On Wednesday, a dog took the top step of the podium at the Winter Paralympics in Beijing, China, along with its owner, Austrian athlete Carina Edlinger.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himRiley is the guide dog of Carina Edlinger, who won the gold medal in cross-country skiing together with her partner, Lorenz Lampl, who also participated in the race with her.
It is actually common to see guide dogs within the Paralympic community, as they accompany blind and visually impaired athletes on a daily basis, but it is much rarer to see them arrive on the podium.
Austrian Lorenz and his dog Riley are one of the few exceptions. The athlete, with limited vision of 1,5-2%, is one of the most visually impaired among the participants in the Beijing Paralympics and inevitably needs her guide dog for daily activities. Therefore, taking him to China was of utmost importance and she had to get special approval from the country to do so.
A support that has proved to be truly fundamental:
It has helped me, not only to find my way, but also emotionally for the past couple of days. For me, the most important thing to come to China was to bring my dog. If my dog hadn't been able to enter China, I would have gone straight home.
In fact, dogs are not always accepted in competitions, some countries restrict access to animals, such as Japan, which banned guide dogs at the Tokyo Paralympics.
Carina Edlinger and her guide dog celebrate on the podium.
Posted by Paralympic Games on Wednesday, March 9, 2022
In fact, a dog had already made it to a podium in 2016. At the Rio Summer Paralympics a Canadian rower had brought it with her to the awards ceremony.
A splendid podium that you don't happen to see very often!
Source: Olimpycs
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