Para-dressage rider Pepo Puch wears medal hopes with Sailor's Blue / Image: GEPA pictures
Tokyo / Vienna. For the second time, the sports world will look to Tokyo this summer when the 16th World Games for athletes with disabilities open today (12.45 p.m., live ORF1). 4400 athletes from 170 countries will compete in 22 sports at the Paralympics until September 5th. Austria's squad consists of 24 people and will be led as the standard bearer by javelin thrower Natalija Eder and triathlete Günther Matzinger at the opening ceremony in front of the eyes of Japan's Emperor Naruhito. Because of the takeover of power by the Taliban, no athletes from Afghanistan are starting in Tokyo, but the Afghan flag will still be represented “as a symbol of solidarity”.
Like the Olympic Games before, the Paralympics will take place under difficult circumstances and without spectators. Because although the number of participants is only a third, the corona numbers in Tokyo have continued to rise since then, and the state of emergency still applies. The Japanese organizers therefore urged the officials not to eat or drink in groups. Despite all the precautionary measures, twelve positive Covid cases were counted before the opening, including one active.
Three Olympic champions on the team
The ÖPC delegation is made up of a good mix of experienced and newcomers. ÖPC President Maria Rauch-Kallat did not want to commit to a number of medals in advance. “We are happy about every single medal, but also about every placement,” said the former minister. All team members are already winners because they are among the very best. Five years ago in Rio de Janeiro there were nine medals to celebrate, including one gold from para-dressage rider Pepo Puch.
The Styrian Puch is also in Tokyo as one of three Olympic champions. Racing wheelchair driver Thomas Geierspichler (2004, 2008) and former athlete Günther Matzinger (2012), who competes in the triathlon for the first time, also already have gold at home. Geierspichler has conquered precious metals nine times in five competitions, and at the age of 45, the former marathon winner competes with younger people over shorter distances (400, 1,500 m), as he did in Rio. And with competitors who have a lower degree of disability. “That is not fair,” the Salzburg resident criticized the class division again. While another medal would be a surprise for Geierspichler, Pepo Puch is again one of the favorites. Born in Graz, he relies on the World Cup and European Championship proven Sailor's Blue, with which he has already been vice world champion.
The red-white-red prelude
On the first day of the competition on Wednesday, a red-white-red quartet will intervene in the action. Table tennis player Krisztian Gardos, the third from Rio 2016, feels well prepared and has studied the videos of his opponents. His brother Robert was eliminated in the second round of the Olympics, Krisztian wants more. “The quarter-finals have to be there. If everything goes well, I can beat any opponent. “
For Paralympics debutante Yvonne Marzinke, the track training in Austria – the Dusika Stadium is being demolished – recently came off badly, but the Munich-born woman still believes in a top placement. Anna Kiesenhofer's golden Olympic sensation followed her in front of the television and also motivated her. “You can see that everything is possible.” Janina Falk and Andreas Ernhofer also give their premiere in the swimming pool and benefit from the experience of their team leader Andeas Onea. The 29-year-old wants to get involved again in his fourth Paralympics for precious metals.
