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Paralympic Sailing Regatta:
Scandone/McKinnon-Tucker Win Gold, Ruf Wins Bronze
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Nick Scandone (right) and Maureen McKinnon-Tucker (left) celebrate their gold medal on the podium in Qingdao today |
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2.4 mR sailor John Ruf earned a bronze medal today at the Paralympic Games in Qingdao, China |
Qingdao, China (September 13) - Nick Scandone (Newport Beach, CA) and Maureen McKinnon-Tucker (Marblehead, MA) clinched the gold medal in the SKUD-18 fleet on Friday with two races left to go in the Paralympic regatta. And earlier today, 2.4 mR sailor John Ruf (Pewaukee, WI) added a bronze medal to the U.S. Paralympic Team's medal count. Rick Doerr (Clifton, NJ), Tim Angle (Marblehead, MA) and Bill Donohue (Brick, NJ) finished eighth in the competitive Sonar class.
For Scandone, this gold medal is everything he has dreamed of and worked hard to achieve. As his condition progressed from ALS, a neurodegenerative disease that affects the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, it became increasingly more difficult to train and compete. There were days filled with doubt, but he met each obstacle with the same strength and determination he had as a young, able-bodied sailor. "This is something I've strived for since I was 20 years old, when I was trying to go for gold in the 470 class. Now, to reach that goal," he said, "it's hard to describe in words."
Mary-Kate Scandone has supported her husband every step of his Olympic and Paralympic journey, through the accomplishments and the adversity and through the enthusiasm and exhaustion. This is a bittersweet moment for the couple. "It's everything we've been fighting for," said Mary-Kate. "Sailing and his [Paralympic] goal has kept him alive." In an emotional moment, Mary-Kate thanked the designer of Nick's boat "because he gave me four more years with my husband," she said.
During the 2.4 mR medal presentation, John Ruf grinned brightly while watching the American flag being raised. "His smile could have lit up the Empire State Building," said Head Coach Betsy Alison. When the national anthem played for teary-eyed Scandone and McKinnon-Tucker, the emotion felt by the entire U.S. Paralympic Team, who are all first-time Paralympians, was palpable, said Alison.
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The Sonar team of Doerr, Angle and Donohue ended the regatta
with a strong final race in which they finished second behind
Great Britain and way ahead of the rest of the fleet. | |
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Final Results
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SKUD-18
1. Nick Scandone (Newport Beach, CA) and Maureen McKinnon-Tucker (Marblehead, MA), 2, 1, 1, 1, (3), 2, 1, 1, 2, (12 DNS); 11
2. Daniel Fitzgibbon and Rachael Cox, AUSTRALIA, (4), 2, 2, 2, 2, 4, (9), 3, 1, 2; 18
3. John Scott McRoberts and Stacie Louttit, CANADA, 3, 3, 3, 3, 1, 3, 2, (8), (4), 3; 21
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2.4mR
1. Paul Tingley, CANADA, 1, 1, 5, 2, (9), (9), 2, 4, 5, 1; 21
2. Damien Seguin, FRANCE, 4, 4, 3, 4, 5, (17 OCS), (11), 1, 1, 2; 25
3. John Ruf (Pewaukee, Wis., USA), 2, 6, 1, (9), 1, 7, (10), 3; 29
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Sonar
1. Jens Kroker, Robert Prem, Siegmund Mainka, GERMANY, 5, 6, 3, 1, 4, (11), 5, 2, (9), 4, 5; 35
2. Bruno Jourdren, Herve Larhant and Nicolas Vimont-Vicary, FRANCE, 4, 1, 1, 2, (7), 1,(10), 5, 8, 7, (15 DNF); 36
3. Colin Harrison, Russell Boaden and Graeme Martin, AUSTRALIA, 8, 4, 2, 3, 3, 3, 1, (10), (15 OCS), 5, 7; 36
8. Rick Doerr (Clifton, NJ), Tim Angle (Marblehead, MA) and Bill Donohue (Brick, NJ), 1, 9, 10, 6, (11), 10, 2, 3, 4, (11), 2; 47
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View Complete Results |
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 Latest Blog Update by Team Leader Sarah Hawkins and Head Coach Betsy Alison
Team USA Shines!
If smiles could generate pure wattage of energy, I think that the smiles of John Ruf, Nick Scandone and Maureen McKinnon-Tucker today at the medal ceremony could have lit Times Square on any given night, 4 times over! But, let's not let me get too far ahead of myself.
We just finished 5 days of competition here in Qingdao over 6 days; we've been here just about 2 ½ weeks and we've put everything we had into racing on the water. I think I can safely say that no one on the team left anything on shore. They took it to the water, gave it their very best, and made us all very, very proud with their effort and determination. When all the cards were played and the chips cashed in, our US SAILING Paralympians brought home some bling in the form of gold and bronze medals...
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U.S. Olympic Sailing Resources:
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This Paralympic Update is brought to you by US SAILING, national governing body for the sport. The athletes of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Sailing Team are selected, trained, and managed by US SAILING. The top three athletes in each Olympic and Paralympic class are part of the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics.
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