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By Elizabeth Hudson
BBC Sport in Athens
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It is often said that you need a bit of luck in life.
But American wheelchair racer Ted Bridis must wonder what he has done to have a string of misfortunes go his way.
Less than a year before these Paralympics, he tore a shoulder muscle while
weightlifting and was sidelined for three months.
Shortly after he returned
to action, his racing wheelchair was crushed while flying back from a
competition.
A month before his departure to Athens, he slipped off a kerb and broke every bone in his face but luckily was able to return to the track within five days of the fall.
But bad luck struck again when Hurricane Francis arrived in Florida a week
later, forcing Bridis and his wife to evacuate their Miami home for several
days.
Bridis, however, returned to his still intact house with just enough time to
pack his bags for Greece.
Sadly luck wasn't on his side in the T52 5,000m race - he finished fifth - but he still has the 1500m final on Thursday and the 800m semi-final a day
later.
Here's hoping that things finally turn his way.
Wiltshire rider Anne Dunham suffered a late scare as she prepared to take
her place in Tuesday's Grade I Paralympic individual dressage.
Dunham is aiming to win her third successive equestrian team gold medal but
her bid almost finished before it began when her usual horse, Lambrusco III,
was placed under quarantine after another horse at the same stables developed a contagious disease.
"There's nothing wrong with him, he is absolutely fine, but he is
quarantined," said Anne.
"There was a very big possibility that I might not have been able to come to
Athens if I couldn't find a suitable replacement that was good enough."
Luckily for Anne a hasty search for an alternative horse came up with the
eight-year-old bay mare Olret, which she will now ride instead.
"She's a great horse and we gelled together almost immediately," said Anne. "I'm definitely looking for a third gold."
Isabel Newstead's gold in Sunday's air pistol competition brought her Paralympic medal tally to an incredible 14 but their whereabouts is not
altogether clear.
"I know where two or three of them are, including my Sydney shooting gold,"
she admitted to BBC Radio's Woman's Hour.
"But the rest of them I'm not sure about, although they must be in a
cupboard or drawer somewhere."
Newstead also revealed that when she eventually retires she will collect
them all from the various nooks and crannies and put them on display.
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MMIX
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