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Lemoore's Avery, Brown win 100 meters Paralympic gold in Rio Sunday night
Brown was the clear favorite to win the medal today. He and Avery set a new Paralympics record with their time of 10.99 seconds. The world record is 10.34, also set by Brown.
The Paralympic Games began Wednesday, Sept. 7 in Rio de Janeiro, and the pair of Lemoore athletes say they’re ready to begin the competition. Jerome Avery and Jeff Fabry, both Lemoore High School graduates, have arrived in Rio and are ready to compete.
Both athletes, during a break in their training, told The Leader that they’re ready for competition to begin. Both have been in Rio several days already in preparation for the opening ceremonies on Wednesday Sept. 7.
Many of the races will be broadcast live or by tape delay. The games begin Sept. 7 and end on Sept. 18. NBC will broadcast about 70 hours of the Games on NBC, NBCSN and the NBC sports app.
Both have competed in prior Paralympic Games. Fabry won a gold medal in archery in London in 2012. Avery won a silver medal in Athens and a gold medal at Beijing, both times running with blind sprinters.
For Fabry, the real competition starts on Saturday, Sept. 10 when he begins his quest for another medal in the Men’s Compound Division. He’ll try to qualify for the Sept. 16 finals. He’ll also compete in the Compound Mixed Team event, which begins on Sept. 17 with partner Lia Coryell.
The Leader story on Jeff Fabry
Avery and his partner, record holder David Brown, also begin on Sept. 10. Brown will also compete in the 200 and 400 meter races.
The Leader story on Jerome Avery
So far Fabry has been enjoying his stay. “After landing in Rio, we loaded up on the bus and traveled to the Paralympic Village,” he said. “Rio reminds me of a tropical San Francisco, beautiful landscape that turns into the blacktop forest. The buildings are multi-level and close together.”
He said that it appeared to him that Brazilians use much of their existing land to promote its large population. “Buses seem to be a favorite mode of transportation,” he said. “Everywhere you look there are bus stops and folks waiting patiently to be picked up. It would definitely be a challenge to learn the routes when coming in from the outside.”
Fabry said the archery team has been practicing daily since arriving in Rio last week. “In our spare time, which has been 4-5 hours daily, we have been roaming the village or hanging out in our rooms chatting.”
He said that all six male athletes on the team share an apartment. It consists of a common room with three bedrooms and three bathrooms.
Avery, a “guide athlete” for blind sprinter David Brown, the world record holder in the 100 meters, says they are ready. The two initially met in 2010 and Avery was one of the first athletes to work with Brown. He’s running in the 100, 200 and 400. He’s favored to win the 100 and 200 meter races.
“We start up in Rio with our first race, the 100 meters on Sept. 10,” said Avery. “This is my fifth trip to Rio de Janeiro so it never gets old. I love the culture and the people. It’s always nice to fly in and see the Christ of the Redeemer over the city.”
Avery said the two sprinters are ready for completion to begin, but until it does, they’ve been training hard for the upcoming races. “Right now all we have been doing is training, preparing ourselves for the race. We’re trying to keep everything sharp, from the beginning of the race to the end.”
