tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/paralympics-2014-9274/articlesParalympics 2014 – The Conversation2014-03-17T06:37:21Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/244212014-03-17T06:37:21Z2014-03-17T06:37:21ZAussie Winter Paralympians in Sochi: a world away from 1976<p>Over the weekend, Australian Winter Paralympians broke their medal drought at Sochi to end the Games with <a href="http://www.paralympic.org.au/news/back-back-bronze-gallagher">two skiing bronze medals</a> – one won by Toby Kane in Super Combined and the other by Jessica Gallagher and her guide Christian Geiger in the Giant Slalom – bringing our <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_at_the_Winter_Paralympics#Australian_Summary">total medal tally</a> over the years to 30.</p>
<p>This year’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/games-on-preparing-body-and-mind-for-the-winter-paralympics-22744">Australian Paralympic squad</a> comprised nine athletes, two guides and loads of <a href="https://theconversation.com/chill-out-cool-down-athlete-anxiety-at-the-winter-games-23964">support</a> – but this has not always been the case.</p>
<h2>Australia’s one-man show</h2>
<p>In 1976, Australian skier <a href="http://www.sahof.org.au/hall-of-fame/member-profile/?memberID=490&memberType=general">Ron Finneran</a> heard about the “Winter Olympic Games for the Disabled” being held at <a href="http://www.paralympic.org/ornskoldsvik-1976">Örnsköldsvik</a>, Sweden.</p>
<p>As there was no organisation in Australia to select competitors, he asked the only other two active skiers with a disability whether they were interested in a “ski off” to go to Sweden. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/44073/original/qpqgk9nw-1395030188.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/44073/original/qpqgk9nw-1395030188.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/44073/original/qpqgk9nw-1395030188.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/44073/original/qpqgk9nw-1395030188.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/44073/original/qpqgk9nw-1395030188.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/44073/original/qpqgk9nw-1395030188.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/44073/original/qpqgk9nw-1395030188.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/44073/original/qpqgk9nw-1395030188.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ron Finneran at the 1984 Innsbruck Winter Games.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dd0184_-_Innsbruck_Winter_Games,_R._Finneran_-_3b_-_scanned_photo.jpg">Australian Paralympic Committee/Sport The Library</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>They declined, citing family and work reasons, and Finneran, who was endorsed by the Australian Ski Federation and partially funded by the Cabramatta Rotary Club, left for Europe six weeks before the Games. </p>
<p>In Örnsköldsvik, the Games Organising Committee offered lodgings in a spare projection room at the local cinema. Finneran worked during the day at a restaurant, waiting tables and washing dishes, to pay for his accommodation at the cinema, and he trained at night on a well-lit slalom course with the locals who helped hone his skills.</p>
<p>The first Paralympic Winter Games provided competition for only amputee and vision impaired athletes, a disaster for Finneran, who had mobility limitations in his legs and arms as the result of childhood polio. </p>
<p>After a heated argument with the founder of the Paralympic movement, <a href="http://www.paralympics.org.uk/games/ludwig-guttmann">Dr Ludwig Guttmann</a>, Finneran was informed that he could not compete. Instead, he carried the Australian flag at the modest opening ceremony and acted as a forerunner to events to ensure the quality and safety of the course. </p>
<h2>How times change</h2>
<p>Some 38 years later, the Sochi Paralympic Winter Games were far removed from Finneran’s experiences:</p>
<ul>
<li>the first Paralympic Winter Games involved 198 competitors from 16 nations </li>
<li>in Sochi, 550 athletes from 45 nations qualified under a competitive quota system to compete in five sports. </li>
</ul>
<p>While there were discussions of <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-07/paralympians-focus-on-sport-amid-govt-sochi-boycott-talk/5304992">boycotts</a> in Sochi in response to the Russian incursion into Crimea, all nominated nations participated. </p>
<p>At the Sochi Paralympic Games, there were events for athletes with spinal cord or nerve damage, cerebral palsy, limb loss or deficiency and vision impairments. Ron Finneran would have been eligible to compete in multiple events at Sochi.</p>
<p>What the Australian athletes experienced at the Sochi Paralympic Games was more complexity and diversity than any previous Winter Games. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dpAsccLdtyo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Ice-sledge hockey was introduced at the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Paralympics.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 1976, there were only two medal sports – alpine skiing and Nordic skiing – with 25 events for male and female athletes, but athletes in Sochi contested 75 medal events in alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country skiing, ice-sledge hockey and wheelchair curling. For the first time, snowboarding was added to the Games as part of the alpine skiing program.</p>
<h2>Aussies at Sochi</h2>
<p>Only 35 athletes have ever represented Australia at the Winter Paralympics, with all but four competing in alpine skiing, and the remainder in Nordic skiing events. </p>
<p>It is in the alpine events that Australia had won all its 28 medals prior to Sochi, with its first gold medal won by Michael Milton in the slalom at the <a href="http://www.paralympic.org/tignes-albertville-1992">Tignes-Albertville Games</a> in 1992. </p>
<p>In Sochi, hopes were high for further medal success after world cup wins to Mitchell Gourley, Melissa Perrine and Toby Kane during the lead-up to the Games and a number one ranking in slalom for Jessica Gallagher. </p>
<p>But the lead-up to the Games took a tragic turn, when snowboarder Matthew Robinson <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-22/para-snowboarder-matthew-robinson-dies/5277028">died after a crash</a> in a world cup race. The tight-knit Australian winter team was devastated. </p>
<p>Australia’s hopes received another set-back when Vancouver medallist Cameron Rahles-Rahbula <a href="http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2014/03/07/aussie-skiers-set-downhill-mayhem">crashed in training</a> and was ruled out of the Games.</p>
<p>Rahles-Rahbula carried the flag in the opening ceremony, and his teammates wore black armbands in memory of Matthew Robinson. </p>
<p>Australia’s run of misfortune continued when Melissa Perrine was disqualified for wearing a visor on her helmet during the slalom leg of the super combined event and Joany Badenhorst crashed out of the Games in her warm-up for the snowboard event.</p>
<p>By Games’ end, Toby Kane had won a bronze medal in the men’s standing super combined event and Jessica Gallagher won her second bronze medal in two Games, in the giant slalom, placing Australia <a href="http://fansided.com/2014/03/16/sochi-paralympics-medal-count-2014-final-standings/#!z6XiI">19th on the medal tally</a>.</p>
<p>The training, opportunities and experiences in contemporary Paralympic sport are a world away from 1976. Australia’s athletes at Sochi went through rigorous selection and qualification trials, as well as extensive training and competitive opportunities in domestic and international settings. </p>
<p>Furthermore, they competed at the same facilities and stayed in the same accommodation as Winter Olympians, something that began at the Tignes-Albertville Games in 1992. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gCp5HBjSOX0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">14-year-old Ben Tudhope was Australia’s flag-bearer during the closing ceremony.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Winter Paralympics wrap-up</h2>
<p>Despite fears about the snow conditions and temperatures that rose above 10C on the mountain during the first week of the Games, Sochi was an unparallelled success. </p>
<p>Some <a href="http://www.paralympic.org/news/sir-philip-hails-sochi-2014-spectacular-showcase-sport">316,200 tickets</a> were sold, exceeding Vancouver’s record attendance by almost 40%, as Russian crowds embraced the Paralympics. </p>
<p>The Sochi Paralympic Games were also an international media event. Unlike in the first Winter Games in 1976 when there was only limited print coverage in Sweden, in 2014 Channel 4 (UK), NBC (US), CBC (Canada) and the ABC (Australia) broadcast a mixture of live and packaged television. </p>
<p>NBC, which has previously largely ignored the Paralympics, responded with 27 hours of live coverage, including the <a href="http://www.teamusa.org/US-Paralympics/Features/2014/March/14/NBC-to-air-sled-hockey-gold-medal-game-live-on-March-15">ice-sledge hockey final</a> in which the US defeated Russia. </p>
<p>In Australia, overall media coverage of the Games was more than four times greater than in 2010. This extensive media attention and associated social media has enabled Australians to follow the trials, tribulations and successes of athletes and engage with the Winter Paralympics as a global spectacle. </p>
<p>It’s a world away from 1976.</p>
<p><br>
<em>This article was co-authored with Tony Naar, General Manager of Knowledge Services at the Australian Paralympic Committee.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/24421/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Murray Phillips receives funding from the Australian Research Council for a Linkage Project with the Australian Paralympic Committee.</span></em></p>Over the weekend, Australian Winter Paralympians broke their medal drought at Sochi to end the Games with two skiing bronze medals – one won by Toby Kane in Super Combined and the other by Jessica Gallagher…Murray Phillips, Associate Professor of Human Movement Studies, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/242502014-03-14T10:27:57Z2014-03-14T10:27:57ZThe incredible tech behind Paralympian daredevil stunts<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43620/original/m6mhk5hd-1394561632.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Austria's Roman Rabl makes light work of the Sochi slopes.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Vassil Donev</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Watching the Paralympics makes us forget about the term “disability” and the idea that sport with a disability is about limitations. The athletes on the slopes and rinks at Sochi are showing us that theirs is a ruthless, competitive environment.</p>
<p>Alongside the athlete, technology has long been a part of sport. Every event, whether it’s cycling, sailing or skiing requires uniquely designed technology. Over in Sochi right now, athletes are showcasing the greatest of innovations being pushed to the limits of their design.</p>
<h2>Bluetoothing to victory</h2>
<p>Visually impaired skiing at Sochi has attracted a lot of interest, with Great Britain’s gold medallist <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/disability-sport/26504413">Kelly Gallagher</a> and her guide Charlotte Evans taking gold with the help of bluetooth wireless headsets that enable them to communicate all the way down the slope. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43622/original/bgkcw7jd-1394562201.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43622/original/bgkcw7jd-1394562201.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=342&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43622/original/bgkcw7jd-1394562201.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=342&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43622/original/bgkcw7jd-1394562201.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=342&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43622/original/bgkcw7jd-1394562201.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43622/original/bgkcw7jd-1394562201.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43622/original/bgkcw7jd-1394562201.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Kelly Gallagher and Charlotte Evans stay connected on the slope.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Vassil Donev</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the visually impaired categories, the guide helps the athlete by skiing in front of them and telling them about the course and conditions through the headset. That is no mean feat when you consider the speeds involved and the degree of trust required between the two athletes when one of them is relying on the vision of the other.</p>
<h2>60mph on a chair</h2>
<p>Many Paralympians make use of a sit ski when they take to the slopes. This is essentially a seat mounted to a single ski. To help maintain control, the skier uses a pole in each hand which has a smaller ski mounted on the end.</p>
<p>The skiers might seem to start relatively sedately but by the time they are halfway down the slope, they are already moving at 60 miles an hour and still accelerating.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43621/original/yrhwrcxb-1394561791.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43621/original/yrhwrcxb-1394561791.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43621/original/yrhwrcxb-1394561791.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43621/original/yrhwrcxb-1394561791.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43621/original/yrhwrcxb-1394561791.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43621/original/yrhwrcxb-1394561791.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43621/original/yrhwrcxb-1394561791.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Switzerland’s Christoph Kunz competes in the men’s super-G sitting race.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Ennio Leanza</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Since many of the athletes do not have lower limbs, they often have no easy means of absorbing the huge impacts, vibrations and shocks that able-bodied skiers would typically absorb using their legs when hurtling down hill at these speeds. Instead they use a sprung suspension system mounted below the chair, attached to the composite ski. The speeds are high, the crashes often severe and the technology has to help to maximise the former while not contributing to the latter.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, if outright speed isn’t your thing, consider biathlon. It combines the exhausting demands of cross-country skiing with the ability to periodically stop suddenly, compose yourself and then accurately fire a rifle at a series of targets. Visually impaired para-biathletes take a unique approach to the shooting side of the event, using electro-acoustic headphones to effectively “aim” by listening to a tone that varies in pitch as they move their gun on target.</p>
<h2>You vs me and my metal cage</h2>
<p>Over in team sports, sledge hockey players are putting their equipment under serious stress. The sport is played in the same way as conventional ice hockey and that includes all the high impact collisions. Players sit on metal sledge frames, which provide a protective cage for the lower part of their torso and limbs. These sledges have to survive the continual battering of players constantly charging into each with all their might throughout a 45 minute match.</p>
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<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Paralympic ice hockey players double up on blades.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">PA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>That means bodily impact and impact from the from the formidable, multi-purpose sticks players wield in each hand. The engineers behind Paralympic ice hockey have designed the equipment with multiple needs in mind so these have a curved blade at one end to strike the puck an a metal pick at the other which gives the player the means to obtain traction and push forwards when they need to move.</p>
<h2>Sochi debut</h2>
<p>One of the newest additions to this year’s Winter Paralympics is snowboarding, where prostheses are at the fore. Some of the athletes with a lower-limb amputation are using specialised prostheses that are vastly different to those you see in other sports, such as the <a href="http://www.ossur.com/prosthetic-solutions/products/feet">Cheetah Flex Foot</a> often used in athletics.</p>
<p>Some of the designs use linkages and pneumatic springs to help absorb the landing forces that snowboarders are often subjected to after extreme jumps. The design of these is challenging because the leg needs to maximise the athletes’ ability to absorb any impact yet perform manoeuvres without being restricted by weight and mobility. It also needs to be comfortable for the athlete as it attaches to their residual limb, which can be very sensitive.</p>
<p>The Paralympic Games showcases novel sports that require innovative solutions to get the best from athletes, be it through engineering, wireless technology or adaptation of traditional equipment. Years of training and preparation go into these sports but the outcome of each event can often be decided in just a few seconds of effort.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/24250/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bryce Dyer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Watching the Paralympics makes us forget about the term “disability” and the idea that sport with a disability is about limitations. The athletes on the slopes and rinks at Sochi are showing us that theirs…Bryce Dyer, Senior Lecturer in Product Design, Bournemouth UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/242742014-03-13T19:29:59Z2014-03-13T19:29:59ZA competitive edge: design and technology at the Paralympics<p>Athletes competing at the <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/sochi-2014-paralympics">Paralympic Winter Games</a> in Sochi have varying levels of access to science, medicine, technology and engineering support from their national sporting organisations.</p>
<p>As with the <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/sochi-2014">Winter Olympics</a> held earlier this year, some athletes benefit from a very comprehensive, bespoke service to support their performance. This kind of service raises important issues about whether technology and engineering innovations are “essential for performance” or constitute “performance enhancement”.</p>
<h2>How do blind biathletes shoot targets?</h2>
<p>Some technological and engineering advances can be accessed by all athletes at the Winter Paralympics. All visually impaired competitors in the <a href="http://www.paralympic.org/nordic-skiing/rules-and-regulations">Biathlon</a> events have access to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optoelectronics">optronic</a> rifles that are sensory substitution devices. </p>
<p>Athletes arrive at their prone shooting position with their rifles connected to the targets. Their sight of the target is replaced by augmented sound. Athletes wear electro-acoustic headphones that relay different tones depending on where the athlete aims the rifle at a 25mm diameter target 10m away. </p>
<p>As the rifle moves to the centre of the target the tone becomes higher. There is a camera in the rifle that detects a LED light at the centre of the target. Once the athlete has pulled the trigger on the rifle, she or he can hear whether they have hit the target from the tone they hear.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/J1nUgYkhyrE?wmode=transparent&start=148" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Hear the tones here.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This sensory substation gives visually impaired athletes the essential support they need for performance. In Biathlon, athletes are required to ski a penalty loop or receive a time penalty for each missed shot.</p>
<h2>Local investment</h2>
<p>Many of the nations at the Winter Paralympics have made significant investments in developing services to their athletes that go beyond shared facilities. The UK has had a decade of working closely with industry and universities to test methods and equipment that might yield performance gains. </p>
<p>Last year, the Australian Sports Commission (<a href="http://www.ausport.gov.au/">ASC</a>) formed a <a href="http://www.ausport.gov.au/news/asc_news/story_548147_australian_sports_commission_encourages_innovation">two-year partnership</a> with the Australian Sports Technologies Network in order to support innovative use of technology and engineering.</p>
<p>While the announcements about such partnerships are made public, there is usually a silence about what the partnerships are doing to improve performance. Many countries believe that the silence protects their “<a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/team-gbs-cutting-edge-uk-sport-is-more-than-ever-using-the-latest-military-technology-secrets-to-produce-marginal-gains-that-lead-to-medals-8869938.html">competitive advantage</a>”. Occasionally, some information is shared.</p>
<h2>Personal engineering</h2>
<p>New Zealander <a href="http://www.sochi2014.com/en/paralympic/athlete-adam-hall">Adam Hall</a> is an Alpine Skiing competitor at Sochi <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-classification-at-the-winter-paralympics-24162">classified as LW1</a> (an athlete with an impairment that strongly affects both legs). He won the standing slalom gold medal in Vancouver in 2010. </p>
<p>In the intervening four years Adam has undergone detailed physical evaluations to explore any adaptations that might be possible <a href="http://snow.co.nz/news/2014/3/3614-inspiration-and-planning-drive-paralympic-success">to improve his performance</a>.</p>
<p>Two distinct areas were identified during these evaluations:</p>
<ul>
<li>one was to transform the ankle foot orthoses worn by him in order to optimise his racing position. Adam was scanned in 3D to model the biomechanical alignment of his lower limbs. The company that undertook this project in New Zealand has worked with NASA on the Mars exploration project</li>
<li>a second area for improved design and fabrication was Adam’s outriggers (elbow skis). These carbon fibre outriggers were produced by a company with a record of involvement in New Zealand’s America’s cup teams.</li>
</ul>
<p>Another example of the use of innovative design engineering comes from Canada. Work has been underway since the Vancouver Games to develop a sit-ski sled that optimises performance and safety. </p>
<p>The designer, <a href="http://www.cambridgetimes.ca/sports-story/4407474-new-sit-ski-sled-technology-propelling-canadian-athletes-at-sochi-paralympics/">Joe Franklin</a>, has been investigating the properties of shock absorbers and has chosen to use mountain bike shock absorbers and a lightweight frame design to make the sleds much more responsive to the terrain. </p>
<p>One of the athletes using the new sled, <a href="http://www.sochi2014.com/en/paralympic/athlete-josh-dueck">Josh Dueck</a>, won a silver medal in the <a href="http://www.sochi2014.com/en/paralympic/alpine-skiing-men-s-downhill-sitting">Men’s Downhill – Sitting event</a>. </p>
<p>A second athlete, <a href="http://www.sochi2014.com/en/paralympic/athlete-caleb-brousseau">Caleb Brousseau</a>, won a bronze medal in the <a href="http://www.sochi2014.com/en/paralympic/alpine-skiing-men-s-super-g-sitting">Men’s Super G – Sitting event</a>.</p>
<p>Whilst these are shared examples of innovation in design and engineering, much of the innovation at Sochi remains unshared. It is highly likely that many of the equipment learning experiences at the Winter Olympics a month ago will be embedded in Paralympic programs.</p>
<p>The adoption of innovation brings the question of “performance enhancement” to the fore. The International Paralympic Committee (<a href="http://www.paralympic.org/the-ipc">IPC</a>) <a href="http://www.paralympic.org/sites/default/files/document/131204160950722_2013_12_04_ipcns_rules_and_regulations_final_0.pdf">mandates</a> that </p>
<blockquote>
<p>In principle unnatural or artificial aids which modify the performance of the competitors and/or constitute a technical correction of the individual’s physical predisposition to a defective performance, as well as competition equipment which impact the health of the competitors or increase the risk of accidents are to be excluded.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The availability of an ASC <a href="http://www.ausport.gov.au/ais/australias_winning_edge/nso_competitive_innovation_funding_pool">Competitive Innovation Fund</a> will focus the ethical dimensions of this debate in Australia. </p>
<p>Each year the fund will seek applications for </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Technology related activities that are innovative, are able to demonstrate a positive performance impact and which may be ‘outside’ the scope of existing resources.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So in South Korea in 2018, who knows what incredible technology we’ll see?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/24274/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Keith Lyons does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Athletes competing at the Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi have varying levels of access to science, medicine, technology and engineering support from their national sporting organisations. As with the…Keith Lyons, Adjunct Professor of Sport Studies, UC-RISE, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/241622014-03-12T03:58:52Z2014-03-12T03:58:52ZExplainer: classification at the Winter Paralympics<p>There are <a href="http://www.sochi2014.com/en/paralympic/news-para-snowboard-included-in-sochi-2014-paralympic-winter-games-international-paralympic-committee">72 medal events</a> at the <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/sochi-2014-paralympics">Sochi Paralympic Games</a>. Athletes from <a href="http://www.paralympic.org/sochi-2014/countries">45 nations</a> are competing in Alpine Skiing, Biathlon, Cross Country Skiing, Ice Sledge Hockey, and Wheelchair Curling. Para-snowboard is included in Alpine Skiing for the first time at these Games.</p>
<p>You might hear reference to an athlete’s classification during televised events or read about them in media reports. You might be wondering too how the Alpine, Biathlon and Cross Country Skiing results are determined (factored) when athletes with different levels of impairment compete in the same event.</p>
<h2>Why have a Winter Paralympic classification system?</h2>
<p>As with the <a href="http://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-classification-at-the-paralympics-90720">classification of Summer Paralympians</a>, the purpose of the <a href="http://www.paralympic.org/sites/default/files/document/130925082729156_Sochi+2014+Classification+Guide.pdf">Winter Paralympic classification</a> is “to minimise the impact of impairment on the outcome of competition”. </p>
<p>Each Paralympic athlete is classified when they start to compete against other athletes with an impairment. They are classified at international level by a panel of international classifiers. In the Winter Paralympics only athletes with a vision impairment or physical impairment compete.</p>
<p>In Alpine Skiing, Biathlon and Cross Country, Paralympic athletes compete in a group for each event depending on their classification. The three groups are </p>
<ol>
<li>standing</li>
<li>sitting</li>
<li>visually impaired.</li>
</ol>
<p>Skiers with a physical impairment who compete standing are classified from LW1 to LW9 (LW is an abbreviation for “Locomotor Winter”):</p>
<ul>
<li>athletes in the LW1 to LW4 classifications have lower limb impairment</li>
<li>the LW5 to LW8 classifications are for upper limb impairments</li>
<li>the LW9 classification is for athletes with combined arm and leg impairments.</li>
</ul>
<p>There are three classifications (LW10, LW11 and LW12) for skiers with a physical impairment affecting their legs. They compete using a sit ski and are allocated different classes depending on their sitting balance.</p>
<p>A skier with a vision impairment skis with a guide. The guide skis in front of the athlete and gives verbal directions to the athlete. These directions are transmitted by microphone to the athlete’s helmet. There are three classifications B1, B2 and B3 (B is an abbreviation for “Blind”). B1 skiers are either blind or have limited visual acuity and/or visual field in both eyes.</p>
<p>Para-snowboard athletes at Sochi are all classified as SB-LL (LL is an abbreviation for “Lower Limb”). They have leg impairments, such as amputations above the ankle, stiffness of ankle or knee joint or muscle weakness. Athletes with amputations use prostheses during the races.</p>
<p>There are minimum eligibility criteria for <a href="http://www.paralympic.org/ice-sledge-hockey/about">Ice Sledge Hockey</a>. Athletes have a physical impairment in the lower part of the body. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_byyGoA5U_I?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p><a href="http://www.worldcurling.org/about-wheelchair-curling">Wheelchair Curling</a> has minimal eligibility criteria too. Athletes are unable to walk at all or can only walk short distances. This includes athletes with significant impairments in lower leg/gait function, such as spinal injury, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis or double leg amputation, who use a wheelchair for daily mobility. Wheelchair curling teams must also comprise male and female players.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PyyoAuKOnEs?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<h2>What is ‘factoring’?</h2>
<p>Until the 2006 Winter Paralympics in <a href="http://www.paralympic.org/torino-2006">Torino</a>, medals were awarded for every classification in the three general impairment types. At Torino, there was a significant reduction in the number of medals available. </p>
<p>The challenge faced by the IPC has been to ensure that all athletes, regardless of the severity of their impairment, have an equal opportunity to win a medal.</p>
<p>The 14 different functional classifications are combined within the three groups (visually impaired, standing, sitting) using a “factor system” to create one result list for each group in Alpine Skiing, Biathlon and Cross-Country Skiing events. The system has been developed by the International Paralympic Committee’s (<a href="http://www.paralympic.org/the-ipc">IPC</a>) <a href="http://www.paralympic.org/news/explaining-alpine-skiing-s-factor-system">Factor Expert Group</a> which assigns a percentage to all classes based on the extent of the athlete’s impairment. </p>
<p>During competition, the racing time of an athlete is multiplied by the factor of her/his respective classification. This produces a “scoring time” for each athlete within their class. </p>
<p>In races with two runs the scoring times of both races are added. Whenever a finish time of an athlete’s run appears on a scoreboard, it is a factored time. The factor process uses median real-time results from 400 elite races from the preceding four years, and the factored time is used to award medals.</p>
<p>For instance, the standing class includes athletes from the impairment classifications LW1-LW9. With a wide range of impairment levels included in one class and competing for one set of medals, times are factored in order to ensure final placings are based on an athlete’s technical ability, not the functional advantages or disadvantages they may have due to their physical impairment.</p>
<p>Another example of how this system works can be found in the <a href="http://www.sochi2014.com/en/paralympic/cross-country-women-s-15-km-standing">result</a> of the Women’s 15km Classic Standing Cross-Country Skiing event at Sochi. </p>
<p>Sweden’s Helene Ripa, an LW2 athlete with lower limb impairment, using one ski defeated an athlete from the LW6 class (upper limb impairment) and an LW8 athlete (upper limb impairment) both of whom used two skis and a single pole. </p>
<p>Helene’s factored time transformed an actual time of 54 minutes 9.1 seconds into a time of 49 minutes 49.2 seconds to defeat the LW6 athlete by 3.9 seconds.
<br></p>
<p><strong>For more on the Winter Paralympic Games, check out our <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/sochi-2014-paralympics">Sochi Paralympics coverage</a>.</strong></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/24162/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Keith Lyons does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>There are 72 medal events at the Sochi Paralympic Games. Athletes from 45 nations are competing in Alpine Skiing, Biathlon, Cross Country Skiing, Ice Sledge Hockey, and Wheelchair Curling. Para-snowboard…Keith Lyons, Adjunct Professor of Sport Studies, UC-RISE, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/239642014-03-09T19:29:00Z2014-03-09T19:29:00ZChill out, cool down … athlete anxiety at the Winter Games<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43167/original/tncgxwnp-1393997975.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">It's natural for athletes to experience some anxiety in the lead up to an event, but sports psychology can prevent it affecting their performance.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/porsche-linn/5052951442/sizes/l/">porschelinn/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Whether an athlete is competing at the Olympics or Paralympics, anxiety management is one of the <a href="http://www.athleticinsight.com/Vol9Iss4/NewZealand.htm">most common</a> psychological issues experienced. </p>
<p>Anxiety is an unpleasant emotion with distinctive features. If uncontrolled, it can result in muscle tightness (and therefore a potential change in technique and/or efficiency), reduced focus, and the onset of worry and self-doubt. Each of these symptoms has the potential to destroy an athlete’s confidence and performance. </p>
<p>Anxiety is one of a range of psychological factors that, if identified and addressed, can make the difference between an athlete watching the final from the stands, or him or her actually contesting the event. </p>
<p>For these reasons, it is important to address this issue if present, in order to optimise athlete performance.</p>
<p>Pressure can come from unlikely sources. Athletes may think themselves anxious (“What if I fail on national TV?”), have other things occurring in their lives that are influencing their psychological state (such as relationship issues or job-related stress), or may be responding to real or perceived pressure from family members, coaches, teammates and/or the media. </p>
<p>Paralympic and Olympic winter sport athletes have been found to use <a href="http://journals.humankinetics.com/apaq-back-issues/apaqvolume16issue3july/motivationalfactorsandcopingstrategiesofnorwegianparalympicandolympicwintersportathletes">very similar coping strategies</a> when faced with stressful situations. In saying this, how each athlete achieves his or her own sense of readiness both leading up to and on competition day varies with each person.</p>
<h2>Roles of sport psychologists</h2>
<p>An important role of a sport psychologist when travelling with a team to a high-profile sporting event is to assist athletes should anxiety arise. The psychologist might help athletes to get a clear picture of their perceived pressures, and work with them to put in place some coping strategies that they can use to effectively deal with such influences. </p>
<p>Such strategies may include assisting the athletes to establish as much of a daily routine as they can as early as possible. This might include arranging the team schedule so that the athletes train, eat, and sleep at essentially the same times each day. This can help them to settle in to their new environment, to block out distractions and to refocus their attention on their preparation. </p>
<p>As the event draws closer, athletes’ anxiety can increase. This can sometimes see them start to shift their goals and to lose focus on what they need to do to perform at their best. Taking the time to reaffirm athletes’ short term goals, particularly those that they have direct control over (such as their race plan, what they eat, their hydration, their recovery plan), can be of benefit. </p>
<p>Encouraging them to trust in the goals they have set, and to review all the positives of these goals (“I have had an ideal preparation”), can help to combat any self-doubt (“Have I prepared well enough?”) that might have started to creep in since arriving at the Village. </p>
<p>Centering is another simple yet effective technique that athletes might be taught to help control both the physical and mental symptoms of anxiety. The process of <a href="http://www.thewinningmind.com/press/articles/miller-center_of_attention.PDF">centering</a> can help athletes to stay focused, control stress, to get to sleep, and avoid distractions, among other things. </p>
<p>Many athletes also use it as part of their pre-competition routines to help them to mentally prepare for a race or match, to help them to refocus following an error, or to help them to relax following a high-intensity training session. Based on abdominal breathing and mindful attentional focus, centering is a technique that is easy and quick to teach, and one which can help athletes to feel more in control, as well as revitalised and refreshed. </p>
<p>The best strategy, however, to assist athletes to prepare for a Paralympic campaign is one that cannot be bought or trained. The number of experienced athletes in the team, such as veteran skier Cameron Rahles-Rahbula, who have been, seen and achieved at a number of Paralympic games, is priceless. </p>
<p>Such individuals may provide rookie Paralympians, such as the young Ben Tudhope, with their knowledge and their reassurance. But the most valuable thing that an experienced practitioner such as Rahles-Rahbula can offer the team is his mere presence.</p>
<p><em>This article was co-authored with Caron Jander, a consultant occupational physician affiliated with the Australian Paralympic Swim Team.</em></p>
<p><br>
<em><strong>Related reading: <a href="https://theconversation.com/games-on-preparing-body-and-mind-for-the-winter-paralympics-22744">Games on: preparing body and mind for the Winter Paralympics</a></strong></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/23964/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lisa Martin is affiliated with Swimming Australia and is the psychologist who travels with the Australian Paralympic Swim Team. This article was co-authored with Caron Jander, a consultant occupational physician affiliated with the Australian Paralympic Swim Team.</span></em></p>Whether an athlete is competing at the Olympics or Paralympics, anxiety management is one of the most common psychological issues experienced. Anxiety is an unpleasant emotion with distinctive features…Lisa Martin, Lecturer in Sport Psychology, University of the Sunshine CoastLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/240932014-03-07T14:22:28Z2014-03-07T14:22:28ZRussian confidence dealt a blow by Sochi Paralympics boycotts<p>The founding fathers of the Paralympics must be turning in their graves. The Sochi Paralympics is the latest in a long list of sporting events to be <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/02/british-ministers-boycott-sochi-paralympics-russia-ukraine">marred by politics</a>. The <a href="http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/02/carter-olympic-boycott-1980-103308.html">1980 Olympics</a> in the then USSR are best remembered for boycotts by the United States and 64 other teams in protest against the invasion of Afghanistan; the Moscow Paralympics were <a href="http://www.dw.de/sochi-paralympic-games-highlight-russian-discrimination/a-17479262">moved to the Netherlands</a> because, as a Soviet official put it, “we do not have anyone with impairments here”. </p>
<p>So when the new International Paralympic Committee President, Sir Philip Craven, stated this week – in reference to Russia’s de facto military take-over of the Crimea – that he would “<a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/athletics/international-paralympic-committe-eager-to-leave-global-politics-to-the-politicians-ahead-of-sochi-paralympic-winter-games-9167852.html">leave global politics to the politicians</a>”, this was simply a variant of the tired refrain: “Sport and politics do not mix.” </p>
<p>There are some parallels between the 1980 Olympics and Sochi. David Cameron has <a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/03/02/uk-ukraine-crisis-britain-paralympics-idUKBREA210L120140302">ordered a boycott</a> of the Paralympics by British Ministers and Prince Edward, patron of the British Paralympic Association, is staying away.</p>
<p>Far from sport not mixing with politics, it would appear that sports mega-events in particular have become increasingly politicised in recent years, with governments of all political hues, based in a wide range of regime types (from advanced capitalist to dictatorship), falling over themselves to play host. The answer as to why this is the case is not as simple as one would imagine: motives range from “showcasing the nation” to “coming-out parties” to “domestic nation-building”. </p>
<p>Trends suggest that states with historical pasts and international images that need burnishing are flocking to host sports mega-events, especially after the spectacular success of Germany’s 2006 FIFA World Cup (in terms of image improvement). There is an inherent danger to this strategy: hosting is a double-edged sword. Intense media scrutiny is simply one of the by-products of hosting and the longed-for recognition may not be quite what was intended. </p>
<p>Since winning the <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/shock-as-qatar-win-vote-for-2022-world-cup-2149429.html">bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup</a>, Qatar has learnt this the hard way by having its <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-24980013">treatment of construction and domestic workers</a> examined closely. This could be a case of accidental democratisation: the decision to award Qatar the event was political, made by an undemocratic and unelected organisation. But it might lead to an improvement in conditions for workers in Qatar.</p>
<p>This kind of outcome does not appear to be the case in Russia. Shortly before the Sochi Games, Russia announced its controversial anti-gay laws; shortly after, it mobilised troops in response to the growing crises in the Ukraine, let off <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/04/ukraine-russia-warning-shots-military">warning shots</a> and provocatively <a href="http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/world-news/missile-is-test-fired-by-russia-amid-crisis-in-crimea.23608270">tested a ballistic missile</a> amid the tension. </p>
<p>The Sochi Winter Olympics and the 2018 FIFA World Cup are more than just showcasing events for Russia. Hosting the most expensive Olympics of all time (including summer events) is part of the growing confidence of a state which sees itself returning to its former glory after two decades of difficult economic and social transition. </p>
<p>Mega-sporting events can be used as a show of strength by the host to the international community; internally they can aid the process of binding the nation’s citizens around a common cause. </p>
<p>Russia appears to be testing the boundaries of global opinion and the Sochi Olympics and Paralympics has ensured everyone is paying attention. In the run up to the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the showcase event of the world’s most popular sport, it is likely that Russia, as a (re-)emerging state, will once again be at the forefront of debates on the changing face of global power.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/24093/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jonathan Grix does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The founding fathers of the Paralympics must be turning in their graves. The Sochi Paralympics is the latest in a long list of sporting events to be marred by politics. The 1980 Olympics in the then USSR…Jonathan Grix, Reader (Associate Professor) in Sport Policy and Politics, University of BirminghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/227442014-03-06T19:38:51Z2014-03-06T19:38:51ZGames on: preparing body and mind for the Winter Paralympics<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/sochi-2014">Winter Olympic Games</a> has finished up in Sochi, but our Paralympic athletes are preparing themselves to compete in two of the six disciplines scheduled at the Winter Paralympic Games. So who are they? And what will they have focused on in the run up to the Games?</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.paralympic.org.au/">Australian team</a> has a total of 11 athletes, including six alpine skiers, two sighted guides and, for the first time, three snowboarders.</p>
<p>The experience level of the alpine skiing component of the squad is strong, with all but one of the athletes having competed previously at a Paralympic Games, and all athletes having won medals over the two most recent World Cup seasons.</p>
<p>Victoria (Tori) Pendergast, Australia’s first female sit-skier, will make her Paralympic debut, while Cameron Rahles-Rahbula has come out of retirement to compete in his fourth Games at 30 years of age. </p>
<p>Rahles-Rahbula, a leg amputee, picked up two bronze medals in the slalom and super-combined events four years ago at the <a href="http://www.paralympic.org/vancouver-2010">Vancouver Games</a>, and will be no doubt be focused on pushing himself to his limits once again in his final Paralympic Games despite an <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/sport/winter-olympics/cameron-rahlesrahbula-will-remain-australian-flagbearer-despite-injury-at-sochi-paralympics-20140306-hvgaz.html">injury yesterday</a> while training on the downhill course.</p>
<p>As the Para-snowboard discipline makes its <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-04/australia-names-winter-paralympics-team-for-sochi/5236974">debut</a> on the Paralympic program in Sochi, so too will Australian snowboarder Ben Tudhope.</p>
<p>Tudhope, who was born with cerebral palsy and partial paralysis of his left side, will become the youngest athlete to compete for Australia at a Winter Paralympic Games when he lines up in the new discipline at just 14 years of age.</p>
<p>As expected, there is a lot that is involved in preparing an athlete for such an event. Of course, there are the endless hours of training that have to be put in to ensure that each of the athletes is fit and ready to perform at their peak – but there is also a long list of other, more obscure, factors that need to be taken into account. </p>
<h2>Common challenges</h2>
<p>Preparation for the Olympics for athletes, whether or not they have a disability, is a huge ordeal. </p>
<p>There is a long list of potential stressors that can have a detrimental impact on athletes’ stress and confidence levels leading up to the event. These include, and are not limited to: </p>
<ul>
<li>the physical and psychological effects of long-haul flights</li>
<li>adjusting to new foods</li>
<li>sharing a room with others for long periods of time</li>
<li>poor sleep quality</li>
<li>abiding by team rules</li>
<li>home-sickness</li>
<li>fatigue and stress that may come with travelling to and from competition venues</li>
<li>always being in the company of others. </li>
</ul>
<h2>Unique challenges</h2>
<p>Athletes with disabilities face all of these same issues when preparing for the Paralympic Games – but they can also be faced with a unique set of physiological and psychological challenges which have the potential to disrupt their preparation. </p>
<p>In order to combat this, it is essential that the medical and sport science support staff are fully familiar with each individual athlete’s inherent disability and related medical conditions. </p>
<p>Further to this, athletes with an intellectual or visual impairment may require additional care and assistance to provide them with the best opportunity to experience a smooth transition into competition. </p>
<p>From a psychological perspective, for some athletes, merely entering a plane or finding their way around the team accommodation or competition venue can be a source of additional stress. </p>
<p>Visually-impaired athletes may require assistance to help them orient to their new environment. When on a long-haul flight, for instance, finding the way to the bathroom facilities and back in a darkened cabin can present them with a challenge that others may not encounter. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43138/original/qyrb2ykb-1393988446.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43138/original/qyrb2ykb-1393988446.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43138/original/qyrb2ykb-1393988446.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43138/original/qyrb2ykb-1393988446.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43138/original/qyrb2ykb-1393988446.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43138/original/qyrb2ykb-1393988446.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43138/original/qyrb2ykb-1393988446.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43138/original/qyrb2ykb-1393988446.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">AIrport crowds don’t help either.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lunchtimemama/110765169/sizes/l/">lunchtimemama/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Due to the increased amount of cognitive effort that can be required, such experiences may impact upon the athlete’s overall stress and/or energy levels, which can impair performance. </p>
<p>Support staff can relieve some of this pressure by checking in with relevant athletes to see if they have any questions, or by simply ensuring that they feel comfortable in their surroundings.</p>
<p>From a physiological perspective, for athletes who are missing limbs and/or wearing prosthetic limbs, good stump care is a key part of the preparation process. </p>
<p>It can help to avoid possible infection and the impact this can have upon performance. The overall aim while travelling, as well as prior to competition, is to not place any unnecessary stress on their stumps. </p>
<p>Athletes are advised to wear compression garments on their stumps to prevent unwanted swelling during long haul flights, particularly if they remove their prosthesis during the flights. </p>
<p>They should also be reminded to try to avoid excessive walking in the days leading up to their event to prevent unnecessary fatigue, as well as the risk of breaking down the protective outer layer of the skin.</p>
<p>The one universal, whatever the discipline, whatever the circumstances of the athlete, is the desire to achieve Paralympic glory – and for us, the desire to see top-level competition.</p>
<p><em>This article was co-authored with Caron Jander, a consultant occupational physician affiliated with the Australian Paralympic Swim Team.</em></p>
<p><em><strong>Related reading: <a href="https://theconversation.com/chill-out-cool-down-athlete-anxiety-at-the-winter-games-23964">Chill out, cool down … athlete anxiety at the Winter Games</a></strong></em></p>
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<h2>The Australian Sochi 2014 Paralympics team</h2>
<p><strong>Alpine skiing</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.paralympic.org.au/team/jessica-gallagher-0">Jessica Gallagher</a> – Geelong, VIC<br>
<a href="http://www.paralympic.org.au/team/christian-geiger">Christian Geiger</a> (guide for Jessica Gallagher) – Bright, VIC<br>
<a href="http://www.paralympic.org.au/team/mitchell-gourley">Mitchell Gourley</a> – Geelong, VIC<br>
<a href="http://www.paralympic.org.au/team/toby-kane">Toby Kane</a> – South Melbourne, VIC<br>
<a href="http://www.paralympic.org.au/team/victoria-pendergast">Victoria Pendergast</a> – Gosford, NSW<br>
<a href="http://www.paralympic.org.au/team/melissa-perrine">Melissa Perrine</a> – Welby, NSW<br>
<a href="http://www.paralympic.org.au/team/andrew-bor">Andrew Bor</a> (guide for Melissa Perrine) – Tugun, QLD<br>
<a href="http://www.paralympic.org.au/team/cameron-rahles-rahbula">Cameron Rahles-Rahbula</a> – Geelong, VIC</p>
<p><strong>Snowboard cross</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.paralympic.org.au/team/joany-badenhorst-0">Joany Badenhorst</a> – Griffith, NSW<br>
<a href="http://www.paralympic.org.au/team/trent-milton">Trent Milton</a> – Bonny Hills, NSW<br>
<a href="http://www.paralympic.org.au/team/ben-tudhope">Ben Tudhope</a> – Seaforth, NSW<br></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/22744/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lisa Martin is affiliated with Swimming Australia. Lisa is the psychologist who travels with the Australian Paralympic Swim Team.
This article was co-authored with Caron Jander, a consultant occupational physician affiliated with the Australian Paralympic Swim Team.</span></em></p>The Winter Olympic Games has finished up in Sochi, but our Paralympic athletes are preparing themselves to compete in two of the six disciplines scheduled at the Winter Paralympic Games. So who are they…Lisa Martin, Lecturer in Sport Psychology, University of the Sunshine CoastLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.