THE BEAUTY OF HUMANS IS PUSHING ‘THE LIMITS’
Canadian Huot captures 20th medal in his final Games
They keep score here because it means something to win a medal at the Paralympics.
It doesn’t mean the same thing to everyone, but it does mean everything to some. Namibian sprinter Ananias Shikongo, for instance, thinks his gold medal in the 200 metres is going to provide a roof over his head.
“I think I am going to get a house. I think our president will give me a nice house.” Here’s hoping. These medals, which by the way make different noises in accordance with the number of beads inside them, speak for the Paralympic movement and the athletes who take them home every four years. More figuratively, they speak in several languages and from the heart, occasionally in the most flowery verbiage. They speak to family and friends and commitment and peace of mind. And some of them speak louder than others because of their timing and their number.
Canadian swimmer Benoit Huot won his 20th and final Paralympic medal on Thursday, a bronze, in his fifth and final Games. It was quite a moment. He sobbed a little, hugged it out with family, and soaked up the spotlight, knowing it was his last performance on the grandest stage.
“I would have written a Hollywood script to try to finish on that note and I don’t think it would be possible (to beat what happened). It’s like a dream come true and I can leave in peace with No. 20 in the pocket,” said the 32-year-old from Longueuil, Que.
But it also leaves him one shy of the career total amassed by his friend and Team Canada chef de mission Chantal Petitclerc, who collected hers as a wheelchair racer at the track. They had been joking about their friendly competition in the lead-up to Rio. He was master of ceremonies at the news conference held to announce her as chef and she needled him a bit.
“In her speech she said, ‘I want the best for our athletes and will do everything to help them, but Ben, I won’t be cheering too much for you because I don’t want you to beat my record,’ ” Huot recalled with a chuckle.
She genuinely wished him well in his pursuit and reflected on her thought process when she targeted the amazing exploits of Switzerland’s Franz Nietlispach, who won 22 medals in nine Paralympics between 1976 and 2008 in wheelchair racing, hand-cycling and table tennis.
And when Petitclerc finally became the most decorated female Paralympian, she felt the bull’s-eye on her back.
“When I broke my records and when I wanted to win 21 medals, I was chasing a record myself,” she said. “Then someone was chasing me. Every time one of my world records was broken I was impressed because I know what it takes to do it. So I was like, ‘Wow, great, this girl beat my record.’ So there is the one side that is happy for the sport. But it felt like a little pinch, that’s for sure.
“It really is the beauty of humans, always trying to push the limits.”
The grandest Canadian medal totals, like those of every nation, skew toward swimming and athletics just because of the sheer number of baubles up for grabs every four years. There are literally hundreds of medal events in swimming, just two in wheelchair basketball and one in wheelchair rugby.
So while Petitclerc ranks first among the world’s female Paralympians, she isn’t kidding herself about the significance.
“If you’re a basketball person, you will never get into those numbers, so what does it mean?” she said.
“Does it mean our top basketball guy wasn’t worth as much as I was or Ben was? Clearly not true. We’ve got legends in hockey and basketball and they will never have access to more than one medal every four years.
“So it’s a bit of a game and we have to take it with a touch of humour. Being competitive, we want to beat those numbers. I was like that. Ben is like that. But someone like me and someone like Ben, we’re smart enough to know that just because we have more it doesn’t mean we are better athletes than basketball legends.”
What’s more, the records are a little murky.
Petitclerc has been told by the Canadian Paralympic Committee that she’s not the country’s top medal winner at all, that the mark belongs to former swimmer Tim McIsaac with 28.
But the International Paralympic Committee’s historical database has him with 21, tied with Petitclerc, just ahead of Huot. Regardless, they can all feel proud of their accomplishments.
And Huot can wear his final bronze medal with particular pride, knowing he fended off a couple of opponents who were in diapers when he started his Paralympic career at Sydney 2000. But he knows the score. The 21-year-old Ukrainian kid who won that race, Maksym Krypak, leads all Paralympians here with seven medals.
Sounds like somebody is going to get himself a new house in Kharkiv.