The 2024 Summer Paralympics — otherwise known as the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games – is roughly 1 month away at the time of writing.
If you haven’t given the Paralympic Games your attention before, here are some fascinating facts about this event that may just cultivate your interest:
The Paralympic Games was originally a rehabilitation program
The initial idea behind the Paralympics came from Sir Ludwig Guttmann, a German-British neurologist who wanted to expedite the recovery of his paraplegic patients, all of whom were veterans of World War II.
This desire led to the founding of the Stoke Mandeville Games in 1948, the first ever international sporting competition catered to PWDs.
The first 4 of these competitions were held at the same host country as the Summer Olympics, and were later retroactively known as the Paralympic Games.
Several sports are unique to the Paralympics
The Paralympic Games have introduced several relatively new sports that aren’t seen in the Olympics, or other general sporting competitions.
Each of these sports have been adapted to accommodate various types of physical impairments, and may incorporate elements of other established sports. These unique sports include:
- Boccia – A precision ball game vaguely resembling bowling that can be played individually, in pairs or in groups of three. It was originally tailored for athletes with cerebral palsy before later including individuals with significant motor disabilities. The game revolves around throwing leather balls as close as possible to a white target ball.
- Goalball – A team sport designed for athletes with visual impairments. Players utilise sound and tactile lines on the court to orient themselves as they attempt to throw a ball embedded with bells into the opposing team’s goal. To ensure a level playing field, all players are required to wear eyeshades.
- Murderball — More literally known as Wheelchair Rugby, it is a highly intense and physically demanding sport that incorporates elements of rugby, basketball and handball. This sport is tailored to athletes with physical impairments that affect at least 3 limbs.
Not all Paralympic sports allow the use of aids
Many Paralympic sports would naturally involve the use of various implements to aid movement, such as wheelchairs and prosthetic limbs.
However, para-swimming is unique in that it does not allow the use of prostheses, meaning that swimmers must compete without any aid from specialised accessories.
That said, para-swimming is arguably more inclusive than almost every other Paralympic sport, given that it allows participation from athletes with all types of disabilities, including those with learning disabilities.
Paralympic Games are mostly tailored to physical disabilities
The vast majority of sports hosted in the Paralympics are naturally designed with physical disabilities in mind. Unfortunately, there are few sports that accommodate intellectual disabilities.
In fact, out of the 28 official Paralympic sports, only 3 of them are open to athletes with an intellectual disability.
These 3 disciplines are para-athletics, para-swimming and para-table tennis.
Paralympians can be assisted by more than just specialised tools
In the para-triathlon, for example, athletes with lower limb disabilities receive human assistance to get out of the water. The assistants will guide the athlete to a pre-transition area before continuing with the race.
For the long jump section of the Paralympics, athletes with visual impairments will be aided by a guide in order to orient themselves on the field. The guide will clap their hands to notify the athlete on which direction they need to jump toward.
References
Olympics (2024) 50 Things To Know About The Paralympic Games [Accessed 10 July 2024] Available at: https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024/information/50-things-to-know-about-the-paralympic-games
Cyndi Charbonneau (2024) 18 Facts About The Paralympics [Accessed 10 July 2024] Available at: https://facts.net/lifestyle/sports/18-facts-about-the-paralympics/
Melissa Young (2021) 10 Facts You Might Not Know About The Paralympics [Accessed 10 July 2024] Available at: https://www.thethings.com/facts-about-the-paralympics/