Going for Gold

Dear friends,

Representing New Zealand at the Beijing Paralympic Games was without a doubt the highlight of the year.
Beijing was my third Games and when I am asked which one was the best, it is quite difficult to give a winner.

Sydney 2000 was my first Games and there was no high expection to meet, so I could really focus and give it everything. A few days before my race I found out that I had a stress fracture but managed to win a 4th place, which was great.

Athens 2004 was such a special place and a special event in itself. Competing at the exact birthplace of the Games culture was an incredible feeling and I find it hard to express this in words. I was lucky enough to have succeeded in bringing Gold to New Zealand and will always cherish this moment.

Beijing 2008, where expectations are high, I arrived with a World Champion and a Paralympic Champion title… My goal is still to beat myself and see the new guys out there.
A few months before the Games I had to go through a surgery and I gambled and made all I could to be back on track. My preparation went well because I placed 4th at the 100m which is not my main event but unfortunately the short recovery time did not allow my fitness level to get back to 100% and my body did not recuperate in time to get me through to the 200m.

My focus now is to recover properly in order to get back into it.

My coach and I agree that there is still room for improvement so I will get back into it as soon as my body allows.

Looking forward is the World Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand early 2011 and I intend to give it everything I have, as I always do and hopefully the preparation will go smoothly.

All this is a reminder of the beauty of such Games. One never knows what will happen and there is always a lesson to be learned for a future preparation.

I want to thank all my sponsors and supporters. I have received comments and messages of encouragements while in Beijing, but the blog was quite tricky to access from overseas and I did not have an email address to reply to.

I will keep you informed with my results as the athletics season goes and send my best wishes to you all for the year 2009.

Hi all,

The 200 heats were really fast!
Matthew finished 5th in his heats, so 10th place overall.
He gave it everything he has at the moment and it was great
to be exposed to the new generation of athletes.

Matthew is looking forward to a well deserved break
with his family in France and will then map a plan
towards the world championship in Christchurch
in february 2011.
A lot has happened in the past 4 years and Matthew learned a lot.
It is very positive to see that after being Paralympic champion and
World champion, he still has a good margin of improvement in his starts
for example.
So watch this space, we will keep you uptodate with Matthew’s agenda.
Those games have been another great experience 
that will be very positive for our champion in his world championship campaign.

Thank you all for your support,

You will hear from Matthew very soon.

In sport and health,

Sonia

Hello everyone and sorry for the delay in news.
Internet is not as available as expected here and
I can post this message today because I am in the amazing, wonderful village.

Photos will follow, the connection is too weak to download pictures at times.

Matthew entered the final in 7th position equal and finished on the 4th place
with a time of 12s46. The new Paralympic record holder won the race with 11s83.
It was a great race and we are happy with it.
Matthew is looking forward to tomorrow morning, the 200m,
where he usually catches up with everyone.

So watch this space, I will go to the village tomorrow after the race to keep you all uptodate.

We have received many messages of support, thank you very much,
Matthew appreciates each of them.

The village is a beautiful and very inspirational place.
I feel honoured to be able to be around them.

I will work on those pics and will keep you all informed.

Bye for now from Beijing

Sonia

Hello from Beijing.
The heat is incredible. Only 31 degrees but
the humidity makes it all so much harder.
Matthew ran in the heats this morning.
There were 3 heats.
In the first one, a runner from South Africa
beat the Paralympic record, bringing it to 11.97!!!
In the second heat, a chinese competitor
crushed the world record with a time of 11.28sec!!!
We will comment further at a later date.
Matthew was in the 3rd heat and followed
the pace of the heat to finish second in order
to qualify for the final tonight.
His time was 12.54, the 7th qualifying time
It is a first to have heat and final on the same day.
The good thing will be that it will be cooler.
Matthew jumped into an ice bath straight
after the heat and went to the village to prepare for
the final at 17h45.
I will update you on the final as soon as possible
Be aware that the daily report on tv3 is a day behind
so you may only see Matthew’s race on saturday.
This is a quick message to let you know.
I write from a tent between the bird’s nest and the water cube, the very nice and helpful volunteers allowed me to send you all this message.

Village is amazing, great games!
Overwhelming!

Thank you for all your messgaes of support.
Sonia

 Click on the link below and
you will get to the Mitsubishi page
where you can vote for Matthew.
He can win a car and so can you
when you place your vote!
Good luck!

 http://olympicoutlander.tvnz.co.nz/

On wednesday the team flew to Beijing
and the athletes have been very busy since.
The flag raising ceremony (thursday night)
was a big moment for all of them.
It happens everytime a new country arrives in the village.
On friday night the team and supporters were invited
at the New Zealand embassy in Beijing and had a great time.
The nice food was very appreciated
and a lot of kiwis living abroad will support our athletes.

The opening ceremony (saturday night)
was a beautiful way to start the games..

The temperature in Beijing is cooler than in Hong Kong
and it has been raining a few times already.
Matthew has a bit of a cold but is well looked after
and will be back in full health by friday.
That has not affected his training.

We have been trying to put pictures up
but had a few technical restrictions.
I will be in Beijing soon and will download a few pictures
to show you a bit more of Beijing and hopefully of the village.

Feel free to send messages to Matthew through the blog,
he will be happy to read you.

After 2 days in a great hotel by the university
Matthews has had a few track sessions.
He is gradually acclimatising to the humidity.
Each training session is followed by
a 15 to 20 minutes ice bath and
a massage by the team’s physio.

After that Matthew has a few hours to rest
before gathering with the team for dinner.
There is a great team spirit within the
New Zealand athletes.

Thank you for enquiring abour Matthew’s
preparation.

http://www.tv3.co.nz/Video/AthleticsKiwilookstodefendworld200mtitle/tabid/317/articleID/55172/cat/70/Default.aspx?articleID=55172#video