Paralympics: 'Like running with a mirror image'
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00:00At the Paralympics, sprinting combines speed and team spirit.
00:06Timothy Adolph on the right is a blind runner accompanied by his guide Geoffrey Lamy on
00:11the left, who is also a competitive runner.
00:14For the pair, competing involves a sort of choreography.
00:20Before the start of the race, the two athletes are attached by a 10-centimeter cord.
00:24The tether is the same for all competitors.
00:27To avoid disqualification, it must always be in hand around the runner's fingers.
00:32How do you keep from losing it while running?
00:34Do you squeeze your fist?
00:35I run like this.
00:36I keep my fingers relaxed while I run.
00:39I do the same.
00:40My hand is halfway closed.
00:42We don't close our fists all the way because that causes tension.
00:46Each runner has their own lane, so during the race there's only room for four pairs
00:50on the track.
00:51Their ongoing obsession is to be in sync, as to not slow each other down or to hinder
00:56each other in any way.
00:58Timothy and his guide have been training together for seven years, and their pairing was no
01:03mistake.
01:04They have similar heights and running strides.
01:08To be synchronized, it's like running with a mirror image.
01:12That means when my left arm is in front, for him it's his right arm.
01:16And it's the same with our legs.
01:18It's always the opposite leg.
01:22To keep the same tempo while running at full speed, they touch elbows to sense the rhythm
01:27of the other.
01:28It's also a way for Jeffrey to indicate to Timothy when there are turns in the track.
01:33Near the finish line, the synchronization is lost as the guide slows down.
01:38To avoid being disqualified, a guide cannot finish before the athlete competing.
01:43They break their tether, and it's a moment of suspense as the runner risks falling.
01:48Timothy leans forward to gain a few centimeters as he crosses the finish line.
01:53Timothy is blind, so he has to trust someone else 100% in order to sprint.
01:57You could call it blind confidence.
01:59Exactly.
02:00He's running in the dark, so it's blind confidence.
02:04He tried to do it.
02:06It's not simple.
02:07Timothy runs the 100 meters almost as fast as sighted Olympic runners.
02:12His record is 10.9 seconds, just about one second behind Usain Bolt.