The National looks at some of the unlikely success stories going on in the world of sport. Whether it is a team flourishing where you would not expect it, or an athlete overcoming great challenges to become a notable player, we will be telling their stories.
Trivia question: Two people competed in both the Paralympic and Olympic Games at London 2012. Name them.
The first could hardly be more obvious. Oscar Pistorius is perhaps the most infamous track-and-field athlete in the world, disabled or otherwise.
Even before the events that have taken place since in the courtroom, rather than on the track, the double-amputee was a sportsman of great renown, status and wealth.
And the other? Perhaps it is because her sport is one of the less-celebrated Olympic events that Poland’s Natalia Partyka was not quite the household name Pistorius was.
Or maybe it is simply because she has been doing it for so long, it felt as though she has always been there.
While the South African sprinter was battling preconceptions, breaking down barriers and trying to prove his blades did not give him an unfair advantage, Partyka had already been there, done that, gotten the participant number.
She first became a Paralympian at age 11, in Sydney. Sandwiched between golds at the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Paralympics, she also became an Olympian in Beijing.
Her list of achievements in disabled table tennis are unparalleled. She is 54th in the world rankings for able-bodied players, and has aspirations to go higher.
Partyka, 24, has 15 years of experience competing internationally. She wants to better her effort of reaching the round of 32 in London when the Rio Olympics take place in two years.
Which is not bad, given that for years, her sole driving force in sport was merely to beat Sandra, her big sister.
“She started playing first,” Partyka said. “One day, I decided I would try to play table tennis, as well. We were practising for a long time together, and because she was older than me, she was always much better than me.
“At the beginning, I had no chance when we were playing matches together. I had the motivation to work hard because my goal was always to beat her.
“That was my dream. I had to work many years for that, but one day I beat her and my life changed.”
Even though beating sister Sandra was her greatest incentive during her formative years in the sport, it has been surpassed since among her favourite memories.
Her career highlights are all centred on her gold-medal successes at Paralympic Games, even if they led to awkwardness on the podium.
“The best memories are when you are the winner of a competition,” she said. “At the medal ceremony at a Paralympic Games, and the national anthems are playing, that is a very good moment.
“I was not crying, I was singing. But I am not a very good singer, so I was just moving my mouth, really.”
Despite the fact that Poland can arguably boast the most successful disabled athlete of the past 14 years, Partyka says her field is still struggling for recognition in her homeland.
“Paralympic sports in Poland are good, but not like Olympic sports,” she said.
“They think it is good that disabled people are doing something, and if they win, that is also fine. But they don’t consider it serious sport.
“We are trying to change that, because Paralympic sports are more professional. It will never be exactly the same as the Olympics, but it is almost the same level now.
“London was amazing, I was surprised. There were so many supporters enjoying the Paralympics. In my opinion, that was the best.”
Partyka was born without a right hand and forearm. This causes little impediment to her game, though, with only the service motion being affected. She cradles the ball in the crook of her right elbow and tosses it up to serve.
She won her first international table tennis title at 10, at the world championship for disabled players. Having won everything there is to win in that field since, though, she prefers to compete against able-bodied players, other than at the Paralympics and other major championships.
“When I first started playing, I played on a normal table at home with my father but just for fun,” she said.
“In my hometown, we have many, many clubs. I had really good conditions to play straight from the beginning, and right when I started to play, that was with able-bodied players. Then I started playing with disabled players, so I always played both.”
Partyka trains approximately six hours per day during the season. She has her eye on a third Olympics, in 2016, when she will be 26.
“It will not be so easy. Everything depends on me, but I still have time and I am working hard every day,” she said.
“I would like to win again, for the fourth time at the Paralympic Games, but still I have many things to achieve in the Olympic sport, too.”
Successful disabled athletes are not just examples to fellow Paralympians. When Pistorius finished last in his 400m semi-final at the London Olympics, Kirani James sought him out to trade numbers and name tags, in the same fashion as footballers do with shirts after matches.
The Grenadan sprinter went on to win gold in the final, but he pointed out that his own celebrity was dwarfed by the man who finished last in the semi-final.
“Oscar is special,” James said after their semi-final race. “It is a memorable moment for me to be out there competing with him.”
The same goes for Partyka in her sport. When she came to the UAE earlier this summer to take part in a promotional event run by the International Table Tennis Federation, it was not just disabled players who wanted to be in her presence.
Majd Al Balooshi, the UAE’s No 1 female player, maintained a lengthy rally with the Polish player, and she was impressed by what she was up against.
“It is really inspiring having Natalia here,” said the Sharjah-based student. “She is an inspiration to the disabled players, but she is also inspiring to me, because she is one of the leading players in our sport.
“I played a game against her and she is very good. She is a dangerous player.”
pradley@thenational.ae
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