The Australian Paralympic Federation took a new approach for the training, preparation and selection of its athletes for the Sydney Games, helping Australia win the most gold and overall medals.
A man is seen through the Olympic rings in front of the New National Stadium in Tokyo.
(AP/Jae C. Hong)
For athletes, COVID-19 means more than cancelled competitions. Having their athletic goals put on hold and their training routines disrupted can take a toll on athletes’ mental health.
In response to the Covid-19 epidemic, on March 12, Argentina’s Racing Club and Peru’s Alianza Lima played a match without the public.
Agustin Marcarian/AFP
As the new coronavirus has spread around the world, sporting matches and events have been staged behind closed doors, postponed and increasingly cancelled outright.
A Special Olympics basketball clinic in Charlotte, N.C. in January 2019.
AP Photo/Chuck Burton
The White House proposed these cuts for three years in a row. That clashes with longstanding bipartisan leadership regarding rights for all people with disabilities.
Reid Watts of Canada competes in the first round of the men’s luge at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.
(AP Photo/Andy Wong)
The Olympics have been plagued by doping, corruption and political problems. But academic and former Olympian Bruce Kidd says the Olympic Games are still an important humanitarian movement.
In sport, movement is based on physical ability, which is not necessarily linked to sex.
EPA
One way to get beyond gender barriers in sport would be to scrap sex segregation and replace it with a system similar to that of Paralympic disciplines.
The US’s Regas Woods of competing in the long jump at the Rio paralympics.
Reuters/Jason Cairnduff
Paralympic sport is meant to be inclusive and fair but athletes don’t face a level playing field. Those from higher income countries can compete more easily.
He can jump higher than most people without a disability.
OIS
There are significant challenges in making old cities like Rio more accessible, and there are missed opportunities around the Paralympics, but it’s not all bad news.
Technology makes an impact on various events, but the key is to let the athlete’s ability shine through.
OIS
Technology has had a particularly visible impact on the Paralympics. But the the most important thing is to let the athlete’s ability come to the fore.
Hunter Woodhall of the United States leads the 4x100m race before the team was disqualified, giving the victory to the squad from Germany.
Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters
An Access World News database search says everything you need to know: Type in ‘Deflategate’ and you’ll get nearly twice as many hits as ‘Paralympics.’
From a single volunteer with 8mm film to live broadcast on a commercial TV network, the media coverage of the Paralympic Games has come a long way since its inception.
The author competing at the 2012 London Paralympics.
Australian Paralympic Committee
The classification system is what keeps the Paralympics fair. Although it’s not perfect, it’s the best system we have, and it’s continually being improved.
The Tokyo games of 1964 represented the first use of the term ‘Paralympics’.
Australian Paralympic Committee
The Paralympic Games started off as a way to motivate and rehabilitate returned servicemen and women after the second world war, and has evolved tremendously since then.
Many para-athletes have different degrees of disability. So how to level the playing field?
Australian Paralympic Committee
Professor of Social Inclusion - UTS Business School - Centres for Business and Social innovation, and Business Intelligence and Data Analytics, University of Technology Sydney
Honorary Professor, School of Kinesiology, Western University, London, Canada; Adjunct Fellow, Olympic Scholar and Co-Director of the Olympic and Paralympic Research Centre, Institute for Health and Sport, Victoria University