Earlier this year I left home just after the New Year celebrations, when January makes the local landscape of sand and waves strong with shine and heat and headed off for the slippery ice, snow and heady heights of the French Alps. I was leaving as Team Manager of the first Australian team to participate at the Second World Winter Transplant Games.
We were greeted on a perfect day. The Alps were showing off to all teams of athletes arriving for the Games. Before the start of events I think most countries thought we the Australians were at Pra-Loup purely as spectators! Ha Ha NO NO! Australia does have snow and the team (just two!) was going to make competition difficult. Lisa Cuthbertson, like myself, has participated in previous Transplant Games only as a swimmer. However, this time armed with her skills and an overwhelming amount of determination, Lisa hit the slopes of the French Alps for the first time and caused a sensation. Despite very stiff competition from her challengers, as well as falling victim to the chicken pox on the flight over, Lisa managed to haul in a Gold medal and four Silver.
Lisa skied at competition level before her transplant 10 years ago. At Pra-Loup We nominated her for five events and there are at least two more events including the biathlon which she could enter at the next Games. (Although neither of us has ever touched a gun let alone pulled the trigger with the intention of hitting anything before!)
The days of competition were very busy with almost no time to hesitate between the prompt 8 am start and the team managers' meetings at six each evening. The small number of participants, 89 in all, meant spectators could be present to support all the competitors at every event. The Games were run very efficiently and (based on my own experience) well organised. There was, unfortunately, as at all the Games, a low number of women competitors. It is obvious that we need to focus sometime and energy on promoting the Games to women athletes if we want to develop the standard and competition in future.
Despite the sad death of Francois Mitterand, the return of French Troopsto Bosnia and a major avalanche nearby, the Games did attract some national media attention. Local media coverage was great and covered each day extensively. The team from Luxembourg brought their own journalist with them who reported back each day to keep his country informed about their competitors at Pra-Loup.
TRANS-FORME, the host French Transplant Games Association also provides a place for dialysis patients to participate alongside the rest of us. At Pra-Loup I found myself amongst those on dialysis who were waiting for a suitable organ for transplantation and others unable to receive one. On a personal level I was impressed and amazed - amazed that they could compete for extended periods let alone compete all day. But these athletes served as an immediate reminder for our own amazing quality of life thanks to a successful transplant.
Pra-Loup is a beautiful resort and the organising body TRANS-FORME made the most of where we were. One of the most memorable evening events was a torchlight descent down the main slope used for competition each day. Led by the French team doctor the line of athletes sprinkled down like fireworks. The valuable attention to detail in subtle gestures such as the presentation of flowers to the three place getters after each session of events, set against the gigantic Alps we lived amongst for the week, made the Games unforgettable.
I have strong suspicions about the motives behind the continuous activities the French organised for all the teams off the slopes, attempted sabotage immediately springs to mind! French popular music took us a little off- guard so our contribution to karaoke evenings was reduced to wobbly dancing to alien melodies. Australia tookthe Best Entertainer Trophy awarded to a country which draws lots of attention. Not bad for a two-person team.
Everyone at the Games appreciates the time and good luck they have enjoyed as a direct result of transplantation. Thanks to events like the World Transplant Games (Summer and Winter) we have found ourselves in amazing places and situations achieving the impossible every year.