“Spirit in Motion”: The Power of the Paralympics
How often do we contemplate the inclusion of players with medical impairments or other physical, mental, and learning disabilities in competitive or organized sports? When we think about the Olympics, we think about a vision of physical perfection measured in speed, strength, and endurance. The Paralympic Games and its “Spirit in Motion” motto challenge these notions. Persons with disabilities, visible or invisible, have pursued excellence through sport for nearly a century. The Paralympic movement illustrates how para athletes constantly inspire and excite the world with their performances: always moving forward and never giving up. They overcome obstacles with grace and style, vitality and excitement, and, in doing so, they show us all that is possible.
Beatriz Hatz competes in the long jump in the 2024 U.S. Paralympics Team Trials July 2024.
Vitality & Excitement
The Paralympic Games emerged from the medical rehabilitation movement that followed World War II and today serves as the ultimate display of physical performance for athletes with disabilities: the equivalent of the Olympics for elite athletes with physical and visual disabilities. It initially referred to an event for paraplegic competitors. However, with the inclusion of more disability categories, the prefix “para” has taken on its Greek meaning of “parallel.” The Paralympics motto of “Spirit in Motion” suggests vitality and excitement. The Paralympics promotes “concepts of health and human rights for athletes with a disability.”
The first games were organized by Sir Ludwig Guttman in 1948 at the spinal injuries clinic at Stoke Mandeville in England, incorporating sports as part of treating those with war casualties.
The link with the Olympics was established with the Paralympic Games starting on the same day as the opening of the 1948 London Olympics. The first Paralympic games attracted 16 competitors, but the event repeated throughout the 1950s, growing in popularity. The integration of the Paralympics and Olympics began at the end of the 1960 Rome Olympics when 400 disabled athletes participated in Olympic-style events in eight disciplines.
In 2001, an agreement between the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) made it official that the Olympics and Paralympics would be held in the same city.
Did you know?
1. Classification in para sports is made specific to the sport. Athletes are divided into sport classes in accordance with how much their disability affects their ability to perform the core activities in a particular sport. For example, an athlete with missing limbs can compete with an athlete with cerebral palsy.
2. The symbol of the Paralympic Games is made up of three waves called “Agitos” which means “I move” in Latin.
3. There are two games that are unique to the Paralympics only: Boccia and Goalball.
Boccia is derived from petanque (“French boules”). It is played in wheelchairs by athletes with severe motor impairments. It can be played 1:1, in pairs, or in teams of three. It is played on a specially marked indoor court on a tile surface or wooden gym floor. The object of the game is to throw or roll leather-like balls so that they land as close as possible to a target ball called the white Jack. You sit next to your opponent on the boccia court. Each side gets six colored balls, red or blue. Red goes first. A coin toss determines whether the player uses red or blue balls, and rules designate which playing boxes are used for red or blue.
Goalball is a team sport designed for athletes with vision impairments. Participants play in teams of three and try to throw a ball with bells embedded inside it into the opponents’ goal. The ball is thrown by hand and never kicked.
4. No prostheses are allowed in para-swimming; swimmers compete without the aid of accessories.
5. There are only three sports that are available to those with intellectual impairments and those include: para athletics (track, relay, marathon, field events), para swimming and para table tennis.
In para athletics, the athlete must always cross the finish line before his or her guide, and not the other way around. Athletes competing in the visual impairment categories may choose to run with or without a guide.
The wheelchairs used in wheelchair racing allow the athletes to race at speeds of up to 18.5 miles per hour.
In the long jump, athletes with a visual impairment can find their bearings thanks to the aid of a guide, who claps his or her hands to indicate the direction in which they need to jump.
You do not need a hand to serve the ball in table tennis. Check out Egypt’s Ibrahim Hamato.
Did you know that there are 11 disability classifications in para table tennis?
6. Wheelchair tennis players are allowed to let the ball bounce twice. This modification to the rules was introduced because of the specific in-play demands of using a wheelchair. A second bounce is always permitted, even if the ball is out when it lands for the second time.
7. The hoop used in wheelchair basketball is 3.05 metres from the ground, just like at the Olympic Games. There’s no difference, it’s all about skill and dedication! The wheels are tilted inwards, both to make it easier to turn and to provide stability.
Players may not push their wheels more than twice when they have the ball on their thighs, or they will be punished for the equivalent of a “traveling” violation.
8. Para cyclists compete on four different types of bicycle: “classic” bikes, tandems, handbikes and tricycles.
Visually impaired athletes are able to take part in para cycling on tandem bikes, with the guide riding at the front known as the “pilot”.
9. Para powerlifting, performed in the bench press position, is the only form of weightlifting practiced at the Paralympic Games. Competitors are separated into categories depending not on their disability but their body weight.
10. In para archery, athletes who do not have the use of their arms may shoot with their feet. Archers who are unable to shoot with a conventional bow, owing to their disability, may use an assistive device that reduces the force required to maintain the tension of the bow.
Athletes often record faster times at the Paralympic Games than at the Olympics. In Rio in 2016, Algeria’s Abdellatif Baka won the 1500m gold in 03:48:29, while Matthew Centrowitz of the USA had become the Olympic champion two weeks earlier in a time of 03:50:00.
The Paralympic Games remind me of what is possible, of how determined the human spirit is, and how supportive, thoughtful, and compassionate the world of sport can be.