Australian Paralympic swimmer Ahmed Kelly earned his hard-as-nails reputation playing Aussie rules, but hed done plenty to justify it before he even took to the field.The 25-year-old grew up in a war zone, abandoned at an Iraqi orphanage with severely deformed limbs.I was born with no arms and no legs. Its thought to be due to exposure to chemical weapons, he told AAP.His life changed at age seven when he was adopted by humanitarian Moira Kelly and brought to Australia to receive treatment.He is now a genuine contender for a gold medal in swimming at the Rio Paralympic Games, being held from September 7-18.I want to get a personal best time. Hopefully thats good enough for me to get on the podium, and a gold medal would be an amazing bonus, he said.Kelly got the nickname Nails for his tough playing style with his local AFL team as a teenager in Victoria.I got `Nails for attacking the footy without any fear, I played with a lot of passion and desperation, he said.When Kelly took to the pool and later debuted at the 2012 London Paralympics, that moniker became Liquid Nails.The Melbourne-based athlete came agonisingly close to a podium finish in London, with a fourth in the 50-metre breaststroke.Hes hoping to close that gap in Rio, and drastically improved his time at the April selection trials in Adelaide.Compared to what I swam in London, it was about a second and a half improvement, he said.And hes ramped up his training schedule to 11 sessions a week in the hopes of bringing home gold.Kelly is also studying for a journalism degree part-time, and says hell always be thankful to his mum Moira for giving him and his brother Emmanuel a new life.Upon arriving in Australia, Kelly underwent surgery to remove the deformed sections of his lower legs and had to learn to walk all over again with prostheses.The operation came and it was quite scary at first, but I just couldnt wait to walk like everybody else, he said.There I was getting ready to wear prosthetic legs and when I put them on, it just felt like magic.Kelly says two of his biggest fans are his adopted little sisters, Trishna and Krishna.The Bangladeshi conjoined twins made worldwide headlines in 2009 when they underwent a 32-hour operation to separate them.They wont be making the long journey (to Rio), theyre not quite ready for that just yet, Kelly said.No matter how tired they are, they better wake up and watch the race. Or at least record it!The girls are now nine, and Kelly wants to show them that anything is possible.I hope I can be the person to give them good advice to tackle some of lifes tough challenges, he said.AUSTRALIAS RIO PARALYMPIC TEAM* 169 athletes competing across 15 sports* Aiming for a top-five finish - that means at least 15 gold medals* Placed in the top five at every Games since Barcelona in 1992* Our biggest competition likely to come from Brazil* Para-triathlon and para-canoe to make Paralympic debut. Dwight Howard Jersey . -- Eastern Kentucky thrives off creating havoc for others. Rashard Lewis Jersey . Their experience showed Tuesday as the No. 10 Badgers blunted a Saint Louis surge to win 63-57 and advance to face West Virginia in Wednesdays finals of the Cancun Challenge. https://www.cheapmagiconline.com/478i-mike-miller-jersey-magic.html . Vettel, who has already clinched his fourth straight F1 title, enters the finale with a chance to equal Michael Schumachers 13 victories in a year and match the record of nine consecutive wins by Alberto Ascari in the 1952 and 1953 seasons. Michael Carter-Williams Jersey . According to a report from the Vancouver Province, the Lions are expected to replace former DC Rich Stubler with defensive backs coach Mark Washington. Wholesale Magic Jerseys . Perhaps Carroll was so prepared for a break because he believes there is very little the Seattle Seahawks need heading into the off-season. "I dont see anything that we need to add. We just have to get better," Carroll said. Victories by No. 1 Serena Williams and No. 2 Andy Murray meant it was the top names who eventually triumphed at Wimbledon. But the tournament also had its share of Cinderella runs, starting with the unlikely story of a teaching pro who decided to take another shot at the big time. Here are the top five surprise performances from this years tournament.1. Marcus WillisThe buildup had begun days before, with word that a part-time coach from Britain had come through prequalifying to get a shot at playing the worlds biggest tournament. Interest increased as Willis then proceeded to qualify for the main draw -- even Roger Federer started paying attention. By the time he defeated Ricardas Berankis in the first round for a seventh successive victory, there was practically a frenzy.His story was told again and again. The 26-year-old, who was ranked No. 772 and drank soda and ate candy bars during matches, had almost quit the game. He decided to come back and then almost quit again before his girlfriend persuaded him to take another shot. Most weeks he was either giving lessons at a local court or traipsing around Europe competing in league tennis. Now he was facing Federer on Centre Court of the All England Club, a packed crowd cheering as he hit a couple of spectacular winners during an entertaining encounter. Not my standard Wednesday, Willis said after his 6-0, 6-3, 6-4 loss.2. Dominika CibulkovaCibulkova had such a low opinion of her grass-court skills that she scheduled her wedding on the day of the Wimbledon womens final. Just one potential problem: Shes actually not so bad on the grass.Starting with a title at the warm-up event at Eastbourne, Cibulkova won nine straight matches on grass, putting her wedding plans in disarray. Her fourth-round victory against Agnieszka Radwanska was one of the finest of the tournament -- a three-setter Cibulkova called an amazing, amazing match and the most physically tough contest of her career. But the Slovaks run was stopped in the quarterfinals by Elena Vesnina, giving her plenty of time to get to the church.It was a good showing for the small, but powerful Cibulkova. A former finalist at the Australian Open, she had heel surgery a year ago and has run into some tough draws this season. With her ranking back up to No. 12, she will now get the benefit of beingg seeded at tournaments.ddddddddddddIts probably good she didnt book a honeymoon. Cibulkova is scheduled to play in next weeks WTA event at Stanford.3.?Elena VesninaVesninas wedding planning was better than Cibulkovas -- I did it in the offseason, she said -- which meant no scheduling concerns for the Russian as she reached her first Grand Slam semifinal.Though she wasnt much of a match for Serena Williams in the semis, it was still a long way from the qualifying events she had been playing just a couple of months ago.I was playing all tournaments starting from qualifications, she said. It was not easy, to be honest, because I was in top 30, then I was like No. 120.Im really happy that it didnt break me up. I think the difficult times, every single player has to go through it because it makes you better.Vesnina is now back up to No. 24 in the rankings and within reach of her career-high of No. 21 from 2013.4. Venus WilliamsReaching the Wimbledon semifinals wouldnt normally be a big deal for a five-time champion. But at 36, and with just one win this season over a player currently in the top 50 prior to Wimbledon, it was a big deal for Williams.Losing to Angelique Kerber in the semifinals prevented Venus from another dream Wimbledon final against her sister, but the older Williams did come away with a trophy as she combined with Serena to win the womens doubles.Along the way, Venus cemented her position as the elder stateswoman of the game. And shes not done yet.Retiring is the easy way, she said. I dont have time for easy. Tennis is just hard.5. Sam QuerreyNot even Querrey suspected he would beat Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon. Until he won the first-set tiebreak, anyway. Then he told himself, All right, I can beat this guy.It took another day and several rain delays, but thats what he did, producing some big hitting and clutch serving to win in four sets. The 28-year-old American then won his fourth-round match against Nicolas Mahut to reach his first Grand Slam quarterfinal.It may have been the biggest surprise of the tournament, and while it didnt get him any silverware, Querrey was the first player in over a year who could say he defeated Djokovic in a Grand Slam. ' ' '