Alongside

Blog #2 - Paralympic


    Originally, when I first thought of the word Paralympic, I immediately thought of the word paraplegic. A paraplegic is someone who has little or no ability to move the lower half of their body. At first, I thought that the Paralympics were for people who had paraplegia and that was the only way that you would qualify to be able to compete in them. I never gave the word or its meaning much thought either because if it doesn't affect me personally, why squander over it. After looking at videos, reading articles, and conducting a little bit of my own research I realized that I was missing the entire meaning of why 'Para" is in the word. I didn't realize the history of the games and how deep the information actually goes when discussing the Paralympic movement.
    With a simple Google search, I learned that the word paralympic contains the Greek preposition 'para', which means beside or alongside. The word Paralympics is used because it is a movement and an event that runs alongside the Olympics (Thornton, 2023). The games are held with the Olympics every four years. In the video of the PowerPoint presentation done by Anjali, a Paralympian wheelchair racer, she described how the games run parallel. She goes on to explain that the competitors in the games want to be treated as equals and educate the public about the games. Anjali mentioned that the majority of people who watch the Olympics every year don't even know what the Paralympics are, let alone that they run parallel with the Olympic games (Forber-Pratt, 2018). Some of the best athletes in the world come from the Paralympics and they deserve just as much credit as the competitors of the Olympics get. 
   When talking about the history of the movement I didn't know how it all started until I watched a YouTube video about it. The games were all created after the World War to get the veterans with spinal injuries moving to help with healing. It was during this time that they realized the veterans with spinal injuries were excelling in the game of competitive sports and then the games were born. Amazingly, something as small as trying to help war veterans get active again turned into a massive movement for disabled athletes all over the world (History of the Paralympic Games 2013).
    It was all of this history and what is happening with the games now that have created such a movement. They aren't just disabled people who are looking for attention or sympathy handouts from others, they are competitive athletes who work very hard for everything they achieve. They compete alongside the Olympics for a reason and that's why I am excited about the 2024 Summer Paralympics this year. I will be watching and supporting the movement just like everyone watches the Olympics. 

Works Cited

CBC/Radio Canada. (2016, September 17). Paralympians win big in diverse competitions | CBC sports. CBCnews. https://www.cbc.ca/sports/paralympics/2.7555/paralympians-win-big-in-diverse-competitions-1.3763408

Forber-Pratt, A. (2018, October 15). The Paralympic movement. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u7EFpMonrg

 Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Paralympics. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved January 29, 2024,             from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Paralympics. 

Thornton, P. (2023, December 6). What does the “para” in Paralympics mean? Paralympics New Zealand. https://paralympics.org.nz/news/what-does-the-para-in-paralympics-mean/#:~:text=The%20word%20%E2%80%9CParalympic%E2%80%9C%20derives%20from,exist%20side%2Dby%2Dside.

YouTube. (2013, January 16). History of the Paralympic Games. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsx9WtOkr-c

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