A brief history of the Paralympics:
The Paralympics is a world-renowned international sports competition for athletes with disabilities. The Paralympics is organized by the International Paralympic Committee, which was founded in 1989 and based in Germany.
The Paralympics developed after the British World War II when German neurologist Sir Ludwig Guttmann organized a sports competition for veterans with spinal cord injuries in England in 1948. In an attempt to rehabilitate his patients by giving them hope and dignity, he had sixteen chair-bound veterans face off in archery and netball competitions. Since then, these paraplegic games had continued to develop, eventually leading to the opening of the first Paralympic Games in 1960, which took place six days after the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games of that year. 400 athletes from 23 nations, all in wheelchairs, took part in eight sports: athletics, wheelchair basketball, swimming, table tennis, archery, snooker, dartchery, and wheelchair fencing.
How the Paralympics work
Paralympians must be eligible for certain disability categories before they can compete in the games, namely impaired muscle power, impaired passive range of movement, limb deficiency, leg length difference, short stature, muscle tension, uncoordinated movement, involuntary movements, vision impairment, intellectual impairment. Depending on the sport, the International Paralympic Committee will then group competitors into six disability categories. However, it is worth noting that not every sport allows for competitors from all disabilities mentioned to compete.
The six different disability groups are:
amputee
cerebral palsy
visual impairment
spinal cord injuries
intellectual disability
“Les Autres” (athletes whose disability does not fit into one of the other categories, including dwarfism)
*Deaf people compete in either the Olympic Games or the Deaflympics. They are not eligible for the Paralympics.
Special equipment used in the Paralympics
Badminton: Badminton chairs have backrests and extra caster wheels at the rear for players to be able to arch backwards and return shots without tipping over
Basketball: Basketball wheelchairs are designed for Paralympic basketball athletes. Depending on the mobility of the athletes, they may have higher backrests for stability or another wheel at the back of the chair for leaning back. For easier manoeuvrability, basketball wheelchairs are also bent 20 degrees to the ground.
Cycling: Standard racing bikes are allowed modifications to cater to the differences in athletes' disabilities, such as hand mobility and leg amputations.
Archery: Among other assistive devices, the release brace is attached to the back of the archer to aid them in releasing the arrow.
Athletics: Runny blades, or prosthetics, are designed to be light, springy, and compact. They are used by amputee athletes to replace the calf and ankle.
Swimming: Tapping devices are used in competitions where swimmers have vision impairment. Consisting of a pole with a soft end piece used for tapping the swimmer on the head or the back, it can be used to notify swimmers when to turn or when they are nearing the wall.
Hong Kong at the 2020 Summer Paralympics
This year, Hong Kong sent out 24 athletes to compete in the Paralympics, namely in the archery, athletics, boccia, jockey, swimming, table tennis, wheelchair fencing, and badminton categories.
Leung Yuk Wing, Lau Wai Yan Vivian and Wong Kwan Hang won the silver medal in the mixed pairs Boccia (BC4) category.
Leung Yuk Wing won the bronze medal in Boccia, Mixed Individual (BC4) category.
Chu Man Kai won the silver medal in the Badminton Men's Singles (SH6) category.
Wong Ting Ting won the bronze medal in Table Tennis, Women's Individual (C11) category.
Chan Ho Yuen won the bronze medal in Badminton, Men's singles (WH2) category.
In total, Hong Kong won two silver medals and three bronze medals. On behalf of Zenerations HK, we'd like to offer our congratulations and our support to all the Paralympic athletes representing Hong Kong.
Paralympics: Just as Important as the Olympics
The Paralympics is a chance for the disabled to show that they are just as capable, and just as determined, as able-bodied athletes. It raises social awareness on both mental and physical disabilities so that the public perception of disabled people can be changed. However, despite the tremendous amount of effort Paralympians, or disabled athletes in general, put, they are at a huge economic disadvantage. Olympian Cheung Ka-Long received HKD 5 million for his gold medal in fencing, and Olympian silver medalists are rewarded with HK$2.5 million. However, Paralympians only pocket HKD 800,000 and HKD 400,000 for gold and silver medals respectively. With the huge comparison between the financial rewards reaped by the Olympians and the Paralympians, one can't help but point out the difference. Because of the significance and inspiration of the Paralympics, I believe Paralympians deserve the same amount of recognition and celebration as Olympians.
Sources:
Writer: Gaille Su
Editor: Anvita Verma
Artists: Jennifer Pun & Joyce Liang
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