[Sportsandrec] Judo Competitor Wins Bronze at Beijing

[Cervenka, Stacy (Brownback)]

Hey, all,

    Here is an article that just came out in the most recent issue of
"Dialogue" magazine about fellow Sports and Rec listserv member, Greg
DeWall.

Stacy

Dialogue Magazine

January - February 2009 Sports and Recreation

Judo Competitor wins Bronze at Beijing

by David Block

Greg DeWall was the only U.S. athlete to win a medal in judo at the
Paralympics in Beijing this past September. He won a bronze medal in the
heavy weight class. The 220-pound Californian squared off against
280-pound opponents. Being "undersized" was not the first challenge
DeWall has faced and definitely not his toughest.

DeWall's toughest challenge was regaining the will to live after placing
a gun under his chin and pulling the trigger in January 1997. His
suicide attempt destroyed his sight and seriously damaged his face.

"I have no trouble talking about my suicide attempt," said DeWall, now
30.

"When people look at me, they know that something happened," said
DeWall.

"I'm sure they wonder, 'what's wrong with that guy?' I'm open to talking
about it because I don't want people to guess what happened, I'd rather
have them know the truth...I was not on drugs and I was not depressed. I
was a senior in high school and I was the All American Boy. I was a high
school letterman. I played football, baseball and wrestled. I was 6 feet
2 inches, 210 pounds and very popular. I chased girls. I had dates. I
drove big trucks, I raised hogs and sheep."

On the surface, DeWall's life seemed perfect, but underneath problems
sizzled. "In six months I was going to graduate high school, and I was
so uncertain about my future. Colleges were interested in me competing
for them, but none offered me a full scholarship. I wasn't sure I was
good enough to get one. If I didn't get one, would I have to join the
military?"

DeWall said that peers always came to him for advice and comfort. He was
there for them. "There was no one for me to talk to. I didn't have a
shoulder to cry on; I felt as though I couldn't go to anyone for advice,
so I tried to solve my problems by killing myself. I know that was the
wrong way to go about it."

After DeWall's suicide attempt, he no longer had to deal with people
seeking his advice; he no longer was a contender for a college
scholarship.

Instead, he had a new set of problems. "Being blind was the least of my
worries," said DeWall. "Being deformed was harder to deal with. We live
in a society where an ascetic appeal is important. I have had a lot of
reconstructive surgery. I'm still disfigured."

Even after his suicide attempt, DeWall still managed to get dates. "In
one sense, getting dates is now harder, but the dates I have are more
qualitative. The people I date are more genuine."

Even though reconstructive surgeries and working toward his college
diploma kept him busy, DeWall felt he was getting out of shape. He
missed sports.

He missed the adrenaline rush. Someone suggested that he try judo,
because blind people adapted well to it. "I started taking judo in
December 2005,"

said DeWall. "After nine months, my instructor urged me to compete."

DeWall's first tournament was against sighted athletes and he beat them.

"They might not have taken me seriously, because they weren't
aggressive.

They knew I was blind. In later tournaments when they knew that I was
for real, they tried to be more aggressive."

Members of the United States Association of Blind Athletes and Mark
Lucas, the association's executive director, saw DeWall compete at a San
Jose judo tournament. Impressed, DeWall was invited to compete with
USABA at an international sanctioned blind sports event in Brazil in the
summer of 2007. There, DeWall earned a spot on the U.S. Paralympic team.

DeWall's first opponent at the Paralympics was Yargaliny Jimenez of Cuba
who had beaten DeWall in Brazil. "At Beijing, the Cuban was favored to
win the gold," said Raul Tamayo, Head Coach of the U.S. Judo Paralympic
Team.

DeWall knew that if he lost to Jimenez in the opening round, he would
have no chance of earning a medal. "There was no way I was going home
without a medal," said DeWall. "I told my brother that if I was going to
beat the Cuban, I had to take him down in five seconds. When I compete
against bigger guys, I tire them out, but the Cuban was too good. He
beat me in Brazil because I was too defensive, so in Beijing I changed
my tactics."

This time when his match began, DeWall took Jimenez down and pinned him
in

41 seconds. "I felt so relieved," said DeWall. "For 12 months, after
Brazil, all I thought about was beating the Cuban. I was so pumped up
for my rematch. I kept thinking, 'I have to beat the Cuban. I'm going to
beat the Cuban.'" 

DeWall lost his second match to Song Wang of China. "I lost my edge. The
Cuban was all I focused on. Losing to that guy from China gave me back
my edge." He still had a chance to win a bronze medal. "I didn't travel
all the way to Beijing to not win a medal," said DeWall.

He won his third match, pinning Alexander Parasyuk of Russia in the
second minute to advance to the bronze medal competition. There he faced
Jung-Min Park of Korea. "Although the Korean was ahead on points, Greg
kept attacking," said Tamayo. Somehow, the Korean athlete got hurt.
"With 12 seconds left, the officials stopped the match and awarded the
decision to Greg because the Korean was bleeding from the head." Park
finished the competition in fifth place in Beijing.

With the 2008 Paralympics behind him and a bronze medal in his
possession, DeWall's focus is on graduating from California State
University in Chico.

Majoring in therapeutic recreation, DeWall expects to receive his
diploma in December 2009.