lost his leg to a land mine during the war. From their lodgings in Cerrito, while his team mates are sprawled about watching Tom & Gerry he says: “We’re competitive. We also have to have other jobs (apart from playing football) to earn enough for tickets and uniforms: it wasn’t easy.

“We’re trying to get a bit more organised and hoping for help from sports federations and departments in the government, including FIFA. We’re demanding an answer as to why amputee football isn’t recognised as a sport. Everyone’s been asking why FIFA doesn’t lend its support to us but we still haven’t had an answer,” says Rene.

While Para Olympic sports get government funding in most countries, WAFF is still in negotiations to get amputee football included as a discipline and in the mean time the teams rely on thrifty fundraising.

Rehabilitation Through Sport

Investment in the sport would support more than just the teams themselves. According to many amputees, participation in sport was a crucial part of their physical and psychological rehabilitation as they recovered from the loss of their limbs.

Oscar Barablis, 42, Mendoza, is one of the Argentina’s three goal keepers. His arm was amputated 22 years ago in an accident at the gomeria where he worked.

“Of course I had to re-train and get used to playing with one arm but with the help of my friends and family I managed it – playing really helped me integrate into society because you feel part of a group again,” he says as the team basks in the warm spring sunshine, enjoying a free morning.

The positive impact is also felt by friends and family who struggled to comes to terms with the injury to a loved one. Oscar´s mother, Josefina, came from Mendoza to Crespo to watch her son represent his country. She says that seeing him play had finally helped her to accept that her son had lost an arm after more than 20 years of denial.

After a group of young boys come by to slap the players on the back and wish them luck for the next games, Oscar talks about the squad: “No player is bigger than the team. The main goal is to be as one and grow one step at a time and not to lose our modesty.

“We go out with our chests raised high in the knowledge that even if we lose, each player has contributed the best of themselves to our sport – that’s the idea,” he says.

An Inspiration for Others

Back in the El Salvador camp, Rene describes the team’s ambition to foster wider change back home: “We are really working to set an example, so that society sees that life doesn’t stop when you have a disability.

“When you have an amputation you feel like your world has ended. We want to work with these people and show them that life continues and they can carry on being the person that they were before the accident. We’re not psychologists but we can support them and help them by showing them that we have a living history; that we’ve overcome all of the obstacles that stood before us.”

The Haitian team also hopes to inspire others by setting up a national centre for amputee sport in Port au Prince with the backing of the IIOS to help earthquake victims recover from their injuries when they return home.

Speaking from Viale football club, as the team relaxed in the sun, listening to Sean Paul and having broken conversations with local school children, pastor Esaïe Jovin said: “There aren’t really any other amputee sports in our country. They don’t like unpretty persons and exile them from the society. It’s our challenge to come here and play in Argentina so that when we come back they will think differently.”

Although each team came to Entre Rios with the hope of taking the world cup home with them, the common long-term goal is to achieve official recognition for the sport so that they can spend less time on fundraising and more time on tactics. With the level of support, spirit of solidarity and number of flashbulbs on the sidelines at Crespo this year, there is a sense that amputee football is gradually getting the attention it deserves.

“I never thought that I would be out there playing for my country in front of such a big crowd,” says Augusto, “In other tournaments there were people but nothing like this. Their support is great!”

This is a sport that desperately needs publicity and investment – hopefully progress will have been made by the time the teams re-group for Japan 2012.