One day to the Olympics!!

Excitement is fully charging the air for those who looked forward to the London 2012 Olympics. Be s/he an athlete/sportsperson, sports enthusiast, it is really a thrilling time. It is no different for Rob Lowe, a deaf dancer, who has been selected to perform in the opening ceremonies of both Olympics and Paralympics Games.

An interesting article from thisislondon describes Rob Lowe's once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

'A deaf dancer was shown a few steps by one of the most famous Hollywood film directors in rehearsals for the Olympic and Paralympics games opening ceremony.

Rob Lowe will be taking part in the star-studded event alongside 8,000 performers after surprising himself by getting through the auditions, which were held in November last year.

The 45-year-old, from New Malden, has always loved dancing but has never had any formal training and his only experience of performing was at a show for a deaf group he attended.

He said: "I was so surprised when my two auditions went successfully because I am profoundly deaf and I assumed that there was no possibility that deaf people could perform at the ceremony."
Mr Lowe admitted the auditions were nerve racking but was thrilled to meet Slumdog Millionaire film director and producer Danny Boyle who is artistic director for the ceremony.

He said: "He started chatting with me. I did not expect it because he was a famous star. He told me that I am a good dancer and showed me his dancing style briefly for fun. He was a great man.” Mr Lowe said he loved to learn new dances and especially enjoyed break dancing, hip hop, and dancing to Michael Jackson tracks with his four-year-old daughter.

The ceremonies, which will be held on July 27 and August 29, are top secret...'

Rob Lowe; photo courtesy of surreycomet website 

Deaf athlete (1)

Here is the month of July and 26more days to the Olympics and 59 to the Paralympics. I was curious to know how many deaf athletes have competed in the Olympics. Then I found out about Terrence Parkin, a top swimmer who holds the African record in 200meter and 400meter individual medley, 2world records and 6deaflympic records.

Parkin, a South African was born deaf and started swimming at the age of 12years old. He communicates with his swimming coach in sign language. To his performing credit, he won a silver medal in the 200meters breaststroke in his first Olympics outing: Sydney 2000. He also won 7gold medals in swimming and a bronze medal in cycling at the 2009 Deaf Olympics Games at Taipei.

In the past, he would rely on his coach to signify when the race is about to commence. Fortunately, modern technology in the form of light flashes has removed the need for him to look out for his coach's sign.

Photo credit: Supersports website