“Guitar groups are on their way out.’ This was the remark made by an official from Decca Records to a young band who were hoping to record their first album. Twelve publishing houses turned down a children's story sent in by a first time author, struggling to feed her child. Unknown to all these creative executives, they had turned down what would have been their most lucrative deal! The Beatles and J.K.Rowling eventually did find more sympathetic distributors, and it is fair to say, they did all right for themselves.
Just because someone has a setback in life, does not mean that the situation will never change. Sports people are particularly susceptible to many difficult situations that can affect them personally; injuries, loss of form, poor results in a big competition, change of coach or team personnel can have negative consequences for the athlete. There are a number of competitors in Chengdu who have had to face an adverse set of circumstances and who have made adaptations to emerge a better person in life and in sport. Many of them have been in action today, let’s meet the athletes who have made the most of the second chance that they have been given.
Jurins Kengamu (GBR) was a promising footballer, who was getting paid for playing semi-professionally. However, he picked up a serious injury and had to retire from the sport. Looking for something else to do, the Londoner walked into his local gym and told the staff that he wanted to lift weights as heavy as possible. He did not even realise that competitive Powerlifting was a sport! He definitely does know it now, having last night added The World Games title to last year’s World Championship gold!
The competition was enhanced by Kengamu’s great rival and friend and European Champion Enahoro Asien from Hungary. The pair spur each other on to lift staggeringly heavy weights. In the deadlift section of the competition in Chengdu, they both lifted at least 360 kg. Apart from being powerlifters they have something else in common, a shared African heritage and wonderful nicknames. Asien is originally from Nigeria and is known as ‘The Human Crane’. Kengamu plays on his family’s Rwandan connections, calling himself ‘Da Silverback’ and doing a Gorilla pose before each lift!
Another athlete who tried to make it in football was Benin’s Marcel Gbetable, but his club released him from his goalkeeping contract, claiming he was not good enough. However, Marcel’s sporting dreams did not die with this cruel rejection. Ignoring his parent’s advice that Petanque (one of the Boules Sports at The World Games) was for ‘delinquents’. He quickly mastered the sport, and his crowning moment came when he and Mixed Doubles partner Laima Sambo amazingly won Benin their first ever World Championship, much to the delight of the home fans in the stands! That victory ensured that the West African nation qualified for The World Games for the very first time. Gbetable immediately felt at home, qualifying in second place and guaranteeing a semi-final and medal match.
One of the hardest feelings in sport is fulfilling your life long dream, but then realising that you are not good enough to compete at the very top level. It all seemed to be going so well for Snooker player Michael Georgiou (CYP). He was playing well enough to qualify to play the sport professionally. First goal achieved, step out in front of a capacity crowd at Sheffield’s (UK) Crucible Theatre to make your debut in the Men's World Championship. Second goal achieved, win your first professional tournament, things are going great.
Then it all fell apart; his form deserted him, the wins dried up and the professional snooker licence was no more. He had to provide for his family outside the world of sport. However, he still loves the game and competes regularly in the Amateur tournaments, culminating in winning the Amateur World Championship last year. This qualified him for Chengdu, and by reaching the final and picking up silver, he became the first ever medallist for Cyprus at The World Games! So, dropping down a level was actually a blessing in disguise. After all there are very few people on the planet who can call themselves World Champions or who can reach the podium of the most prestigious multi-sport event for non-Olympic disciplines!
Megan Kealy (GBR), now an 11-time World Champion (Junior and Senior levels) dominates the Gymnastics discipline of Tumbling, where you do several consecutive back flips and somersaults. In such a physically demanding sport, the risk of injury is ever present. Weeks before the last edition of The World Games in Birmingham, Alabama, a poor landing resulted in an Achilles tear. She had been expected to be on the 2022 podium, but instead, frustratingly, had to watch the event on TV. Fortunately, fully recovered, she competed in Chengdu; so it was an extra special moment when she did finally get to stand on the podium, listening to the British national anthem!
She said afterwards, “I'm proud to have completed every element today. After missing the Birmingham World Games three years ago due to injury, I focused all my efforts on this The World Games. Today's performance proved I could do it.”
Luisa Rizzo (Italy) is a very determined lady. Super competitive, she was not deterred by the fact that she was born with a spinal disorder that forces her to use a wheelchair. She has found sports that she can excel in, Powerchair Soccer and the Air Sports discipline of Drone Racing. The latter can be done with just head and hand movements, as pilots guide drones around a tricky course full of sharp turns and vertical climbs. Despite having to travel a long way each day to train, Rizzo is incredibly good. On last year's visit to China (Hangzhou), she won the Woman's World Championship!
She said “The emotion to hear the national anthem played for me was unforgettable.” The Italian says about Drone Racing, “One thing I love about the sport is that we all have the same opportunities and we fly all together with no differences of age, gender or disability.”
All these exceptional athletes have proved that having a setback in your chosen sport is not final. All have adapted and got over the difficulties they have faced. Truly, The World Games is the event of the second chance!