Thursday 26 July 2012

Olympic Gymnastics :Kieran Behan

Irish gymnast Kieran Behan
The olympics despite the claims of events like the rugby and football world cup is the purest and most exciting event in world sport. I say this because of the number of countries able to compete in one event or another and the lack of a role money plays in the lives of most participants.


It also gives sports nuts like myself the opportunity to zone in on sports we wouldn't generally appreciate and maybe come to claim a strong grasp of the scoring and performance within the sport. I'm not going to do that for Olympic gymnastics seen as my closest experience to it involves attempting wrestling moves in the back garden on a trampoline. Instead I'm going to revel in the stunning achievements of Irish gymnast Kieran Behan who has become only the second Irishman to qualify for Olympic gymnastics.

Born and raised in north London to Irish parents, Behan in the last year has consistently performed well against medal hopes in events such as the Gymnastics World Cup and the European Championships in May. During the season he has gradually beefed up his performance to include more complex moves to maximize his scoring potential in the competition. Placing third in the qualifiers of the European championships in May illustrate best that as in any sport if he performs to his best on the day there is no reason why he cannot compete for a medal. His achievements on the floor cannot be understood fully without explaining some of the challenges (possibly the understatement of the year) faced by Behan on his journey to qualification.

Taking first the physical obstacles Behan's mental fortitude has allowed him to defy massively overwhelming odds twice in his life. Firstly at the age of 10 a benign tumor was found in Kieran's leg which ultimately left him in a wheelchair for 15 months and unlikely to train properly in high level gymnastics again. When miraculously Behan did return to training he had the almost unbelievable misfortune of an accident on the high bar which resulted in a brain injury and return to the wheel chair having to relearn the most basic of tasks and with the prediction he might never walk again ringing in his ears. Behan up until qualifying for the olympics never received financial support for his endeavors. In sharp contrast to top level footballers when Behan first received a grant from the Olympic Counci of Ireland the amount was €20,000. Since then he has also received a grant from BT Ireland something which is much appreciated in the pursuit of his best ever performance. Having taken responsibility for cleaning duties in his local gym this time last year to fund his sporting career Behan will be hoping like most Olympians to make hay while the sun shines over the next few weeks.

Behan's dream as he says himself will come true at 11:30 GMT on Saturday morning. He's worked damn hard for this day and hopefully he will have more than just the one.




 

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