Students, alumni compete in 2000 Paralympics

UTA students and alumni represented the United States, Sweden, Australia and Mexico at the Paralympic Games, held Oct. 18-29 in Sydney, Australia.

The Paralympics have been held every four years, just after the traditional summer games, since 1960.

In the 2000 Games, Randy Snow ('85) and Stephen Welch ('92) represented the United States in the tennis competition. Snow was eliminated in the third round, losing to eventual gold-medal winner David Hall of Australia. Welch advanced to the men's final against Hall, where he won the first set 7-6 (7-3), but lost the next two, 6-4, 6-2. Welch came home with a second silver medal, repeating his finish from the 1996 Atlanta Games.

Cezar Olivas ('99) played on the Mexican basketball team, which finished the tournament in 10th place. Enoch Ablorh ('00) played for the Swedish team, which finished seventh, and Brad Ness ('00) played for the Australians, who took fifth place.

Willie Hernandez ('94) joined current students Paul Schulte, a junior, and freshman Steven Tew on the bronze medal-winning U.S. basketball team. In the bronze medal game, Schulte hit a three-pointer from 24 feet in the final seconds to give the United States a 57-54 victory over Great Britain.

Schulte led team USA with 14 points in the game, which was played before more than 17,000, the largest crowd ever to attend a wheelchair basketball event.

The road to the bronze medal was sometimes difficult for the US squad, which recorded four wins and a loss in the preliminary round, then defeated Australia in the quarterfinals in front of a partisan Aussie crowd. The Americans then lost to the eventual silver medal team, the Netherlands, in the semifinals.

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