Recapping the month in para-sport: May 2015
01.06.2015A classic USA-Canada ice sledge hockey showdown was among the highlights this past month.
Team USA celebrating (Steve Cash, Samuel Mumper, Paul Schaus, Josh Pauls) their victory over Canada in the gold medal game at the 2015 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships A-Pool in Buffalo, USA.
© • Bill Wippert
The 2015 Dutch Para-Archery Tournament – the first international competition of the year – kicked off in Almere, the Netherlands, with Russia making a strong case for the Rio 2016 Paralympics after winning 10 medals at the event.
Also highlighting the month was Iran’s Zahra Nemati, who set a new world record in the para-archery recurve open category at the Archery World Cup in Shanghai, China.
Germany's Markus Rehm (T44), Italy's Martina Caironi (T42) and the Netherlands' Marlou van Rhijn (T43) all rewrote the record books in their respective categories, followed by even more world records being smashed at the IPC Athletics Grand Prix in Nottwil, Switzerland.
The Grand Prix series also made a stop in Tempe, Arizona, USA for the Desert Challenge Games, where a three-way battle among the US’s T43/44 sprinters Jarryd Wallace, David Prince and Jerome Singleton was in full display.
Brazil and Canada showed why they are among the top in the Americas after each won a triad of medals at the 2015 Boccia Americas Team and Pairs Championships in Montreal, Canada.
The sport will make its Paralympic debut in Rio 216, and Great Britain established themselves as podium contenders by winning six medals, four which were gold, in the European Canoe Sprint Seniors Championships.
Despite a slow start, Italy’s top rider found a way to rebound and win both her Grade Ia events at the three-star event in Mannheim, Germany.
2015 International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) World Games
It was a memorable month for the Israeli women’s goalball team, who captured their first major Championship title, while Lithuania put away China in the men’s gold medal match at the IBSA World Games. The Argentinian football 5-a-side team avoided an upset from Great Britain to win the World Games title, and Russia saw three of their judoka capture valuable Rio 2016 qualifying points with gold-medal performances.
USA shut out rival Canada to win the IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships A-Pool crown, while Russia had to go into overtime with Norway to win the bronze.
Great Britain owned the waters at the International Para-rowing Regatta in Gavirate, Italy, winning eight medals, including six gold.
Shooting
The IPC Shooting World Cup in Turkey got a treat with a double shoot-off between New Zealand’s Michael Johnson and Great Britain’s Ryan Cockbill. In the end, Johnson edged Cockbill by slim margins to win the R5 (mixed 10m air rifle prone SH2) and R4 (mixed 10m air rifle standing SH2) events.
Great Britain’s Will Bayley and Billy Shilton paired up for the first time this season and took down Spain’s world champions for gold in the Slovenia Open. Meanwhile, the Brazillian duo of Carla Azevedo and Catia de Silva were among third-seeded pairs to pull stunners at the Slovakia Open.
Germany’s Martin Schulz continued his streak of success in the sport by winning the men’s PT4 category at the International Triathlon Union (ITU) World Paratriathlon Event in Madrid, Spain. Over at Yokohama, Japan, the US saw success with four of their triathletes winning their respective events, while Great Britain saw success on their home course with two gold-medal runs.
Seventeen-year-old Alfie Hewett helped Great Britain record their first win at the BNP Paribas World Team Cup, while the US and the Netherlands’ continued their streak of wins in the quad and women’s titles, respectively. Earlier in May, Japan’s world No. 1s Shingo Kunieda and Yui Kamiji had no trouble proving why they are the top in the men and women’s singles, respectively, after winning their singles titles at the Japan Open.
