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Hard-fought

American Brown takes bronze in sailing

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Scott Duglas of the U.S. keeps his eye on the ball in his match against Martin Legner of Austria. AP

By Luba Vangelova, Special to CNNSI.com

It's not always the gold medals that are the hardest won. American amputee sailor Thomas Brown was well positioned to take the bronze in the 2.4mR-class regatta. Or so it seemed until yesterday, when his tiller broke at the starting line of his seventh race. Unable to steer properly, he placed poorly in both the seventh and eighth races. The bronze medal seemed all but lost.

To secure a place on the medal dais, Brown needed to win today's race. He also had to ensure that he finished at least five places ahead of the Australian boat, and three places ahead of the French boat.

Brown (who had never even seen a 2.4mR boat until the Paralympic sailing trials in April) went into the race relaxed, following a yoga session with his wife. He trailed until the last upwind leg, when he passed the two leaders. After that he never looked back, except to see where the French boat was (the Australian sailor was no longer a threat, having started too early and lost time doubling back to re-start). In the end, Brown had the margin he needed for the bronze.

Also earning a bronze medal today were American doubles tennis players Stephen Welch and Scott Douglas, who beat Britain's Simon Hatt and Jayant Mistry in three sets (in a best-of-three competition).

The American standing volleyball team was not so lucky, losing a closely contested bronze medal match against Slovakia. Josef Mihalco posted 41 kills for the winning team in the five-set match.

Storylines

The U.S. wheelchair rugby team had no trouble dispatching Sweden in a final preliminary. The undefeated Americans advanced to tomorrow's semifinals, in which they'll play Canada. For the first time in a Paralympics, two swimmers finished in a dead heat and shared the gold medal and the Paralympic record. Ireland's David Malone and Germany's Holger Kimmig touched the wall simultaneously in the men's 100-meter backstroke. Dan Kelly was among the victorious American swimmers this evening, winning his third gold of the meet in a close race with Japan's Junichi Kawai; he later said he felt Kawai's wave in the last 30 meters, one of the few instances in which he, as a blind swimmer, had known how close his competition was. Co-captain Karen Norris scored her first medal here, winning the 100-meter backstroke (for those with minimal weakness in their legs) in a world record time of 1:14.61. Tomorrow will be the final, big day for swimming. Canada's Chantal Petitclerc came away with another gold, this time in the wheelchair 200-meter race. American Cheri Becerra finished second after having set a world record in this morning's semi-final. The Canadian women's wheelchair basketball team extended its domination of the sport, beating Australia for the gold medal. The Canadians have been undefeated in sanctioned international competition since 1990.

Athlete of the hour

Australia's Tim Sullivan broke the world record in his cerebral-palsy-class 400-meter race by almost three seconds. He has now won the 100 meters, 200 meters and 400 meters in world record time.

Beauts

Paralympians have been thrilled to be playing in front of big, supportive crowds. "Usually it's ten people and your dog, and that's it," said one Australian tennis player.

Busts

The American women's goalball team lost its last preliminary match against Great Britain, dashing its hopes of advancing to the next round. The French men's 4x100-meter wheelchair relay team looked set to win its semifinal this morning. But at the last changeover, the third racer strayed out of his lane too soon after passing the baton, and crashed into an Australian racer. The French were disqualified and the race was re-scheduled. World record holder and defending champion Purificacion Santamarta of Spain was disqualified from a vision-impaired 100-meter race after a referee decided she had been propelled by her guide (guides run alongside runners, with a tether between them).

Gold rush highlights

Athletics - men's 1500, women's 5000m, men's 4x100m relay, and other events Men's wheelchair basketball Swimming - men's and women's 50m freestyle, 4x50m medley relay, 4x100m medley relay Tennis - men's singles; women's doubles Sitting volleyball

On the spot

The U.S. men's wheelchair basketball team will face Great Britain in the bronze medal match tomorrow. The Americans beat the Brits in a preliminary match, in a game that went into overtime.

 

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