Paralympic Games – the games with a cause
Along with the Olympic Games that take place every four years, the Paralympic Games have been held diligently alongside. Slowly over the years, with more awareness and acceptance by fans, the Paralympics have become almost as recognised and famous as the Olympics. For a long time there was a stigma attached to disabled sports, and people did not know whether to cheer for them because the athletes were disabled or whether it was ok to boo the ones which were not like them. The political correctness element stood in the way as well. Now people are treating disabled athletes as they would able bodied ones and judging them on their performance only. This is a welcome change and hopefully will continue this way for the upcoming 2012 London Olympics.
Although the Paralympic Games have a history stretching back to 50 years only; the first time a group of disabled athletes were brought together was in 1948 when Dr. Ludwig Guttmann organized the first International Wheelchair Games. Dr. Guttmann was a strong advocate of using sports, as a form of therapy and organizing a series of events around sports for disabled people was the next logical step. The concept for the creation of a dedicated series of sporting events for disabled people took place in Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury, England fifty years ago. The first-ever Paralympic Games were held in Rome in 1960, and 400 athletes took part in them from 23 different countries. From humble beginnings the sporting event continued to grow until today, where it is the second biggest sporting event on the planet after the Olympics.
One of the greatest British Paralympians ever is the phenomenal wheelchair athlete, Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson. She has an incredible career and won 11 Gold medals, considered the best wheelchair-racer ever to compete in the sport. She was born with spina bifida and had to have corrective surgery on it but returned to race again. She is one of the nicest and most humble people around, who wants to inspire other disabled athletes to reach their full potential. Another great disabled athlete, swimmer Trischa Zorn was a born blind. During a career which lasted from 1980 to 2004, she managed to win 55 medals in total that included 41 gold, 9 silver and 5 bronze medals. At the age of 40 the American athlete came out of retirement to compete at the Athens Games where she won a bronze medal. This amazing lady is an inspiration to us all and we should try to follow her lead in our lives.
The most positive thing about the Paralympics is the involvement of the disabled community; over the years fans have accepted the less-privileged capable of performing well. People have come to realize that their fellow beings require their praise and admiration. There are still those out there, who do not know what to make of disabled sports. However, the taboo of disability and the disable participating in sports is slowly fading away. A shocking aspect of disabled sports is the fact that even in this form of the game, cheating can occur. Disabled athletes have a way of helping themselves perform better by doing what is known as ‘boosting’. This is when a disabled athlete does something such as cutting off the supply to their catheter or sitting on their testicles, in order to raise their blood pressure and increase the blood flow to their heart. This enables them to perform better for a short period of time. This highly dangerous practice can bring about negative consequences on an athlete’s body. The example of cheating by disabled athletes just reinforces the fact that they should be considered as proper athletes, since normal athletes are also known to cheat. There really is no difference between them.
Whatever one thinks of the Paralympic Games and disabled athletes, these individuals should be an example for the rest of us. If they can overcome an adversity to do something great, what exactly is stopping us from shining out in our respective fields.
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