TOKYO — Asya Miller and Lisa Czechowski can’t quite remember when they met, probably because it happened half a lifetime ago. In separate interviews this summer, one guessed that they met at a regional track and field meet. The other thought it happened at a goalball tournament.
Whenever and wherever their first encounter occurred, neither could have known then that they would be teammates two decades later, playing goalball for the United States in their sixth Paralympic Games, Czechowski at age 42, Miller at 41. In Tokyo on Wednesday, the U.S. will face Russia in the quarterfinals.
The sport is one of only two in the Paralympics that has no counterpart in the Olympic Games.