At the para-badminton competition, one of New Zealand’s 25 athletes, Wojtek Czyz, came up against British player Daniel Bethell in the group stage.
Czyz lost two sets to nil to the man from Great Britain, but he had some heavy duty support in the stands. Alongside his wife Elena Brambilla Czyz, a former Italian high jump champion, was his good mate — and former Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool football coach — Jurgen Klopp.
Czyz was a footballer who had signed terms with German side Fortuna Cologne in 2001 before incurring a serious injury that led to the amputation of his leg.
Since then he became a Paralympic athlete, competing in three Games for Germany in athletics in Athens, Beijing and London, winning seven medals — including four golds — in sprinting events and long jump.
He also has set word records in free diving in his classification, and spent five years sailing around the world, and setting up a project to provide prosthetics to people in need.
After that busy time out, he is back representing New Zealand in para-badminton.
“We met, very funnily, before I joined Liverpool, in 2015, at the harbour in Lisbon. I had a holiday and he was playing frisbee,” Klopp said.
“It’s kind of destiny, stuff like that. But the life of an athlete that is not in the big sports is a challenge, and when we could help, we tried to help and support.”
Klopp has been seen around the Paralympics as he takes a sabbatical after leaving Liverpool earlier this year..
“If I had time in the past, I would have shown up earlier but it is the first time in my life that I can come here. A nice part of this is that my good friend Wojtek is part of the Paralympics, so we can combine the two things.
“The stories behind (Paralympic) athletes are always special and the one of my friend here is super special. That’s the only difference really. That’s what I love about sports, that it can change the world. Sometimes only for a moment and sometimes forever.
“In the Paralympic movement, there are obviously more hurdles to overcome (than at the Olympic Games), to show the young people and everyone what is possible. Whatever life has put in the hands for you, it is how you deal with it (that matters).”
Czyz’s next group match in his SL3 class is tomorrow morning Australian time against Ukraine’s Oleksandr Chyrkov.
