Team Canada wheelchair basketball player Nikola Goncin helped his country reach the semi-finals where they will take on the defending Paralympic champions, the USA. When not involved in sport, his day job is designing prosthetics for disabled children in Bosnia.
Goncin, who was born in the Balkan state, played a key role in Canada’s 79-67 victory over the Netherlands in the quarter-finals. But despite relishing the stage and the atmosphere, basketball is not the biggest thing in his life.
Goncin fled Bosnia with his parents in 1994 to escape the Balkan war. However, at the age of 15 he broke his leg because of cancer. The leg had to be amputated and that’s when his other life began.
Goncin discovered wheelchair basketball after the accident. He had to adapt and find a new direction in life. He also dedicated himself to his studies, earning a degree in biomechanics and then a master’s degree in exercise physiology.
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He explained that his experience as a teenager helped guide him to his current line of work.
“My prosthetist, when I first lost my leg, had a big influence on me. So, I thought maybe that was something I could be interested in.”
Ottobock employees’ essential service
Every day is a busy day at the repair centre in the Paralympic village, whether it’s adjusting a prosthetic leg or replacing the damaged wheels of a wheelchair, technicians are busy at the repair centre in the Paralympic Village maintaining the para-athletes’ gear.
Canadian Katy Dandeneau, a wheelchair basketball player, waits patiently to have the cushion on her new sports chair fixed. The workshop services are provided free of charge by the century-old German company, Ottobock, which has been associated with the Paralympic Games since 1988.
Peter Franzel, head of the repair centre explained: “We repair equipment of all brands, from walking prostheses for everyday use to wheelchairs for racing.”
He and his team expect to carry out more than 2,000 repairs during this edition of the Paralympic Games. Three hundred repairs alone were carried out in the first three days.
In total, 160 Ottobock employees from around 40 countries are on hand to handle repairs in the Paralympic Village and at the competition venues.
Unhappy Story as women’s race distance halved
Britain’s Sarah Story has hit out at Paralympic organisers after winning the women’s C5 time-trial, the 18th Games gold medal of her career. She was annoyed that the women’s race was shortened to 14.1 kilometres, half the distance of the men’s equivalent (28.3 kilometres).
She said: “You have to ask the organisers, but there’s plenty of time in the day for us to do two laps like the men. And having fought so hard for parity in women’s cycling, to not have it in para-cycling after what we had in Glasgow last year is a real disappointment.
“I’ve had to put that disappointment aside and just concentrate on what I can control because I couldn’t control the race distance. But I really hope that they never do this to the women again because I think it’s been appalling.”
According to the Press Association, organisers decided to shorten the distance of some courses due to the busy schedule of 19 races.
Remarkable Aussie Palmer doubles up
Lauren Parker became Australia’s first dual-sport Paralympic medallist in 44 years after claiming silver in the women’s H1-3 individual time-trial to add to her triathlon gold. After finishing first in the para-triathlon on Monday, Parker was facing a lofty task to match a feat last achieved by Eric Russell, who won a gold (shot put) and two bronzes (discus and pentathlon) in 1980.
But the remarkable Parker was undaunted by the historical challenge facing her in the Parisian satellite town of Clichy-sous-Bois and could well have finished first with a gold to her name, but instead finished 9.5 seconds behind American winner Katerina Brim.
Number: 250,000
The number of followers that Brazil’s ‘rocketman’ swimmer Gabriel dos Santos Araujo, or Gabrielzinho as he is known, boasts on Instagram, a fan base that has seen him win three gold medals.
Quote of the Day
“They’ve been the perfect Games for me. Carrying the flag, lighting the cauldron, and winning that gold medal. It’s a winner. It’s not too bad at all.” – France’s 38-year-old flag bearer Alexis Hanquinquant, who has gone on to win two gold medals, the second of which was in the triathlon defending the men’s PTS4 title he won in Tokyo.
