By Mariam Khan and Virtus: World Intellectual Impairment Sport

Australia tennis player Kelly Wren is training hard with her sights firmly fixed on a medal at her home 2019 Global Games in Brisbane in one year’s time.

Wren is in good form this year, having made it onto her fifth career podium at the 2018 World Intellectual Impairment Sport Tennis World Championships in Paris, France.

The Australian left with bronze, and is now focused on the Global Games.

“The courts were good, and I enjoyed seeing the city of Paris,” she said. “I am (practicing) hard to improve my game so I can play my best tennis [in Brisbane].”

Wren is also the defending champion at the Games, having won every edition since 2004.

Of her first victory 14 years ago, Wren reminisced about hearing her national anthem played for her for the first time: “It was very exciting to win my first medal in Bollnäs, Sweden. Australia had a big team, and we had lots of support.”

But the game that Wren has dominated over the years has attracted more and more world class players who have challenged her position at the top.

These include compatriot Carla Lenarduzzi and Great Britain’s Anna McBride who claimed the world title in Paris at the age of just 14.

Talking about the competition she will face at the Global Games, Wren said, “Every opponent challenges me, so I need to make sure I am well prepared.”

The Australian has been playing tennis since childhood: “I started being coached when I was eight years old,” Wren says. Wren then played in her first competition for players with intellectual impairments in 1996.

The Aussie sportswoman enjoys the competitions which have become more frequent. World Championships now take place every year, which according to Wren, helps players judge their game.

The sport has also helped Wren become self-confident and independent: “I have become a positive person and able to be flexible if needed.”

The 2019 edition of the Global Games is expected to attract 1,000 athletes competing in ten sports from 12-19 October.

By Gaurav Mokhasi | For Virtus: World Intellectual Impairment Sport

Norway’s Virtus: World Intellectual Impairment Sport world record holding pole vaulter Bjorn Oivind Berger aims to fly high once more at the 2019 Global Games in Brisbane, Australia.

In May Berger broke his own Virtus: World Intellectual Impairment Sport world record at the World Intellectual Impairment Sport Indoor Athletics Championships in Val de Reuil, France, setting the bar at 4.75m.

Describing his goals for the 2019 Global Games, Berger revealed he is not only targeting another world record but a medal in another event.

“My goal is to jump higher than I do now. I want to win the pole vault competition, beat my own world record again, and get a medal in high jump or long jump too,” he said.

Berger lives in Finnsnes, a small town in Northern Norway, that is located 500km north of the centre of the Arctic Circle. Winter there lasts for seven months. Nights often stretch past 24 hours, and the cold is biting.

The summer is the other extreme, with the sun shining right through midnight for days on end. The nearest indoor training facilities for athletics are situated 1000km away in Norway or 650km away in Sweden.

IL Pioner Friidrett, the athletics club that Berger has been training at since the last 11 years, lacks the funds needed to build an indoor training facility dedicated to athletics, so Berger trains outdoors from May to October.

In winters, the heavy snow and frigid temperatures mean that he has to train in an indoor football hall. But Berger is grateful. “The people at Pioner support me a lot,” he said. “They help me (Team Berger) find sponsors, both through companies and individuals. They also try to maintain good training facilities as far as possible. We live quite far north, so travelling to competitions both in Norway and abroad is very expensive. The Troms Athletic Association also helps me economically sometimes.”

For a top athlete, Berger keeps his training regimen simple. “I exercise every day. I don’t have any special diet. I eat normal, Norwegian homely fare. I never use protein powder or anything like that. The only supplement I take is cod liver oil in winter.”

Ulrike Naumann, who heads IL Pioner Friidrett, mentions other challenges for Berger.

“Most other athletes in our club are younger than Bjorn,” she said. “Kids leave the region after high school for further education, so there is nobody else at Bjorn’s age left. I think that’s a bit of a pity for him. I wish we could create some more possibilities for him to exercise and compete in other places in Norway, but it is difficult for such a little club to do this; it is too expensive. It is not easy to get the state athletics organisation to financially support disabled sportspeople.”

Naumann ensures that Berger is able to train twice a week with Pioner’s twenty other members. These comprise of athletes aged 4 to 71 and three of Naumann’s own children.

Family affair

Berger’s father, Oivind, plays a major role in his development and coaches the younger athletes at Pioner too. “My father is my coach, and with me at exercises and competitions. He always travels with me,” Berger said. “My mother was also involved in my athletics from the beginning. So, both my parents support me a lot. Neither of them knew anything about pole vault, but they learned it for my sake.”

Berger discovered his love for sports early in life. “I began playing football and did gymnastics when I was eight. Then I started with athletics. Pole vault is my favourite, but I like long jump, high jump and discus too. When I was 15, I got a result of 3.75m in pole vault. That’s when I realised I could be a good pole-vaulter.”

But growing up was not easy for Berger due to his intellectual impairment. “There was some bullying at school, and I struggled a bit at that time,” he said. “But it is okay, I never tried to be something else. When I was 17, I became Norwegian champion for pole vault in my age group, competing against people without any disabilities. I am proud of that.”

‘Life is okay’

Berger has since gone from strength to strength. He first became the Virtus: World Intellectual Impairment Sport world record holder in pole vault at the 2017 World Intellectual Impairment Sport European Championships in Prague, an achievement that he still ranks as the biggest of his career. “I jumped 4.71m. That was awesome,” Berger said.

Amidst all his success, Berger remains grounded. He views sports as just one aspect of his life, albeit an important one. “Playing sports is important for my social life too. It lets me make friends and talk to people. When I’m not playing, I like to relax, listen to music and watch films. I work in a little company nearby my home when I don’t have training or competitions”, he said, before adding with a smile. “Life is okay.”

Inputs and translation provided by Ulrike Naumann.

By Georgia McCutcheon and Virtus: World Intellectual Impairment Sport

With two years to go until Tokyo 2020, Jonathan Pierce – one of his country’s most promising athletes – is aiming to be the first male swimmer with an intellectual impairment from the USA to compete at a Paralympic Games.

At his first Para swimming meet in 2016, Pierce swam nine races and broke seven national records. Officials after the meet were in awe – they could not believe that they had never encountered him before. This competitiveness persisted as Pierce continued swimming, and he currently holds 14 regional International Federation for Athletes with Intellectual Impairments (World Intellectual Impairment Sport) Americas records and 21 national.

Over the coming 18 months, Pierce is favored to be selected to attend the 2019 Global Games in Brisbane, Australia – a key stop on the road to Tokyo 2020. He is supported by Athletes Without Limits, the Virtus: World Intellectual Impairment Sport member responsible for the Paralympic pathway for athletes with intellectual impairments in the USA.

At the 2017 World Intellectual Impairment Sport Swimming Championships in Aguascalientes, Mexico, Pierce left with three medals, including a gold and two bronzes. This is despite suffering a stomach bug that took him out of competition for nearly two days. Having spent a morning sick in his hotel room, that evening Pierce insisted he swim in the relay so that the US team could compete.

According to Pierce, his goals are to “get faster and to hopefully qualify for the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo.”

Celeste Sychterz, Head Coach of the Athletes Without Limits national team noted: “Johnny is a tremendous competitor. He’s worked incredibly hard to transform physically over the past two years. His performance at the World Intellectual Impairment Sport Swimming Championships, his sportsmanship and his camaraderie with the entire US team is a testament to his success. Johnny is continuing to improve and will make an impact at next year’s Global Games for the US team.”

Already a member of the US Para-Swimming Emerging Team, he is aiming to shed more time and to qualify for the Paralympic B Team. Though there are still standards that he must meet, he is highly motivated to improve his times.

If he qualifies for Tokyo 2020, Pierce would be the first intellectually impaired man to swim in the Paralympics for his country. He would join Leslie Cichocki, who became the first American S14 female swimmer to compete at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

When discussing what Pierce enjoys most about participating in global swimming competitions, he responded: “I like to travel to new countries and compete in swimming. I like to meet new people and make new friends in other countries too.”

Pierce’s natural comfort in the water was evident very young. It lead him to participate in swimming lessons as a child and a competitive swimming programme throughout high school.

In April, competing at home in Indianapolis at the World Para Swimming World Series, Pierce swam against some of the best in the world. He qualified for four finals and moving into ninth place in the world rankings in the 400m freestyle.

Floating baby

Though Pierce’s training schedule is jam-packed, with morning swim practices six days a week and evening gym workouts five days a week, he also benefits from a natural ability in the water.

His father, Tim Pierce, described his son as being really comfortable in water, even at three years of age: “He would float for an hour in the deep end, ears submerged, and laugh when going under.”

Now Pierce will be hoping that what was once a means of sanctuary can deliver the same joy at the highest levels in two years time in Japan.