Old pros, young minds: Legner and Wagner, the Paralympic ever-presents

They are a rare breed, the Paralympic ever-presents in wheelchair tennis.

Austria’s Martin Legner and David Wagner of the United States can still lay claim to the feat, Legner featuring at every Paralympic Games since it became a medal sport at Barcelona 1992 and Wagner a fixture not only in the draw but on the podium at every Games since the quads entered the fray at Athens 2004.

And as they reflect on how far the sport has come over the span of their respective careers, it is their passion for the sport, and for the cultural impact of the Paralympic Movement, that resonates on the eve of another Games.

Legner is the only player to have featured at all eight Paralympics to include wheelchair tennis in the medal programme, so his first impressions count for something – and the 59-year-old is suitably impressed with the welcome he has received at Ariake Tennis Park and the Paralympic Village.

“It’s unbelievable,” he said. “This venue is great, everything is perfect. The lifestyle is different from Europe, of course. I was a little bit surprised. They are very focused on their work here, they keep the mask on all the time. It’s nice to see. It's unbelievable how friendly the people are.”

Twice the Austrian has come within one win of a medal during his storied career. In Barcelona he was denied in the men’s doubles bronze medal match, while eight years later Germany’s Kai Schrameyer came out on top of their singles bronze medal match at Sydney 2000.

But there is no hint of remorse when he looks back to assess how the sport has changed during his three decades in the game.

“Of course, there's a development,” Legner said. “For example, the equipment is getting better, getting lighter. Everybody is trying to get in their best position on the wheelchair. And when you get the movements, it's easier to go to the balls and have better shots. So everything has improved a little bit.

“There is better competition, the level of tennis is stronger. But in 10 years, it will be even stronger than now. There are more players playing good. It's not so easy as it was at the beginning.

“And I was also younger – it was easier for me to push the chair around, my eyes had better focus,” he added with a laugh. “Everything is a little bit weak when you get older. But my mind is still young.”

Wagner is even more forensic in his breakdown of the way the sport has evolved in the 17 years since his own Paralympic debut.

“The division has changed a lot,” said the 47-year-old. “Our players are much stronger than they've ever been, faster than they've ever been.

“The ability to change the grip and get in the appropriate serving grip, forehand grip, backhand grip, is much more predominant now than it ever has been in our division – that poses a big challenge for athletes like myself who can't change their grips. To play tennis against that level of function is very challenging.”

Like Legner, Wagner admits that age has become a factor in his approach to the sport – but as wheelchair technology evolves and his own motivation remains high, he is once again in the hunt to add to his collection of eight Paralympic medals – including three golds – against players half his age here in Tokyo.

“I've experimented with some chairs and different seating positions and whatnot. And the way I train, it’s just smarter, not as long because I'm older. I’ve got to listen to my body: when I need a break, I take a break.”

Wagner insists he is not obsessing over maintaining his record of reaching the podium at every Paralympic tennis event to feature a quad division – “I’ve never tried to put that on myself,” he said. Rather, he revels in the lasting legacy he has seen the Games bring to host cities and nations, and the change in perception it instils in spectators.

“The most important for me from the Paralympic standpoint is that you've come into an area where maybe people aren't familiar with disability sport, they don't understand how something can be done that way,” Wagner explained.

“And they see that, and they have a change of their mindset, or their stereotype changes, because they didn't think a quadriplegic could play wheelchair tennis or rugby, or shoot baskets or run track. 

“The other thing I really love about the Paralympic movement as a whole is that you come into Tokyo, or any country, and everything that's built for the Games has to be wheelchair accessible or disability accessible.

“I'll never forget that in 2004 – they made the Acropolis accessible. Imagine having a disability and living in Athens your entire life and the only way you get up there is if someone carries you up there? 

“They built an elevator lift on the side – it took all the disabled people up there. It's great for us, but how awesome is that for the people that live there? You open up the opportunity for a disabled person that lives in Athens and maybe now they can take public transportation and get a job or go visit a friend.”

Wagner may be a spring chicken by Legner’s standards, but it says something of tennis as a sport for life that they can maintain both their level and longevity as the years roll by. Indeed, there are two Paralympic debutants in Tokyo born 39 years apart: 57-year-old Kyu-Seung Kim of Korea, Rep, and Niels Vink of the Netherlands, competing in Tokyo at the age of just 18.

For Legner, there is no doubt where the appeal lies.

“Tennis is not just playing on the court,” he said. “When you play a tournament, it's a social sport. You can play with everybody, then you can sit together and have a nice meal. You meet new people, I still enjoy it. That's why I'm still playing.

“Wheelchair tennis is a complete sport. You need power, you need technique, you need condition. And if you have all that, the head decides.”