Ferguson a medal contender in disabled skiing at X Games

By Brian Gomez

From: Mercury News

The Gazette

Friday, January 26th,2007.

ASPEN, Colo. - Sam Ferguson was taking a typical ride on his mountain bike, whizzing around corners and barreling down straightaways.

He cruised through an open gate on his way up an Aspen mountain, just before nightfall on June 11, 1995. On his way down the mountain, he reached speeds of 40mph and didn't think twice about the gate.

"I started gaining a lot of speed," Ferguson said. "I thought it would still be open. Unfortunately, somebody closed it."

Ferguson slammed into the gate and broke his back. Doctors told him he would never walk again, and he figured his racing days were over.

Nearly 12 years later, Ferguson, 36, of Aspen, has earned national acclaim as a pioneer in disabled skiing. He's considered a medal contender in Saturday's inaugural mono skier X competition at Winter X Games 11.

Christmas is a season of hope and the news about A Ski Program helping to Injured Iraq Vets to gain hope on the slopes is simply amazing and wonderful.

Due to their injuries during the cruel war in Iraq, many of the soldiers have lost limbs and became disabled citizens, being "new disabled" is a challenge because it's a condition that has lots of limitations and barriers to face, for someone who used to walk and be a part of the Non Disabled world, the change becomes too hard but accepting their new condition and the challenges it offers for continuing living a little different lifestyle that can be very productive... is what matters.

Now being disabled and practicing sports for disabled people becomes a double challenge that needs courage,so when we mix all of these conditions/situations we see that any kind of disability disappears, there aren't barriers, there are just brave people with great courage and hope and they are simply amazing human beings!

Sandra Villanueva

Wheels' American flag logo designed by ROFL from Wulfram

Injured Iraq Vets Gain Hope On The Slopes.

For Some Who've Lost A Limb, A Ski Program Restores What Was Lost On The Battlefield.

Breckinridge, Colorado- December, 20th, 2006.

From: CBS News' Harry Smith reports

When you've been a Marine for 17 years and go by the name "Spanky," there's probably not a lot you haven't been through.

So learning to ski with one leg didn't scare Spanky Gibson. He knows a little about fear -- and a whole lot about courage.

"It could always be worse. I've known that from the beginning, the first time I saw I didn't have a leg at the end of my stump, under my covers, I said 'that's life, let's start moving forward,'" Gibson says.

He lost his leg to a sniper in Iraq. Since then, he's learned to walk again, and bike and even golf. The week before he came to Colorado to ski, he was in a triathlon.

"I've got two roads that I can take. I can loathe myself in self-pity and do nothing and not walk again and not do anything like this again, or I can be positive and I can do everything that I think is possible to do," Gibson says.

Montreux 2006- IPC Table Tennis World Championships for Disabled.

From September 1st to the start of October, The Montreux Congress Centre, on the shores of Lake Geneva in Montreux, Switzerland, hosted the 2006 IPC Table Tennis World Championships, there were 348 athletes representing 50 countries, approximately 200 were wheelchair competitors (classes TT1 to TT5) and 150 will compete standing (classes TT6 to TT10).

Last June 9th,the Soccer World Cup-Germany 2006 started.

Mexico has a great soccer tradition,it's the favorite sport for men, children and now even for women, who love it in support for their husbands, boyfriends, etc...also because well women love to see soccer players, some of them very handsome/attractive, so it is a sport that unifies families (families get together when the best games are played and especially when the national team plays a match, in this case we do it with the games the Mexican Team plays),soccer also unifies people from all nationalities and for a few days, bad issues among nations are forgotten.

Firsts at the Torino 2006 Paralympic Winter Games

Although the Torino 2006 Paralympic Winter Games are ended just a few days ago, the excitement and the emotion are still alive for us disabled people and also for some non disabled that are fans of the paralympic sports, there were a few or many things that were done for the first time and changed the image of the paralympic sports, here is a list of 'firsts' from the Torino 2006 Paralympic Winter Games:

Paralympic Closing Ceremony in the Mark of Spring

From: Paralympicgames.torino2006.org--Redazioneweb

Spring will arrive two days early in Torino. The Winter Paralympics Closing Ceremony, on Sunday evening, will bring Torino the scent of flowers and the heat of the sun. An extension of the Olympic season lived by the city in the last two months. "In a few weeks the city has gone from the greyness of its industrial history to a new epoch", said the director of the of the closing night's show, Roberto Tarasco.

Paralympic Winter Sports

The Torino 2006 Paralympic Winter Games will start in just a few days,they will display all the emotion and courage of our disabled athletes, I can say I feel very emotioned and proud of reading and seeing the way many of the disabled athletes are getting ready and especially proud of seeing the Mexican team that has already flown to Torino this weekend.

The Paralympic programme for the Torino 2006 Paralympic Winter Games will consist of four sports - Alpine Skiing, Ice Sledge Hockey, Nordic Skiing (Biathlon and Cross Country) and Wheelchair Curling.

Internet TV to Broadcast from Torino Live

From: Paralympic.org

Torino, Italy -February 20th,2006

For the first time in history, worldwide coverage of all sports of the Paralympic Winter Games are secured thanks to an Internet television channel. Beginning today, the International Paralympic Committee's (IPC) Internet television channel is live on www.paralympicsport.tv with footage from previous Winter Paralympics, eg, Örnsköldsvik 1976 and Salt Lake 2002. The launch was officially announced at a press conference today in Torino, Italy.

I just love to see the amazing Paralympic athletes that will participate in this Paralympic Winter games to be celebrated in just a few weeks more, they give us an "injection" of energy and new hopes, I feel proud of see them doing their best despite all what they can find as a limitation depending on their disability, they risk all even their health and we the non- sport disabled just can be proud of them, also we always must support them!

Twelve Ukrainian athletes are expected to participate in the Torino 2006 Paralympic Winter Games, that will be taking place from 10 to 19 March 2006.

Aster - Official Mascot of the Torino 2006 Paralympic Winter Games

The snowflake Aster has been created with the aim of symbolising the Paralympic Winter Games of Torino 2006: Aster represents the spirit of every disabled athlete, who fights with energy and full of courage instead of focusing on their disabilities.