Song (TN)
The Paralympics Dream Team
Aida: Hello hello hello! Good morning and welcome to "The Paralympics Dream Team" I am Sara Smith
Eddy: And I am Eddy Parker.
Aida: As you know, this year, here in London, the Olympic and Paralympic Games will be held! For the last couple of weeks, we have been discussing facts and opinions of the Paralympics. Later on, as always, we will be talking about our two topics of the day. Our first topic of the day is: How does the Paralympic Games affect you? And our second topic is: Do you have a disabled friend or relative? If so, tell us about it... give us a call to 115832-0409 and share your thoughts.
Eddy: But right now, we are here with William Stiller to inform us about the weather today and for the rest of the week. Tell us William, how’s the weather today?
Song of meteorologist (Telenoche)
Guillermo: Hello Eddy, to tell you the truth, we are both freezing in here, that’s why we are using our bobble hats and jackets. Here, in the western part of London, we are having evening rain, then mostly dry but cloudy. Max 7ºC, min 2ºC. Tomorrow, we are having a mild but breezy day. It will be dry and cloudy. On Wednesday, we are going to expect a little bit of rain but a brighter afternoon. Max 11ºC, min 1ºC. So get hold of your jacket and beanies, for we are having a chilly week.
Commercial :Sound of plane
Micaela: Hello Robert! Agustín: Hello! Micaela: I have a question for you. Agustín: Tell me. Micaela: What are you doing for the holidays? Agustín: Oh, I’m going to London to see the Paralympic Games, I love to see people that do a great effort to achieve their dreams. Micaela: Really? I wanted to go but I cannot afford the trip.
Agustín: But this year there is a 50% discount on trips to London and two free entrances to any Paralympic event you want to see. The “British Worldwide Airline” makes this offer. Micaela: Awesome! Where do I find this fantastic offer? Agustín: Type www.britishworldwideairline.co.uk or call 0800 800 2000 Micaela: It is incredible! I cannot miss this opportunity, I'm flying to London today then! Agustín: ( slogan) British Worldwide Airline, the best way to have the world in your hands!
Eddy: Okay so now we have Mia Armstrong on the line to speak to us about a special interview she had with a Paralympic competitor. Mia, how are you?
Song journalist
Maria: Hello Eddy. Okay so, last week, I had the amazing opportunity to interview Blade Runner, a.k Oscar Pistorious. For the ones that don’t know Oscar, he is a 25 year old South African athlete specialised in the 400 meters race. Pistorious suffered an amputation in both legs when he was 11 months old due to a degenerative cognitive malformation, since then he uses prosthesis in both legs. His parents always encouraged and supported Oscar. “I always been treated as an equal” he says. That’s the respect Blade Runner imposes, demands and gives inside the hectometre, his natural habitat since he suffered an injury in one of his knees caused by an illegal tackle while playing rugby which steered him into the track to do rehabilitation. Eight months later, with only 17 years old, he was participating in the 2004 Athens Paralympics Games. The controversy and complaints that led to his inclusion in competition with conventional athletes generated so much noise that the International Association of Athletics Federation ruled that the prostheses gave him an ostensible advantage over their opponents without physical difficulties. Without remorse or resentment, Pistorius appealed the measure before the Court of Arbitration for Sport which found insufficient evidence of the IAAF. Between 2007 and 2008, more than 20.000 pairs of prostheses as the ones he is using were made and they were given to hundreds of athletes around the world, and none was even close as the timings he did.
I know this radio show is about the Paralympics Games but the other day I came to know about certain shocking things that some athletes have done to be able to win. You really need to hear this guys! As early as 1900, there were accusations that the marathon winner, Michel Theato, used his knowledge as a baker's boy to take shortcuts through Paris. This was never proved - unlike the case of Fred Lorz, the first man home in St Louis in 1904, who admitted he'd spent half the race in a car! Can you believe that? Most of the games' early controversies, however, concerned the judging, which was often incompetent and sometimes biased. But as the judging improved, rulebending turned into gender-bending. Dora Ratjen, fourth in the women's high jump in Berlin in 1936, was actually a man called Hermann. Incredible!
Aida: Thank you Mia. That was great! Okay so now the time has come to talk about the two topics of the day. I repeat the first one: How does the Paralympic Games affect you?
Eddy: And the second one is: Do you have a disabled friend or relative? Okay we have a call. Hello!
Sound (ring)
Clara: Hello, my name is Phoebe, I´m from Manchester, and I actually work at a travel agency. Since the news that the Paralympics will be hosted in London lots of people come to the agency or call us from abroad to find out about the games. We have sold 40% more tickets than last year; tourism is doing great these times! The city is being decorated and cleaned which is really comfortable and lovely to see, also the air is loaded with excitement and happiness. In my opinion the Paralympic Games brought joy which helped to join the people and it’s nice that they can join such important events and are included in society.
Regarding the second topic of the day, I do have a disable friend, she is in a wheel-chair and she is the sweetest girl I´ve ever met. She cooks deliciously and is thinking in opening a little bakery. When we hang around people occasionally look at us, but they get used to it, they are one of us, and should be treated as such
Sound (ring)
Antonella: Hello “The Paralympic Dream Team”, I am Antonella from London, I am 42 years old. I support the idea of the Paralympic Games, but I recognise it would be better if it is more organised. As you know, all London is full of people even at 8 o’clock in the morning. It is so impossible for me to commute to work and take my children to school. When I go shopping, there is a queue of 30 minutes, it’s so crazy!
Sound (ring)
Antonella (with another voice) Hi! i am Georgia from Liverpool with 26 years old. As regarding the second topic of the day, i don't have a disable relative or friend, but i think the family of the disable person has to be always pendant about the way of living her/his relative. Some people are always complaining, like "why i happened to my son? It is not fair". Things happen for a reason so i cant stand those people though it is not an easy moment to go through.
Sound (ring)
Dafne: Hi, I’m Dafne from New York, I am 16 years old.About how the Paralympic Games affect us, I see how anxious the people are for the games to begin. The whole city is full of commercials and the T.V is the place where most of these commercials are shown. This makes me want to go to London. My cousin lives there and he told me he could get two free tickets to see the competition because one of his friends works there. I will try to go and see this fantastic competition. I don't have any relative or friend with a disability, but most of the people think that they have a hard life because they are discriminated. But, it is not completely like this...they have a happy life and the support of their family.That's why we have the Paralympic Games.
Aida: Okay so now we have another journalist speaking to us about his report on wheelchair rugby. His name is Frank Watson. Hey there Frank!
Song journalist
Alberto: Hello everyone! Did you know that wheel chair rugby is a very popular sport nowadays? In the last Paralympic games, tickets for this sport were sold when the games did not even started. This sport is played in a basketball size court but without the baskets. The player´s chair is made of aircraft aluminium in order to resist impact that occur frequently in this game. This game is played by four players on court, they go from side to side carrying the ball in their lap. This is really a brute sport, it was once called murderball wheel chair racing is a really shocking sport. this game consists of 8 players who spin their wheels at great velocity. the chairs of the players have 3 wheels each and are very light. we an definitely say that each player has huge muscles in their arms.
Commercial 2: Sound?
Mica: Hello Robert! Agus: Hi! Mica: How are you doing? Agus: Fine and you? Mica: A little exhausted, I´ve been packing my big wheel luggage Agus: Oh…I´m only taking my hand luggage! Mica: Haha, but I´m taking the new Adidas Paralympic Kit and that occupies a lot of space. Agus: What does the kit have? Mica: It´s great, it contains the new water-proof sweater that can be personified with any flag you want. It also has the ultimate Predator boots and an enormous flag supporting the Paralympics, every flag has something different written on it. Agus: Wow, it is full of things, I do need one of those.
Mica: You can buy it at any Adidas shop. Agus: Awesome!! so I´m getting it one of those today Mica: See you later Agus: Adidas…impossible is nothing...
Eddy: Today we're having two guests with us to talk about their experiences. Hello! How are you?
Song (Fox) (Films) Nicolas: Hi, there. It´s an honour to be your guest guys! Juan: Hi, thanks for inviting me to this great radio show!
Nicolás: For those who don´t know me, my name is John Peterson and I´m 26 years old. I´m a tennis player that classified for the Paralympics games of London 2012 representing Britain. I play tennis since very young, before losing my legs in a car accident when I was 11. This was a shock for my family; I spent 2 years in re-hab. My mom thought I would never recover. But still, I wanted to have a life as normal as possible. So I started playing tennis again, but this time in a wheelchair. As time went by, my skills increased with every hit and finally my trainer told me that I had been chosen for the national committee of Paralympics sports. After receiving such news, I started training three hours per day hoping at least to get a medal, and if I have the chance of winning, well…that´ll be fantastic!
Juan: well, my name is James Hughson, it may ring a bell to you. Thanks for inviting me to this great radio show! I´m a professional wheelchair rugby player. I was born in Portsmouth, England in October 4th. I used to play rugby as a professional rugby player, but after having a severe injury in my spine when I was 20 years old, it was hard to recover and consequences had to be paid. At present, I`m physically disabled but that doesn’t mean that my passion for the sport vanished. After leaving the hospital and recovering from the external injuries, my father was the one who was constantly encouraging me to practise a variety of sports, when he introduced me to rugby in wheelchair. I trained for about three years until I was selected for the Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby. Since then my life has changed completely, it's a high impact sport that may give you a lot of opportunities. My new ambition now is to win the gold medal at the 2012 London Paralympic Games.
Aida: Thank you very much! That was incredible to hear! Now our third journalist will be talking to us. Hi there Johnny!
Song journalist
Martín: During the 2008 Beiging Paralympics, two powerlifters were accused of consuming anabolic. The athletes were Facorurou Sissoha of Mali and Luidyla Omanora from Ukraine. The judges and court members, shocked by the news, decided
that a 2 year punishment off-sport for e two young athletes would be sufficient. Sissoha was caught on a drug test against the doctors and he still claims innocent and has presented several cases against the doctors for medical negligence. Omanora was a victim of the drug testing while she was training at a training camp at Tiambli La, China. These two cases had got up to 4, the number of athletes caught cheating. You know, many people wonder why those athletes take the easy road and go on drugs...well, a recent test has shown ghat drugs can increase performance up to 20%, this means that we can take a 4th place and make that athlete get to the point of beating all the contestants. However, science has helped keep out the great majority of cases. German wheelchair basketball player Ahmet Cohsun was taken out of competition as he was found positive for anabolic agents called methandrion metabolites, in his urine. He was also banned for two years. Eddy: Thanks Johny! That was really interesting. Now Mary will finish off with the weather.
Francisca: On Thursday morning there are going to be strong winds and then a heavy storm. The morning will be freezing (3ºC), so you will have to wear your warmest clothes. The temperature will go up at midday, reaching its maximum of 8ºC at two o’clock. In the afternoon, it will still be cold but clearer. On Friday morning, there is going to be a drizzle and light winds. The temperature will be 7ºC, but in the afternoon it will increase to 12ºC.
Eddy: Well, I'm afraid our time has come to say goodbye. Aida: Have a great day and we hope you listen to us tomorrow at 9:00 am again. Eddy & Aida: Goodbye! Song (David Guetta: Titanium)