Bob Molinatti

Runner Up; Ernst Van Dyk All Hail the King of Boston!Ernst Van Dyk How many of these Sliver Cups from winning the greatest road race in the world does Ernst Van Dyk own you might ask? TEN! That is just insane. Think about this, if he were to live to 100 years old, he would […]

Me and my Bro Dave about 1 AM on May 17. Not long after angioplasty and stent surgery. Not sure whether his eyes or mine grew bigger as the Crash Cart entered the room! Merely 16 days earlier giving my induction speech at the Vermont Sports Hall of Fame Ceremony. I never felt particularly well […]

While somewhat viable the Paralympic Movement has stalled in its ability to gain true mainstream attention and momentum. For a while it started to feel like we almost got there. But the reality is we fell short. It will do little good to cast blame around, however due to certain streams of funding and motivations […]

Yes, I’m whining A day that will live on in infamy! I think writing this is as cathartic much as it might be semi entertaining, at least to those of us who have many travel miles under our belts. For nearly 2 damn years we have been cooped up in this Covid hell, baking bread, […]

A hour and a half of my life I can’t get back Lets face it, we’ve all become accustomed to less at this point. Every time a major network gets a hand into covering disabled sport its likely going to be somewhat cliche and repetitive. I can almost live with that as a notion, however […]

Making a difference beyond the basketball court A fearless leader who lead the famed Casa Colina Condors to 8 championships, coached the gold medal team in Seoul 1988 and was integral to the Lakeshore Adaptive Sports program. Before the very last day the US team had in Seoul, Korea I had never met Frank Burns. […]

Chris Waddell was a Paralympic medalist in both the winter and summer games. He is a well qualified broadcaster, an exceptional role model and yet he will play second second seat to 2 able bodied broadcasters. For so many years NBC has pulled together a broadcast team of qualified disabled athletes who wanted to take […]

DeAnna Sodoma Though often overshadowed by the domination of Jean Driscoll and Louise Sauvage, DeAnna Sodoma was in many ways the 3rd most recognized and accomplished women’s wheelchair racer of the 90s. Her athletic accomplishments were so significant that she captured the attention of Northwest Airlines, landing a lucrative sponsorship that lasted nearly the duration […]

A tribute to race director, Nan Harman There are a few phone numbers that stick out in my mind, to be more precise 4 of them. My household phone growing up in NY, my family phone in Vermont, the roller guys, Doug and Jerry and finally Nan Harman’s. I bet I called that number a […]

Story and Photo, Mary Carol Peterson Many of the legends of the era were caught up in one of the most iconic crashes in track chair racing history! So in the Barcelona ’92 Paralympics 5000m men’s final, I was stationed in the “moat” area which is below track level, designated for photographers (I had credentials […]

Part One; Laying the Groundwork Over nearly the past 2 decades Tatyana Mcfadden has set a standard that has been tough to match and raised the bar extremely high! As I put a wrap on covering some of the most winning and influential men of wheelchair racing a few weeks ago I have reached out […]

Doug Mays and Jerry Burak–2 men you may have never met who had a significant impact on the sport of Wheechair Racing. If you wheeled on a Roller between 1990 and now, they designed it and produced it. My first thought as I sit down to write this is what a terrible photo of two […]

By Jeff Adams In 1988, I was only 17 years old when I made my first Paralympic team – selected to compete for Canada in Seoul, Korea. This is a short story about my journey to qualify for the Games, and my experience racing at my first major international competition. Classification System At that time, […]

If you have read this far you will know at this point that I am sharing my thoughts on these games are less from an athletic standpoint, and more from an experiential place of being at the games. I saved this shot from the local newspaper as I just thought it was cool. Opening Ceremonies […]

Itaewon; shopping, bars and nightlife To the best of my recollection, the cab ride from the Paralympic compound was about 20 minutes. I think the US Team was one of the first to arrive in Korea. Right off the bat we were taken to a facility where we were given very explicit instructions on how […]

As I sit down to write this I find it a little hard to begin. The Seoul Paralympics, and in general the journey to even get there was so multi faceted. From training camps, to qualifying, competing at Stoke Mandeville, and so much more. It was a very strange ride for me indeed as a […]

#5 Kurt Fearnley The man from down under! Kurt Fearnley You want to talk about a nice guy? Well that is the Kurt Fearnley you will see hanging around the hotel lobby before and after the race. Or the guy smiling from ear to ear as he sociably moved from person to person at gatherings. […]

#8 Andre Viger The Badger! Andre Viger 9/27/52 to 10/1/06 In Tour de France Cycling, legendary cyclist Bernard Hinualt was know as “The Badger” for his extremely aggressive style of racing. Andre Viger simply put assumed that role in wheelchair racing. It seemed pain got out of the way for Andre. Striking his highest level […]

Before getting started thank you to those of you who are having fun with this and even more thanks to the qualified people who have given me some insights on a couple of racers I had not fully considered. I have either raced with, covered and or interviewed nearly every racer on this list. Many […]

This has been quite and undertaking, trust me. There is so much consideration that has gone into this list and the accolades that follow these athletes are too many to mention in one post. This my friends is a slippery slope indeed. Where could this begin and end. When you think about the broad based […]

Part One: Laying the Groundwork by Bob Molinatti What a difficult task to look back over the many racers who have provided us with so many special moments in history. How exactly does one go about deciding who to add to the most exclusive list of racers, while at the same time omitting others who […]

A tough inside player, Bell was an integral part of the dominate run the Casa Colina Condors had in the NWBA. One of the earliest adaptive sports for disabled athletes is Wheelchair Basketball. It is easy to pinpoint the humble beginnings of this sport to the 1940s and 1950 when the sport was utilized in […]

Over the course of nearly a decade I had worked in many high profile broadcast jobs. Each and every one had its own particular complexity, and NYC was no exception. As a matter of fact, this was perhaps the most high pressure environment I had worked in. This job was perhaps the pinnacle of the […]

Joey never won a Boston Marathon, a Peachtree or any other major race on our circuit for that matter. He never raced his chair to Gold as a Paralympian either. So what was it that brought so many together on a Saturday afternoon to celebrate this mans shortened life? If it wasn’t the moments of […]