Although I can’t watch
Paralympics coverage (nightly, Universal Sports, through the end of the games),
I check in regularly via the web for these fantastic competitive sports. The
Paralympics are truly amateur games, frequently poorly supported and little
understood sports among those who regularly care about and follow able-bodied
sports.
Watch Team USA Paralympic
athlete Tyler Walker preparing for the games.
The Paralympics brings together the Cerebral Palsy International Sport
and Recreation Association, the International Blind Sports Federation, the
International Sports Federation for Persons with Intellectual Disability, and
the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Foundation. The Lillehammer
Winter games in 1994 were the first under the International Paralympic
Committee. But we can thank the heart of Sir Ludwig Guttman, who organized the
first kind of these games in 1948, for WWII veterans with spinal cord injuries. The Paralympics still are important for returning war veterans. Here's Andy Soule, one of the Team USA Paralympians and a veteran.
Hats off to Proctor & Gamble
for continuing their Olympic “Thank You, Mom” program through the Paralympics, allowing
parents of Paralympians to afford attending the games and for athlete training.
Without the financial backing of several major companies, these games and the
joy of competitive sport wouldn’t be accessible to lots of the athletes and
families.
Our spirits are renewed with
such rejoicing in the wonders of life, in the thrill of competitive sport, and
in adapting sports so everyone can play.
Let’s celebrate sports for
everyone!
