The Jamaica Star :: Sport :: Paralympians get ready for their shining moment in Beijing

In this file photo from October 1, 2004, Jamaica's medallists at the Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece, Alphanso Cunningham (left) and Tanto Campbell, who won gold and bronze, respectively, show off their silverware. - File

Between August 1-4, Jamaica's wheelchair athletes competed in the Spitfire Wheelchair Basketball Competition in Ontario, Canada, and made significant steps towards their dream of one day competing in this event at the Paralympic Games.

Despite having a depleted squad of only seven players, the Jamaicans managed to improve on their performance when they last competed in the competition in 2005. Jamaica were also missing two of their most adept players as both Alphanso Cunningham and Tanto Campbell were preparing for their medal bids in this year's Beijing Paralympics.

Excellent performances

The Jamaicans played seven matches, winning three and losing four, with the team putting in some excellent performances despite the major disadvantage of not having sufficient substitutes. Jamaica defeated Canada's Under-23s, one of the best teams in the tournament, and while they lost to Mexico by 36 points, Coach Errol Williams believes that with a full squad, Jamaica could have won the game. Jamaica's best performance came against Denmark in a 101-19 trouncing of the opposition, with the 82-point margin of victory becoming a new tournament record.

Jamaica's creditable, against-the-odds performance is valuable experience in achieving eventual participation in future Olympics. The next obstacle is a tournament in El Salvador. "If they can go to El Salvador and defeat a few teams, then we should be able to take them to the Olympics (in London 2012)," Williams said.

IMPRESSIVE PERFORMANCE

Williams is also the head coach of Jamaica's Paralympic Team and is confident of an impressive performance at the Paralympic Games that start on September 6. Jamaica will be represented by at least four athletes. Williams is tipping Sylvia Grant for medal success in class F57 of the women's javelin and discus.

"Sylvia Grant is a five-time Paralympian; she has always pulled something through and always manages to win a medal," Williams said. As well as winning Paralympic medals in the past, she recently won a silver and bronze medal at the 2007 Paralympic Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Another star-performer is Alphanso Cunningham, who won Jamaica's first gold medal in 16 years at the 2004 Athens Paralympics following Minette Wilson's gold in discus at the 1988 Paralympics in South Korea.

Beat champ

Cunningham won the gold with a world record in class F53 discus and is hoping to emulate that achievement in this year's event. However, he will have to beat current world-record holder Toshie Oi of Japan, who set the world record at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Athletics World Championships in 2006. Cunningham is undaunted by the stiff competition he will face and is confident of breaking the world record and coming home with gold in the discus.

"I am pretty close to the world record in training and in competitions I tend to do better than what I do in training, so I am very confident," Cunningham said. The competition will also be a lot tighter this year due to class F53 being merged with classes F52 and F54. Cunningham also believes he has a shot at the medals in the javelin, having won the bronze in the Pan American Games, although the competition at the Paralympics will be a lot fiercer.

When coach Williams was asked how many medals he thought the team could win, he was very upbeat.

"I am going to be very optimistic. I would love to pick up five but I am really looking at three," Williams said. Cunningham believes preparations for Beijing were going well but is tentative in predicting a total medal haul.

"You know everyone looks pretty good in training, everybody looks comfy. I feel we can get ... I don't want to say how many we can get but I know we are going to come back with medals," Cunningham said.

The Jamaican athletes will depart for Beijing on August 28.

Errol Williams, coach of Jamaica's Paralympic team, is banking on at least three medals. - Ian Allen