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Show Saturday, July 8, 2000 The Park Record B-3 Waddell completes rehab in time for Paralympic Games Continued from B-1 down-thrust as he worked the wheels of his racing chair; that slowed him in final pre-trials training although it only seemed to catch-up with Waddell on the second day of the trials when he competed in the 1,500-meter race. "I'd come down on the fender, Waddell explained, "so my contact con-tact point was really sore and that's where the tear was. I'd just get into it and try to push and I'd be out of breath, there was so much pain, so I was lucky " But luck, someone said, is "the residue of hard work." The hard work, according to Waddell, came from the staff of The Orthopedic Specialty Hospital in Salt Lake City, who helped accelerate accel-erate his physiotherapy and rehab so he could compete. Waddell, who's won five Paralympics gold medals in mono-skiing and three more titles at the 1996 and '00 disabled World Championships, said this year's Summer Paralympics create cre-ate the same telescoped training schedule he faced four years ago with the World Championships and Paralympics in the same year. He won the slalom title and iook three other medals at the Worlds in Switzerland last winter. "The first couple of weeks after ski season are painful because training for track is such a big difference," he explained. "It's certainly much easier to go from summer to winter than from winter to summer. There's a higher high-er level of general fitness going into winter. "This year was tough mentally, too. It was a long ski season. I was on the road a lot, so I had to work to rev it up for summer." Not only was he gratified by his performance in New London, but Waddell was pleased to see more than three dozen personnel from The Hartford, the insurance giant which is one of his major sponsors, come down to volunteer volun-teer at the Paralympics trials. Some corporate executives were on hand to obsene the trials and oversee how their involvement in disabled athletics was being implemented, and others were multi-purpose volunteers and different dif-ferent events. "They had a new rubber track for the trials, so that was hard because you sink in more - runners run-ners get more bounce but it was a little tougher for us. Conditions weren't optimal, but it still was a good time. We had more media than I've ever seen...60-70 credentials cre-dentials were issued, and it was nice to see this bunch of workers from The Hartford," he said. And so it's on to the next phase. Daily workouts, sometimes some-times two-a-das. depending on the weather. "I'm home three days, then Minnesota for a few days , really, it's hard to keep up with the dailv schedule." he said All the while, Waddell - who moved up to the U S. Disabled Ski Team in time for the 1V)2 Paralympics in France, a couple of months before he graduated from Middlebury - is keeping an eye on the countdown to the 2x2 Paralympics and its alpine events at Snow basin. He's also a consultant consult-ant with the 02 Paralympics organizers in Salt Lake City. "There's a fair amount I have to do in winter to be where 1 want to he by the time March 2U)2 comes along. Hopefully. I'll be able to take some time off after these Paralympics and then hit it hard when winter comes along. Ultimately, sknng's my passion and 2002 probably will be my last one. so 1 want to leae on a good note. I want to get back the same feeling I had in u4 (four gold medals in Lillehammer). But. it'll take a lot of work to hae that kinJ of confidence and skill level... "It should be a busy summer. I should be in good shape by the time we co to Ssdnev." moles a71 - t-Jqf A snowboarding aerlalist launches himself high above the congregation in City Park during a 4th of July trampoline show on Tuesday. Freestyle jumpers, both skiers and snowboarders, took turns pulling off spectacular flips and twists for the holiday crowd. Before and after the parade, City Park was the place to be for independence revelers. Following an early morning pancake breakfast, people were treated to several acts of live music, a rugby contest and kids games.. The trampoline trampo-line aerial show was merely a portion of the real thing, currently cur-rently scheduled every Saturday at the Utah Olympic Park. During those shows, freestyle athletes launch from the ski Jumps into a splash pool to the delight of the crowd. Two players sandwich the man with the ball as they attempt a tackle during the 4th of July Muckers rugby contest The annual game, held at City Park, was just one in a series of events Tuesday, which also included a pancake breakfast, live music and fireworks. ROGER GLAZIER PRK RECORD i issv All your auto needs right down the road. Choose from nearly half a million used car listings in your town or any town. And that only the beginning. Abracat offers 13 million listings of cars, jobs, homes, all related services, sni much mere. Abracat is updated daily by over 700 of America's tcp newspapers covering all SO states, making us your most comprehensive one-stop one-stop resource. The -aiyiS vvvvvv.parlcrecoird.com |