Kurt Fearnley Wins the Marathon in the Paralympics

Kurt Fearnley ended up winning the marathon in the Paralympics after his bad luck in the earlier races (see Kurt Fearnley’s Week from Hell). I liked what he said after winning: "It was as if it was just building in tension and building in hype. I knew in myself every single bad thing that happened just meant the next good thing that happened was going to be twice as good.”

Kurt Fearnley in the 2008 Paralympics

The Paralympics have been going on in China for quite some time now, and they aren't getting a fraction of the publicity the Olympics got. One of the big names in the news is Kurt Fearnley, who is ranked number one in the 1500 meter, the 5000 meter, and the marathon. He has been having some bad luck lately with first being assigned the wrong lane and then being hit from behind during the 1500 meter race yesterday: Kurt Fearnley's Rotten Luck.

Fearnley has sacral agenesis and is Australian. For more, see Athletes with CRS/SA.

Wheelchair Ballroom Dancing

I saw this great story about a woman, JoAnne Fluke, who has CRS and is a wheelchair ballroom dancer: With Groovability, Wheelchair Dancers Dismiss Notions of Disability. In describing why she likes dancing, she says, "I get the opportunity to really express how I feel. It feels like it doesn’t matter that I have wheels instead of feet. It’s in the heart. It’s in the soul.”