Equipment repairs crucial for athletes at Paralympics

During half-time of Germany's wheelchair rugby game against Canada at the Paris Paralympics, Jens Sauerbier was missing a crucial part of his wheelchair and needed a repair to continue playing.

"The metal cage at the front of my chair broke. They welded it for me during half-time, then I was ready to go again," he said.

It took 10 minutes for technicians to weld the chair back together. Otherwise, Sauerbier said, the game would have been over for him.

Mid-game and pre-competition repairs are not unusual for paraathletes. Wheelchairs, prosthetic limbs and crucial equipment can and do break, even at the highest level of competition.

This is especially true in a highcontact sport such as wheelchair rugby. "If you're driving against other people at 15-20kmh, some things might break," Sauerbier explained.

Jeffrey Waldmuller, an Ottobock technician and a para-athlete himself, agreed.

"These are athletes that are competing at their absolute highest.

They're breaking world records, so they're going to break stuff," he said.