In between the two photo sessions with Marlon Shirley and Brian Frasure, Cameron - one of the Australians on the workshop team - provided a bit of insight into the more exotic aspects of prosthetics.

An athlete from Madagascar had just come to him with a contraption made of aluminum and leather, which looked a bit like a knight's armor and was indicative of corresponding limited mobility. The athlete really just wanted the foot section reattached since it had come loose. As Cameron thought the chances of a successful repair were slim, he offered to make him a new prosthesis. No, no said the African, he couldn't possibly afford that - and then was overjoyed to learn that the service wouldn't cost him a penny.

So on one side, we have the high-tech products of top US sprinters shooting for 11 seconds in the 100 meters in spite of transtibial amputations. On the other side we have improvisation "Made in Madagascar" just to participate in the games at all. And perceptible doubts that anyone anywhere in this world would really do anything for free. Equal opportunity? Merely an assertion. As a result, the prosthetists in the Paralympics workshop must be able to respond to a wide variety of human experience and backgrounds in addition to possessing versatile technical skills.

Cameron recently made a very interesting statement to the Australian press. The question was why he found it so fascinating to participate in this multicultural team of technicians. In response, he explained to the journalists that orthopedics usually offers a variety of possible solutions. The Australians do many things differently than the Europeans, the Asians or the Americans. He said he found it "extremely fascinating" to work with colleagues from 19 countries and to be involved in discussions regarding the best approach in concrete cases. In the end, it's not always possible to reach a consensus. But one thing seems to be the same in all countries: The motivation of prosthetists to help the person in front of them to the best of their ability.

Surely this is an important factor that, almost from day one, helped the group develop that team spirit you need in order to handle a volume of jobs which has now reached up to 180 repairs per day. So I don't consider it good news that Cameron will be leaving tomorrow. He only remarked on that briefly and probably didn't want to say anything more about it. Of course all of that was planned and agreed in advance. New technicians are flying in today, while others are going home tomorrow. For some, the opening ceremonies will be a huge farewell party.