Take Your Marks . . .
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The Olympics draws the world together in sport. For two weeks every even year (with the notable 2020/2021 exception), athletes from around the world gather and compete. Sports that few think of most of the rest of the time get their time in the spotlight. Track and field, gymnastics, volleyball, figure skating, luge, bobsled, and my favorite, swimming, get to shine on the world stage. We’re just as likely to see amazing performances by the likes of Katie Ledecky (swimming US), Usain Bolt (track Jamaica), Yuzuru Hanyu (Japan figure skating), and others as we are to see something like my favorite moment from this year’s summer games as Ahmed Hafnoui from Tunisia won the Men’s 400 meter freestyle on the first night of swimming, coming in to the race as the slowest qualifier (only 2 other swimmers have ever done that!). Cleary in addition to being a BrickNerd, I’m a swim nerd. I swam in high school and for a year in college, then did a little coaching after college. But as amazing as the Olympics are, the athletes of the Paralympics are not only fantastic athletes but do so overcoming disabilities!
James Zhan captures the excitement and motion of the Paralympic games in three separate builds. As a swimmer his “Swimming Men's 50m Backstroke S5 / Tokyo 2020 Paralympic” initially caught my eye. An armless swimmer tucked into the back stroke starting position. He masterfully recreates the tension and excitement at the start of a race. I love the trans clear bricks on the top, the cutaway method he uses for the water, the way the lane line extends out into space saying, “There is more here”, but bonding the build, too. The cutaway also allows for excellent brick built logos on the side as well.
James’ second build is a wheelchair racer. The shape of the wheelchair is skillfully designed, the camber of the wheels is achieved through clever use of ball joints, and the well-chosen use of flex hose to get the hand grips on the wheel and the seat. James captures fantastic motion in the frontal shot. The racer’s hands have just released the wheels, and are recovering for the next push, followed by a triumphant fist pump in the side shot!
Speaking of motion, James’ “Women’s Long Jump T64” captures the dynamic sequence of a long-jumper. Across the three images we see the apex of the jump, about to land, and the final sand pit landing. Each frame is like a still from a sports photographer. The athlete’s hair trailing behind her, the impact in the sand, all tell a story!
I got a chance to catch up with James, and discuss his mini-land scale paralympic wonders. Through the joy of Google Translate we chatted about his work.
Michael: What drew you to builds of each of these three Paralympics sports?
James: I saw Jessica Long's Story shot by Toyota on the youtube channel and I was deeply moved. There are also Taiwanese players participating in Paralympic this year. I also watched many competitions. I wanted to use Bricks to make moving things, so that my friends will also care about Paralympic in the future.
Michael: As a swimmer and a Dad that one tugged at my heart strings too! You have a number of figure builds in varying sizes in your photostream, what drew you to mini-land scale for these?
James: The mini-land scale is very suitable for the development of a series of sizes of works, a small number of parts can try to create a variety of sports gestures.
Michael: Well you succeeded brilliantly at that! I love the sense of tension and anticipation in the swimmer and how you captured motion for the long jump and wheelchair racer, was that difficult for you to capture, or did that flow from the subject?
James: I kept watching the broadcast repeatedly and looking for details on the youtube channel. I really hope to show that the players are great.
Michael: Any (other) part of the builds that was particularly rewarding/challenging?
James: Swimming Men's 50m Backstroke S5 is a sport that touches me so much. This work took the most time in design and production.
Michael: Well clearly that is my favorite of the three! Anything else you'd like to share?
James: Please check out my flower work in LEGO IDEA-Orchid
Michael: Thanks so much for sharing, James, and bringing attention to so truly talented athletes! For those of you like me who were curious about the alphanumeric designation in the sport titles the letter corresponds to the event and the number is tied to a level of disability.
Do you have any favortie sports builds? Any dynamic Miniland scale posing you’d like to share? Love for any Olympic or Paralympic athletes or sports? Let us know in the comments below!
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