DEAFLYMPICS

Caine Batten carries Aussie Flag

at Deaflympics 2009

Caine awaits the Sprint start

CAINE BATTEN was Australia’s sole representative at the 2009 Deaflympics held in Taipei, Taiwan in September. Christine Brown also attended the Deaflympics as an official and interested observer. There were competitors from 14 nations representing four regions but the greatest number of competitors came from Eastern Europe. The Russian, Lithuanian and Ukrainian teams were strong. One of the Lithuanian men, Tomas Kuzminskis, represented Lithuania at WOC in Denmark in 2006. A full suite of races was held covering all disciplines. The Sprint and Relay competitions were held in Yang Ming Park and the Long and Middle Distance competitions at Cingtiangang. Both areas are just north of Taipei. The Taiwanese terrain was challenging and some heavy rain made the racing tougher again. Once outside the urban areas in Taiwan the terrain is steep. Cingtiangang was once a lovely open series of undulating meadows grazed by water buffalo. After a mishap involving a water buffalo and a person the buffalo were restricted to some