Being silver medalist at the Paralympics Games from Beijing, Eduard Novak compares România with antic Sparta, where those with shortcomings were sacrificed
Eduard Carol Novak wanted an Olympic medal at speed skating, but he won it at cycling. I wished to win this medal at speed skating, but he won it at cycling. This is his story.
Beijing 2008. 12th September. 14:18. The disappointment caused by the 4th place is in the polluted air from Beijing. He competed at three different heats, all ended very close from the golden medal. "In 2004, in Atena, I also finished on the 4th place", says Eduard. The last race, the last chance to the medal. The contretemps.
The bicycle saddle is 5,3 centimeters lower than it should be in order to make the effort more efficient. The thing he discovered two months before the Paralympics Games. "I had been training with this bicycle for a long time. There was no time for changes.", added Eduard. 24,8 kilometers which he could ran with the eyes closed.
The time. Alone against the seconds. The hierarchies are settled down in the end. 34:04,60. Wavy routes, silver shaped curves.
Miercurea Ciuc 2008. November. 14:18 But why was Eduard Novak on 12th September to Beijing?
12 years ago he lost the sole of his leg in a car accident. He was 20, among which 15 years he spent with the skates in his legs. Speed skating is the alternative for any inhabitant from Miercurea Ciuc who do not play hockey.
"That accident"
Eduard speaks about the accident which interrupted the struggle with the seconds calling "that accident". He even had a few since then, but they are simple events in his story which he tells in the garret of a white house where smells like in a hospital. Everything is white, just like the plaster used for prosthesis. Only Eduard’s smile is not white, is colorful. He smi