COLUMBUS, Ohio –
Defense Supply Center Columbus employee Mindy Cook will represent Team USA at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games in the sport of goalball later this summer.
Cook is a contracting specialist with Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime’s Land Supplier Operations Directorate. The official announcement was made by the U.S. Association of Blind Athletes, the sport’s governing body, following Cook’s selection. Cook will be making her Paralympic debut alongside five seasoned USA Women’s Goalball Team members. In the 2016 Rio Games, the team claimed bronze.
“I’m so grateful for all of DLA’s support in this journey,” Cook said after learning of her selection. “My success at DLA and in Goalball is a reflection of the outstanding leadership of my DLA Land management team. I’m excited for what is yet to come and to share in this journey with DLA.”
Goalball is a team sport for blind and visually impaired athletes. Its origins can be traced to World War II when it was used as a rehabilitation resource for blinded veterans.
Goalball consists of two opposing teams with three players on the court at a time. The game is played on a volleyball-sized court and the object is to roll or bounce a basketball-sized ball across the opposing team’s goal line. The ball contains several bells so that players can locate its position. All players wear eyeshades to negate any sight advantages between those with complete blindness and those with vision impairments. The court is marked with raised lines so the players can feel their location at any time.
The Summer Games originally scheduled to open in Tokyo last July were delayed due to the COVID-19 health emergency. The goalball competition begins Aug. 25 with the medal matches taking place Sept. 3.
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For more than 100 years, the Defense Supply Center Columbus has been a vital logistics center in Central Ohio, providing weapons system and platform support to U.S. forces and other federal agencies across the globe. As DSCC’s largest tenant, Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime maintains command oversight of the installation. DLA Land and Maritime has annual sales exceeding $4 billion and manages more than 2 million unique inventory parts to support several thousand multiservice weapons systems and the Warfighters who rely on them. Find more news and information at www.dla.mil/landandmaritime