Home, sweet home

The versatile Aussie cut a figure in the Paralympic arena in 1972, when she was ranked fifth in backstroke and fourth in pentathlon. A ten-time Paralympian, the granny who was called encyclopedia by some wrapped nine shooting gold, but the one in 1976 she cherished most.

"It was the first time I went to Paralympics with my husband," she said.

Kosmala had always wished to find a husband who was disabled as well. Her encounter with her husband Stan was just like the plot of a fiction.

"I met him in a wheelchair racing competition," she grinned, "I looked at the way he moved and said to myself 'this is the man I am going to marry'."

In 1976, they went to Toranto as engaged couple. After the event, they got married in December.

Kosmala rated the 1988 Seoul Paralympics as a highlight because Stan won a gold medal in lawn bowls and she took four gold medals in shooting.

However, for as long as 20 years, Stan didn't practice shooting. "We have two children and family is not a good place for shooting," said the wife.

Her husband only started shooting in 1997 under her suggestion.

Talking about her two sons, Kosmala, like all the doting mothers, appeared quite proud.

"My Luke is 30 and Jame is 26," she said.

James was an ambulance officer with a girl friend, while Luke, who still lived with them was a landscape designer.

"He designs for helping the disabled," said mother, admitting that disability of she and her husband did affect much in their children's growth.

But unlike their parents, the children didn't compete in sport events, although they like to play golf and tennis.

"They are not keen in getting to the top," the granny smiled.

Apart from shooting, the active Kosmala worked for public relations in a charity namely Spina Bifida, which was aimed to help people injured at birth.

"I know how it was like and I hope that they could live a better life," she said.

Shooter forever

Kosmala said she came to the Beijing Paralympics to enjoy the competition, but this didn't mean that medals were not important.

"Competition is to get medals," she said, "medals are a bonus. If you can get one, you are lucky."

On Sunday, the veteran shooter got a good chance to win, as she was ranked second among all finalists. But the quick shooter blow away the chance by having her scores fluctuating, which which eventually dragged her to the fourth place.

After the competition, she had regret written on her wrinkled face. "It was so close, so close..." she nagged, shaking her head.

Kosmala admitted that she was "a little bit tired", as could be seen from the qualification, in which she managed to chalk up 97, 100 and 99 points in the first three ten-shot series. But in the last series, she just achieved a moderate 94.

Recognizing that it was the first final that she did at the Paralympics in more than two decades, however, she noted that result was not bad.

In her coach's eyes, Kosmala is a diligent shooter. "It has been fantastic shooting at her age and she is still improving in the last two years," said Miro Sipek.

Sipek, or in fact all her teammates know that the granny would shoot for as long as she could, thus going to the London Paralympics four years later is something quite possible, although before that, she still has two competition this week.

(Xinhua News Agency September 10, 2008)