Posted on 08/14/2008 12:47:15 PM PDT by lizol
Disabled table tennis star Natalia Partyka gives doubters the elbow
Oliver Holt reports from Beijing 14/08/2008
When there were breaks in play in China's match with Greece, the eyes of the crowd and the gaze of the cameras moved to the game on the adjoining table.
Polish table tennis player Natalia Partyka is one of the most uplifting stories of these Games because she has overcome being born with a right arm that ended just below the elbow to participate in Beijing.
Partyka and South African swimmer Natalie du Toit are the only athletes competing in both the Olympics and the Paralympics and yesterday Partyka was edged out 3-2 by world No.10 Tie Yana.
She serves by cradling the ball in the nook between her right elbow and the stump of arm below it, then flicking it up and twisting her body to get in position. "In London, I'd like to be in the Olympic singles as well," she said.
What a Gal!
Thanks for the ping!
That is some awesome news! I’ll even bet she doesn’t even consider herself “handicapped.”
What a beautiful and courageous woman. God bless her! I hope the TV networks are showing her off to those children who need to see her in action.
On a side note, I used to be the best ping pong player around. Smeared everyone I knew, for years and years. Then one day at a party I met a guy who was a pro from some eastern European country (before the Berlin wall came down). He mopped up the table with me. He taught me a valuable lesson.
Wow! Good for her!
I'll second the beautiful!
When I was a young zoomie at Kadena, the old night houskeeping guy in the barracks used to play ping pong with all of us. It eventually devolved into continuing tournament between him and the thee or four best players among the troops. In reality there was no game, only exhibition of most wondrous ping pong. I don’t remember anyone ever returning a shot that he made. He said he taught himself to play on a 2x4 and it showed. Most of his shots smashed down barely on the edge of the table and did not bounce up at all.
She’s absolutely adorable!
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