Initial impressions of Rio de Janeiro: the four-lane motorways, where the fast lane is arbitrary, determined not in a progressive sequence from inside to out, but by the vehicles that slalom from one to the other in search of a few metres of clear tarmac upon which to accelerate. Indicating is optional.
This is markedly at odds with the general pace of life, which is more sedentary, whether queuing, walking, ordering or even going through the security scanners that stand as sentinels at the entry points to the Paralympic venues.
The constant presence of the army on the streets and at the entrances, as well as patrolling the various stadiums, is immediately striking.
So too are the sheer number of volunteers, designated to oversee the coming and going of the spectators, but the experience is pleasant and at times amusing. Appearances are deceptive.
There is an absence of officiousness so often prevalent at major global sporting tournaments. Setting off a scanner occasionally goes uncensored, a sense of guilt sending the transgressor back to empty pockets to try again.
Gelded financially in the build-up and undermined by poor ticket sales, the Rio Paralympics have provided a thoroughly entertaining, and at times humbling, experience and nowhere more than in the swimming pool.
Inspiring sight
On Thursday night, the first event in the pool was the men’s S6 100m backstroke; three of the four participants had no arms, one was also missing a leg. Dropped into the pool, a towel was dangled by an aide, which they gripped with their respective mouths to get some leverage in propelling them from the starting wall.
Watching them race, they embodied the Paralympic motto, ‘Spirit in Motion,’ arguably in its purest form.
There is no argument about the level of impairment that occasionally surfaces in other classifications, whether the discrepancy in the categories can be significant.
It was an inspiring sight, not in a patronising “aren’t they great way?” but in marvelling at the courage and technique required to swim 100 metres with a quasi-dolphin kick.
About an hour later and Daniel Dias entered. The crowd went mad. The 28-year-old from Campinas, a city north of São Paulo, who has malformed upper and lower limbs, learned to swim in 2004.
Since then he has won 15 Paralympic medals at a variety of distances, 10 gold, four silver and a bronze.
Dias was born without hands. His right arm stopped at his elbow, while his left arm was also shorter and had just a single finger. His right leg finishes at his knee and he has no foot, so he uses a prosthetic to walk.
On this night he won an 11th gold in the 200m S5 freestyle race, in which Ireland’s James Scully finished sixth in a personal best time.
Dias won by more than 10 seconds and over the next week and a half will try and add another eight medals to his tally.
Amazing athlete
Prior to the Games he was name-checked by Olympic icon, American swimmer Michael Phelps (28 medals).
Dias smiled: “I am very happy to be compared to such an amazing athlete, but I am Daniel Dias. Medals are consequences of good work. I never promise medals.”
No, the Brazilian who has a degree in mechanical engineering just delivers them. In a wonderful moment of serendipity, Dias will today compete against his idol and countryman, Clodoaldo Silva, the man who inspired him to take up swimming in 2004.
“I only began because I saw Clodoaldo [who has cerebral palsy] swimming on television. I didn’t know people like me could swim, could do any sport at all,” Dias said.
Winning the Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award in 2008 and 2012 were highlights as was being Brazil’s flagbearer at the opening ceremony of the 2012 Paralympic Games in London.
Even if he were to win eight further medals in Rio he may never catch the most decorated Paralympian ever.
American blind swimmer Trischa Zorn currently holds that title, having won 55 medals, including 41 golds, over the course of seven Paralympic Games between 1980 and 2004.
The Paralympic male athlete with the highest medal haul is Swedish shooter Jonas Jakobsson (27 medals, 17 gold), who is also competing in Rio. But even in the unlikely event that Dias doesn’t go on to add to his tally, it won’t affect his standing in sport.
Just as he was inspired, his accomplishments will act as a clarion call for others who dare to push convention.
They too may take solace from his words, when he said: “Disability is a limiting word that classifies a person. We all have deficiencies and limits. I am not a disabled athlete, I am a Paralympic athlete.”
Rio is full of such athletes.
