The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines "paraplegic" as a person with paralysis of the body, involving the legs. Paraplegics include those who have lived with paraplegia their entire lives, as well as people who have become paralyzed later in life. Paraplegic sports allow people with these disabilities to carry on an athletic lifestyle. Almost every sport has been adapted for people with physical disabilities, from active team sports like basketball and hockey to common recreational activities.
History
According to the Science Museum, Professor Sir Ludwig Guttmann is considered the father of the paraplegic sports movement. Guttmann founded the National Spinal Cord Injuries Center at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital in England in 1944. There he worked with patients who suffered from spinal cord injuries. Guttmann integrated sports as part of his patients' physical, mental and emotional development. In 1948, he started the Stoke Mandeville Games. These evolved into the Paralympic Games.
Paralympics
The Canadian Paralympic Committee states that the first official Paralympic Games took place in Rome, Italy, in 1960, involving 400 athletes from 23 countries. The original Paralympic Games included only wheelchair athletes. The Paralympics have since evolved and now includes six classifications: visual impairments; physical disabilities; amputee athletes; people with cerebral palsy; spinal cord injuries; and other disabilities not included in the above list, for example muscular dystrophy.
Winter Paralympics
In 1976, the first Paralympic Winter Games were held in Ornskoldsvic, Sweden with 16 nations and more than 250 athletes. Today Paralympic winter athletes compete in five different sports: alpine skiing; biathlon---a combination of cross-country skiing and shooting; cross-country skiing; ice sledge hockey---where athletes move on sleds and use two sticks; and wheelchair curling. In skiing and biathlon, events include three different categories: standing, sitting and visually impaired.
Sports
The most well known paraplegic sport may be wheelchair racing. Several marathons and road races have a wheelchair division. The Paralympics features many of the same sports as the Olympic Games, including basketball, weightlifting, swimming and track and field. Recreational sports such as golf, softball and skiing have also been adapted for people with disabilities who want the same sporting outlets as any weekend athlete.
Growth
Paraplegic sports have expanded beyond the world of contemporary sports. Paraplegic athletics has also moved into the world of extreme sports to give disabled athletes the same thrill as other extreme athletes. Extreme wheelchair sports include "hardcore sitting." This is a sport similar to skateboarding, in which wheelchair athletes perform tricks. Disabled extreme athletes can also enjoy wheelchair mountain biking and rock climbing.
Member Comments