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When Washington was growing up in a White Plains, N.Y. rehabilitation hospital, he underwent 21 operations and had 35 bone fractures caused by a brittle bone disease. Washington of Roslyn Heights, N.Y. returned this week from a brief trip to Britain with a gold medal. At 112 pounds, 39-year-old Washington bench-pressed 280 pounds for a gold. Washington hopes to make the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics Games. There are four or five competitors in his division. "There were a few guys in there that were kind of tough but they couldn't come near me." After a disappointing performance in the 1984 International Wheelchair Games in New York, and after being unable to compete in last year's Paralympic Games in Barcelona because he didn't fit the proper disability category. Washington wasn't fooling around when when he went to Britain. "I went to take care of business." |
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