Teenage and senior talent in Paralympics, a guaranteed headline-grabbing combination

Age is just a number, so the saying goes. Yet there is still an instant fascination when the tag of ‘youngest’ or ‘oldest’ is attached to a sporting profile.

At one end, the precocious youngster punching above his or her weight against seasoned rivals and generating great expectations.

At the other, the ‘senior citizens’ who defy the years and keep pushing their bodies through Paralympic Games after Games.

The record books await to note the exploits of these amazing Para athletes and their eventual place in the Paralympic hall of fame. Yet there are two who stand out on their own – Para table tennis player Natalia Partyka and Para shooter Libby Kosmala.

At the age of 11, most kids are not looking beyond school, toys and an argument over bedtime with parents but Partyka has never conformed. Instead, she boarded a plane to Sydney in 2000 with her Polish teammates and became the youngest Paralympian in history.

Partyka, who was born without a right hand and forearm, began playing table tennis when she was seven. At Athens 2004, she became the youngest Para table tennis player to win a Paralympic gold medal.

Six-time gold medallist Partyka made further history by competing at both Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2008 (Beijing), 2012 (London) and 2016 (Rio). Her new target is to do the double at Paris 2024.

“In Tokyo I lost in the semi-finals (women’s singles class 10). Because of my ambition I am bothered about that. I want to make up for it,” she said.

I will definitely try to qualify for the Paralympics and the Olympics in Paris – Natalia Partyka

Taking pole position in the ‘oldest’ category is Australian Kosmala, who competed at Rio 2016 Paralympic Games at the age of 74 and retired in 2020 at the age of 78.  She is a paraplegic following complications at birth.

Kosmala competed in 12 Paralympic Games and won 13 medals for Australia, nine of them gold. The first was at Toronto 1976 (mixed rifle shooting 2-5) having taken a bronze at swimming (women’s 3x50m medley relay) four years earlier at Heidelberg 1972.

The last was Rio 2016 when she finally conceded that her time as an international shooter was coming to an end.

“I didn’t shoot well (in Rio), and I didn’t know why. I was really on top of the tree before I went to Rio,” she told Shooting Australia.

Kosmala continues to shoot at local level, acts as mentor and has been inducted to the Australian Paralympic Hall of Fame.

Her legacy is assured, as is that of Partyka, but in the other end of the spectrum.

If you are still able to hold the rifle without any tremor, and you can still see well, you can still shoot very well – Libby Kosmala

More ground breakers

Nevertheless, both Partyka and Kosmala are not the only ones that have pushed the age boundaries. Every other Summer and Winter Paralympic Games there is a teenager or a veteran getting some headlines because of the extraordinary feat of performing at elite level sports at such tender or well-seasoned ages.

Husnah Kukundakwe, of Uganda, was the youngest Paralympic athlete at Tokyo 2020 at the age of 14. Despite her tender years, the Para swimmer has already seen how sport offers opportunity and hope and a change of mindset.

The teenager, who was born with a limb deficiency, competed in the women’s 100m breaststroke SB8 heat with her performance beamed back to Africa.

“Most parents (in Uganda) who give birth to children with disabilities just abandon them. Sometimes they end up on the streets, they become beggars,” she said after her performance.

“Maybe if they (parents) watch the Paralympics, they will realise that the choice they made is really bad.”

I am a Paralympian and I feel I could touch the clouds - Husnah Kukundakwe

Meanwhile, Ben Tudhope was born with cerebral palsy. At the age of 14, the Australian was the youngest competitor at Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games when he competed in Para snowboard cross.

These days he can describe himself as former child prodigy, three-time Paralympic Para snowboarder and bronze medallist (snowboard cross SB LL2) at Beijing 2022. 

“I never thought I would be in this moment today and look where I am,” said Tudhope after winning his medal.

On the other hand, the oldest competitor at Sochi 2014 was Canadian Jim Armstrong, the 63-year-old skip of the wheelchair curling team.

The retired dentist led Canada to a third successive Paralympic Games gold while claiming his second.

If there is any kid out there with cerebral palsy, with a disability, you can achieve anything – Ben Tudhope

Wheelchair curling produced another ‘oldest’ athlete at Beijing 2022. Dr Pam Wilson, a doctor who specialised in pediatric rehab in the US and took up the sport ten years ago at the age of 56.

Wilson, who suffered a spinal cord injury after a car accident, was looking for a new sporting challenge and at the age of 66 there is none bigger than appearing at a Paralympic Games.

“Curling is one of these skill sports,” Wilson said. “It is physical, but it’s definitely a sport where you get better with every rock you throw.”

You get better with every rock you throw– Pam Wilson

More recently, Austria’s Para alpine skiing prospect Elina Stary was the youngest athlete at Beijing 2022. She was 15 back then. The youngster, who is studying tourism, is visually impaired through ocular albinism.

Stary finished fourth and sixth in the slalom and giant slalom at Beijing.