Vaulting Pole Tips

Professional Brazilian pole vaulter Rafael Santos gave up his pole vaulting career for another rewarding job. Rafael is a guide for his wife Adria Santos, who is visually impaired, acting as her eyes, as she participates in competitive running.

Two Compete Together

Adria Santos and her husband Rafael have trained together for three years, although Adria has been running for 21 years. Being blind since birth, Adria commented that she “had been living in a dark world until Rafael became a beacon of her life.”

Five years ago Rafael became aware of Adria’s success in running from the newspaper stories he had read. He was personally introduced to Adria, fell in love with her, and moved to the city where she lived. In 2003 after they were married, Rafael retired from pole vaulting to become her full time guide. Together they have a daughter who was born last year.

Adria Santos just participated in the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing in the T11 women’s 100m dash, winning the bronze medal. As her guide Rafael is allowed, according to the Paralymic rules, to help Adria during the competition by being tied to her with a rope around their wrists or fingers. Rafael then runs along side of Adria, pushing her and helping her to make her goal, but not crossing the finish line in front of her.

Adria Santos explained, “He is not only my guide in the competition but also in my life. We are always hand in hand in our lives and it’s our fate to be together, both in competitions and life.”

Although Rafael gives all the credit to Adria, and tries desperately to remain out of the spotlight, in my opinion, he is just as much a participant in these Paralympic Games as she is. This is a true story of dedication and love.

Many Paralympians give much credit to their families, coaches and friends for their success, but those who are visually impaired rely on the loyalty of their guides. A crowning moment came when on the medal platform Paralympic gold medalist Wu Chunmiao from China, presented her medal to her guide Li Jiayu during the ceremony.

Wu Chunmiao giving her medal to her guide.

In the same vein, Rafael Santos may not be a medal winner for pole vaulting, but he is a Paralympic bronze medal winning guide. No wait, I think he is probably a winner of a gold! What do you think?

Technorati Tags: 2008 Paralympics, Adria Santos, guide for the visually impaired, Paralympics, Paralympics in Beijing, pole vaulter, Rafael Santos, Visually impaired runner

Tags : 2008 Paralympics, Adria Santos, guide for the visually impaired, Paralympics, Paralympics in Beijing, pole vaulter, Rafael Santos, Visually impaired runner

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