Day 20 - Wheelchairtennis in the lotus blossom!

Theme and Intro: The athletes at the Paralympic games are real heroes. Honestly I hereby show my deepest respect to these sportsman and -women. But, I see also differences in the diverse disciplines from an aesthetic point of view and my likeliness to watch some Paralympic sports.

Example: Wheelchairtennis. Exiting (- although I am not into tennis) sport which requires certainly well established differentiated techniques, interesting to watch, fast, and just as normal as ordinary tennis is. All in all a good show. In my opinion, here the sport gives dignity to the athletes and the watchers.
Counter-example: Sitting Volleyball. Just have a look at it. I do not mean that it is not fun for the players but it is just looking miserable. All these cripples creeping on the floor... Do not get me wrong here. It is just a matter of personal aesthetic attitudes. I know that it might be very everyday for the disabled people, but still the Paralympics is for everyone.
Conclusion: So, I guess, one has just to get used to that... I am obviously not ready for all of Paralympics ;-)

My life experience of the Paralympics is shown in the following collage; [nice stadium - (called the lotus blossom because of its dodecagonal architecture; new, but I found already a rusty part) good show, but: nothing else but good supply with food..., prices still super cheap, good atmosphere, watching the 1. Women double, 2. Mens double, 3. Mens Single (all finals) with ceremony afterwards, Winner: NED, FRA, JPN]

(Click on the picture to enlarge, or click here and use the "Magnified view")

It is not such a surprise that the french double won the competition... all these gay(sorry)-French-sounding-English tennis-terms... here is a little extract: "deuce" (score: 40 each), "advantage" (the player, who can win the next point after deuce has advantage), fault etc.. But even better was the show of one French player - he took of his shirt and got doused with beer from his fans... The crowd went wild.
Also remarkable: the guys coming in for hoisting the flags - really funny.

Highlights:

• The most crowded bus I have ever gone with, in my life so far (on the way to the Stadium)
• The flag ceremony
• Some Chinese girls asking for a picture with me (obviously because I am so damn good looking)
• The French guy getting the beer shower

Goodbye . . . whoever you are . . .