The fifteenth Pan American Games athletic competition has started in beautiful Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, and over the next sixteen days 5,562 athletes from all over the Americas will be competing in the last major events leading up to Beijing in 2008.

Even though the event is only in it second day the Americans are already showing alot of very promising results. Nine gold medals, four silver and two bronzes.

2007 has been a fantastic year for the wheelchair tennis circuit and it's athletes. Two major tournaments opened it's facilities to the tennis players of the ITF. This year saw both the French Open and the hallowed grass courts of Wimbledon open their courts and facilities to the top wheelchair tennis players in the world.

In an amazing turn of events on the clay courts of the French Open Stephane Houdet (a Frenchman) secured his first major title with a win over world #1 Shingo Kunieda. On the womens side Esther Vergeer predictably beat the Frenchwoman Florence Gravellier, continuing her unbelievable win streak.

The grass courts at Wimbledon also saw their first sets of wheels this year. Robin Ammerlaan and Ronald Vink defeated the #1 doubles team of Shingo Kunieda and Satoshi Saida in three sets 4-6 7-5 6-2

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Jessica Galli (Savoy, Ill.), Tatyana McFadden (Clarksville, Md.) and Amanda McGrory (Champaign, Ill.) qualified Saturday to race on one of track & field’s biggest stages, the 2007 International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Championships in Osaka, Japan.

The trio advanced after finishing in the top-eight in the 1500-meter qualifying race at the inaugural Boiling Point Wheelchair Track Classic in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
Ten athletes will compete in the women’s exhibition event in Osaka on Sept. 1, with the U.S. having the most competitors in the field.

U.S. Paralympics Track & Field Head Coach Troy Engle (Colorado Springs, Colo.) pointed to a combination of factors for why the women are performing so well.

The good quality coaching and the environment at the University of Illinois have really helped Jessica and Amanda to become stronger and stronger,” Engle said. “All three have taken a very professional approach to their training. They’ve got great coaches with high levels of expertise, so I feel it’s only fitting that they’re at the highest levels of track and field based on their approach to the sport and the guidance they’re receiving.”

Osaka will also host a men’s 1500m exhibition event, but there will be no U.S. athletes competing, as Jordan Bird (Wichita, Kan.) and Josh George (Champaign, Ill.) narrowly missed the cut in the qualifier at Windsor.

The Boiling Point event also saw McFadden post a world record time in the T54 200m, pending approval from the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). The 18-year-old finished with a time of 28.33 seconds, edging out Canada’s Chantal Petitclerc, the former record holder if McFadden's time stands.

MARIETTA, Ga. – Paralympic hopeful Scott Winkler (Grovetown, Ga.) set a new world record in the men’s F54 shot put with a throw of 10.01m at the 2007 U.S. Paralympics Track & Field National Championships. The distance automatically qualifies Winkler as a member of the U.S. Paralympics Track & Field National Team, making him the first Iraq war veteran to make the team.

“I just want to do my best,” said Winkler. “I believed and achieved my goals. If you believe, you can do anything you want, and my end goal is to get to Beijing next year and win a medal.”

Winkler was injured in Tikrit, Iraq in 2003 while serving in the U.S. Army. He fell off of an ammunition truck and sustained a T-3, T-4 spinal cord injury which resulted in paraplegia.

The previous world record distance of 9.76m was held by Markku Niinimaki of Finland, set at the 2006 IPC Athletics World Championships.

July 6, 2007

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.– U.S. Paralympics Track and Field National Team members took home five of 12 world records set at the 2007 Meet in the Heat wheelchair competition in Atlanta, Ga., June 28-29.

Among these are Jessica Galli (Savoy, Ill.) with three new world records in the women’s T53 division in the 200, 400, and 800m races and Josh George (Champaign, Ill.) with the world record in the men’s T53 800m.

“The recent performances are proof of the synergy and commitment of talented athletes, great coaching and an excellent training environment,” said Troy Engle, Head Coach, U.S. Paralympic Track & Field National Team.

Galli finished the 400m with a time of 55.42 topping her own record time of 55.82, which she set at the Swiss Series in June. In the 200m she won with a time of 29.51 and in the 800m, finished in 1:49.82.

The previous world record in the 200m was 29.66 set by Tanni Grey-Thompson (Great Britain) in 2004. Thompson also held the record in 800m with 1:55.12 set in 1996.

George broke the record set by Heinz Frei of Switzerland with a time of 1:37.94. Frei’s time was set at 1:38.02 in 1997.

“It was the second time I broke a record – but this time I didn’t expect it,” said George. “When I started out the race I was a little tight for the first 300 meters or so before I felt comfortable, and when I came across the line and they said I got the record I was shocked.”

Both athletes have been nominated to the team that will compete at the 2007 Parapan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 12-19.

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MARIETTA, Ga. – U.S. Paralympian Jeff Skiba (Chula Vista, Calif./Sammamish, Wash.) set a new men’s F44 high jump world record Friday at the 2007 U.S. Paralympics Track & Field National Championships in Marietta, Georgia

Skiba, a 23-year-old Paralympic resident athlete at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif., received a standing ovation from spectators after jumping 2.10m in the long jump, bettering his previous world record of 2.09m which has stood since 2002.

When asked about his performance, Skiba remarked, “I think I’m in better shape this year. I’ve put a lot more time and concentration into my training, and I just feel really confident. I know I can still go higher.”

In February of 2007, Skiba became the first male Paralympic athlete to qualify for and compete in the Track & Field Indoor National Championships against able-bodied athletes.