NORTH HILLS : VA Honors Gold Medal Winners in Wheelchairs

Herb Oles couldn’t have been more ready to take part in the slalom event at this year’s National Veterans Wheelchair Games.

“I was so geared up for it,” recalled the 55-year-old member of the Sepulveda Road Runners, a team of wheelchair athletes from the Veterans Hospital in North Hills. “I had to wait six hours before my number came up.”

Oles’ patience was rewarded. He went on to win a gold medal for slalom, an event in which competitors negotiate an obstacle course in their chairs. “I did my best and I came through it pretty good,” he said.

On Tuesday, Oles, who has been confined to a wheelchair since a diving accident, got more recognition. He and his 10 teammates received certificates of achievement in a ceremony at the Veterans Administration facility to honor their haul of 23 medals at the August games in San Antonio, in sports ranging from bowling and weightlifting to swimming and archery.

“It was just a phenomenal week,” said Bob Felton, a professor of biomechanics and the Road Runners coach.

The other Road Runner stars included 27-year-old Joe Hamilton, who broke his spinal cord in a motorcycle accident six years ago. Competing in his third games, he won silver medals in the 100-meter and 1,500-meter wheelchair races. “Once an athlete, always an athlete,” said Hamilton, who was training for the U. S. Air Force’s soccer team when he was injured.

Dale Walton, 65, started bowling a year ago after taking a bet from social worker Paula Fleischman. Unable to grip the ball in his hands, Walton learned to release it with the aid of a stick strapped to his wrist. Now he bowls a 120 average and won a national games gold medal in August by defeating his nearest rival by 60 pins.

“He was kind of depressed before he started bowling,” said Fleischman, spinal injury coordinator at the VA outpatient clinic. “But now he travels all ‘round the country bowling. It’s changed his life.”

For Oles, a resident of North Hills, most of the satisfaction comes not from winning but simply competing. “I love it for the companionship,” he said. “It’s so great to meet other people and then see them a year later.”

Looking ahead, Oles is hoping to add weightlifting and table tennis to his sporting repertoire. “I want to start doing some other things,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to next year.”