Repair center the wheel deal

Experts on hand to deal with equipment emergencies at Winter Paralympics

Early on Saturday morning, a coach from the Chinese team rushed into the Ottobock Wheelchair and Prosthetic Repair Center at Zhangjiakou Paralympic Village, anxious and under pressure to get a job done.

Time was of the essence, with the coach unsure if the technicians could fix the equipment for a cross-country skiing competition which was due to start in a couple of hours.

He had no need to worry, with the expert staff carrying out the emergency repairs swiftly and efficiently.

The Chinese coach is one of many happy customers at the center since the Winter Paralympic Village officially began operations on Feb 25.

While wheelchair and prosthetic clinics tend to be unfamiliar to people without disability, they are indispensable in the lives of persons with disability, especially in the athletic field.

Wheelchairs, prosthetics, and orthotics are considered competition 'partners' of para athletes, with the difficulty and intensity of the Winter Paralympics making athletes more prone to collisions and accidents, and regularly resulting in equipment damage.

German prosthetics company Ottobock has been an official service provider for the Paralympics since 1988.

It has set up repair centers in the five competition venues and three Paralympic villages, with nearly 50 team members from 12 countries on duty. As of Friday, the centers in the three villages had conducted almost 200 repair jobs, according to the company.

"The disabled athletes need assistive devices and equipment to take part in the competitions. So, ensuring that these devices operate smoothly is the primary goal of our repair center," said Zheng Zifu, a prosthetic orthotist of Ottobock China working in the Yanqing Paralympic Village.

Zheng explained that the Yanqing repair center features a clinic room to evaluate athletes' equipment, a workshop to conduct repairs and replace parts, and a welding room to fashion metal parts into shape.

The center has about 17,000 kinds of spare parts, including wheelchair tires, and prosthetic parts such as joints and footplates, according to Zheng.

"The type of damage is often specific to the sport. For example, the ice hockey that takes place in Beijing might damage more metal parts, and Alpine skiing here involves more maintenance of ski boards," he explained.

"In addition, many athletes require wheelchairs for daily use, and we help to inflate the tires or change a new one at any time," he said. "We can even help the athletes to repair ordinary snow boots."

All the services are free to athletes during the Winter Paralympic Games, and the company expects to do hundreds of maintenance jobs.