LONDON – David Wagner (Hillsboro, Ore.) is still in the hunt for gold.
The No. 1 ranked quad singles player in the world, Wagner advanced to the London
2012 Paralympic Games finals on Thursday, beating his doubles partner Nick
Taylor (Wichita, Kan.) 6-2, 6-1 to advance.
Taylor and Wagner won their third consecutive quad doubles title at the
Paralympic Games on Wednesday. In 2008, Wagner beat Taylor for the bronze
medal.
Wagner won 90 percent of the points on his first serve of the second
set to beat Taylor. The win advanced Wagner to the quad singles gold
medal match where he will play Israel’s Shraga Weinberg. Both countries
will also have a chance for the bronze as well with Taylor set to play
another Israeli, Shraga Weinberg.
Just a day earlier, the American duo teamed up to win their third
straight gold medal against Great Britain’s Peter Norfolk and Andy Lapthorne.
The two are undeniably close.
"He knows me inside and out, every weakness in the chair and me
and everything,” said Taylor.
They will likely cheer each other on from the stands like they’ve been
doing all week.
"We're like brothers, we are a team,” Wagner said.
Win or lose, it’s clear they have the right mindset by putting team
first.