Skip To Navigation Skip to Content
Individuals & Caregivers
Physical & Occupational Therapy
Public Health Professionals
Teachers
Individuals & Caregivers
Physical & Occupational Therapy
Public Health Professionals
Teachers
Individuals & Caregivers
Physical & Occupational Therapy
Public Health Professionals
Teachers
Individuals & Caregivers
Physical & Occupational Therapy
Public Health Professionals
Teachers
Individuals & Caregivers
Physical & Occupational Therapy
Public Health Professionals
Teachers
Individuals & Caregedivers
Physical & Occupational Therapy
Public Health Professionals
Teachers
Individuals & Caregivers
Physical & Occupational Therapy
Public Health Professionals
Teachers
Individuals & Caregivers
Physical & Occupational Therapy
Public Health Professionals
Teachers
Individuals & Caregivers
Physical & Occupational Therapy
Public Health Professionals
Teachers
Individuals & Caregivers
Physical & Occupational Therapy
Public Health Professionals
Teachers
Individuals & Caregafgivers
Physical & Occupational Therapy
Public Health Professionals
Teachers
Individuals & Caregivers
Physical & Occupational Therapy
Public Health Professionals
Teachers
Individuals & Caregivers
Physical & Occupational Therapy
Public Health Professionals
Teachers
Individuals & Caregivers
Physical & Occupational Therapy
Public Health Professionals
Teachers
Individuals & Caregivers
Physical & Occupational Therapy
Public Health Professionals
Teachers
 

NCHPAD - Building Healthy Inclusive Communities

Font Size:

The Paralympics


Every four years, the world comes together to watch the greatest athletes compete in the Olympic Games. In the same year and in the same city, the Paralympics are held to allow athletes with physical disabilities from all around the world to compete in a similar international multi-sport event. The 2010 Winter Paralympics Games, officially known as the X Paralympic Games, were held in Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada, March 12-21, 2010. Forty-four countries participated, an increase of five from the 2006 Paralympics in Turin, Italy.

The Paralympic Games were started as a sporting event after World War II to help injured soldiers become active to enhance their recovery. In 1948, the first competition was held in Stoke Mandeville, England, for British war veterans in wheelchairs. Four years later, athletes joined from the Netherlands, and the event grew bigger every year until 1960, when it was held in conjunction with the summer Olympic Games in Rome, Italy. Over 400 wheelchair athletes participated in what is known as the first official Paralympic Games. In the next decade, the Winter Paralympics made its debut in Ornskoldsvik, Sweden, in 1976, with only two events. Amputees and athletes with visual impairments could compete in either alpine or Nordic skiing, while ice sledge racing was introduced as a demonstration. This was first time that participants other than wheelchair athletes could compete in either the Summer or Winter Paralympics. In 1976, there were over 250 athletes from 16 countries. Thirty-four years later, the two events have grown to five, and the competition has doubled to 506 athletes from 44 countries around the world.

To compete in either the summer or winter Paralympics, athletes are classified into six disability categories defined by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). Within each category, there is further classification based on level of impairment that varies with each sport. The athletes are grouped to compete against other athletes with a similar level of ability. Due to the wide variety and severity of disabilities, there is a great effort made to ensure that athletes are properly placed within an appropriate range of ability. The following are the six categories defined by the IPC:

  • Amputee: Persons with partial or total limb loss involving at least one limb
  • Cerebral palsy: Non-progressive brain damage, includes TBI, stroke, or similar disabilities affecting coordination, balance, and muscle control
  • Wheelchair: Athletes who compete in a wheelchair
  • Intellectual disability: Athletes with limits to their adaptive functioning and intellect
  • Vision impairment: Ranging from partial vision, to legally blind, and, ultimately, total blindness
  • Les autres: As the French word for 'The others,' this category encompasses athletes who have a disability that doesn't fall directly under one of the other five categories, including deformities and dwarfism

During the 2010 Winter Paralympics in Vancouver, there were 64 events encompassing five sports: alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country skiing, wheelchair curling, and sledge hockey.

Alpine Skiing: After World War II, there was an organized growth of ski sport for those with disabilities, especially as ex-servicemen made a comeback to the sport. It was in 1948 that the first courses for skiers with a disability were offered.

Alpine ski races for persons with disabilities have been held wherever there are snowy mountains since the late 1940s. Until the 1970s, ski races were limited to skiers who could stand or had a visual impairment. It was the invention of the mono-ski (a seat fixed on a single ski) that opened the sport to those athletes who were unable to stand to ski. Slalom and giant slalom were organized at the first Paralympic Winter Games in Ornskoldsvik in 1976. Downhill was later added to the Paralympic Games in 1984 in Innsbruck, and Super-G was added in 1994 at Lillehammer. It wasn't until 1998 that mono-skiing became a medal event at the Paralympic Games in 1998 at Nagano.

In Paralympic alpine skiing, athletes can reach speeds of more than 100 kilometers per hour, rushing down a vertical drop that ranges from 120 to 800 meters, respectively. To make the vertical drop even more challenging, a series of gates are added so the skiers must twist and turn in order to pass through them.

In alpine skiing, the competitors are classified as standing, sitting, or visually impaired, and compete against other athletes with a similar disability. The alpine events for men and women are Downhill, Slalom, Giant Slalom, Super G, and Super Combined.

  • Downhill: The longest course and the highest speeds in alpine skiing. Each skier makes a single run down a single course and the fastest time determines the winner.
  • Slalom: The shortest course and the quickest turns. Each skier makes two runs down two different courses on the same slope. Both runs take place on the same day, as well. The times are added together and the fastest total time determines the winner.
  • Giant Slalom: Similar to the slalom but with fewer, yet wider and smoother turns. Each skier makes two runs down two different courses on the same slope. The times are added together and the fastest total time determines the winner.
  • Super-G: Super giant slalom combines the speed of downhill with more precise turns than giant slalom. This particular course is shorter than downhill, but longer than the giant slalom course. Each skier makes one run down a single course and the fastest time determines the winner.
  • Super Combined: The combined event consists of one downhill followed by two slalom runs, using a shorter course. The times are added together and the fastest total time determines the winner.

Biathlon: First introduced in the 1988 Paralympic Winter Games in Innsbruck, Austria, this shooting system has changed considerably since a new electronic and acoustic system was developed at the 2002 Paralympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City.

Biathlon combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting, very similar to the Olympic-style competitions. Paralympic athletes always shoot from the prone, or face down, position. The International Paralympic Committee uses a Nordic Percentage System in order to equalize the disability time handicap for skiers within each category. The percentage is then applied to each skier's final time and the athlete with the lowest calculated time is the winner.

Cross-Country Skiing: This particular event was included at the very first Paralympic Winter Games in 1976, at Ornskoldsvik, with classical techniques only. The free technique was later introduced in 1992 at Albertville.

In cross-country skiing, racers use two basic techniques: classical (the skis move parallel to each other through machine tracks in the snow), and free (the skiers propel themselves in a manner similar to speed-skating, pushing off the edge of their skis). This particular sport uses the Nordic Percentage System as well.

In the relay event, each team member skis one leg of the race. The teams are made up of skiers from different categories, but with the total percentage for each team being equal. In essence, no time calculation is used for the relay and the first team to cross the finish line is the winner.

Ice Sledge Hockey: Ice sledge hockey is one of the most popular events at the Winter Paralympics. It was invented at a Swedish rehabilitation center in the early 1960s, when a group of athletes with disabilities decided they wanted to continue playing the sport they loved, hockey. The pioneers took two regular ice hockey skates and built a metal frame to fit on top, with enough room for the puck to pass underneath. They used short poles to propel themselves on the ice as well. By 1969, Stockholm had a five-team ice sledge hockey league. Ice sledge hockey debuted at the 1994 Paralympic Winter Games in Lillehammer.

Ice sledge hockey follows the International Ice Hockey Federation rules, with a few modifications. Instead of standing on skates, players sit on sledges fitted with two blades. The athletes use two double-ended sticks, one in each hand. One end has a sharp pick that is used to propel the athletes, and the other has a curved blade to pass and shoot the puck. A regular game consists of three 15-minute periods, with each team having no more than six players on the ice while a play is in progress.

Wheelchair Curling: Making its Paralympic debut at the Torino 2006 Winter Games, wheelchair curling is a new and exciting sport for disabled athletes. Wheelchair curling consists of a single tournament with each team comprised of both male and female athletes. During a tournament, two teams play against each other, taking turns pushing a 42-pound stone down a sheet of ice toward a series of rings or circles. The object of the game is to get the stone as close to the center of the ring as possible.

Results:

Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 Germany (GER) 13 5 6 24
2 Russia (RUS) 12 16 10 38
3 Canada (CAN) 10 5 4 19
4 Slovakia (SVK) 6 2 3 11
5 Ukraine (UKR) 5 8 6 19
6 United States (USA) 4 5 4 13
7 Austria (AUT) 3 4 4 11
8 Japan (JPN) 3 3 5 11
9 Belarus (BLR) 2 0 7 9
10 France (FRA) 1 4 1 6

The 2010 Winter Paralympics was host to various amazing accomplishments. This year, Germany came through with the highest number of gold medals with a total of 13. In Alpine skiing alone, Germany took home seven gold medals, four silver medals, and four bronze medals with a total of 15 medals, which only four countries managed to collect in the entire Winter Paralympic games. Russia came out on top with the most medals altogether, surpassing Germany's 24 with 38. The U.S. took home a total of four gold medals: the U.S. Men's Sledge Hockey team, Stephani Victor for Alpine Skiing - Women's Super Combined (sitting), and Alana Nichols with both Alpine Skiing - Women's Downhill (sitting), and Alpine Skiing - Women's Giant Slalom (sitting).

Only looking at the number of medals doesn't account for the athletes who brought home the win. The unwavering U.S. men's sledge hockey team sailed through the tournament without surrendering a single goal. They finished off Japan 2-0 in the final for the gold medal. Representing Canada, Alpine ski racer Lauren Woolstencroft earned five gold medals in the Vancouver games alone, which set a Canadian world record and reinforced her nickname as Canada's 'Golden Girl.' She first earned the nickname at the 2002 Paralympics in Salt Lake City, where she won two gold medals and a bronze. Also, in skiing, Brian McKeever of Canada, who suffers from Stargaard's disease, nabbed his third gold medal in Vancouver in cross-country skiing men's 1-km sprint classic for athletes with visual impairments. The Russian Federation showed its strength in the biathlon, scoring half of their total medals in this event alone. The Russian biathlon athletes took home five gold medals, a whopping seven silver medals, and four bronze medals. In wheelchair curling, Canada displayed its domination over Korea with an 8-7 win in the final. Sweden beat the U.S. to take the bronze with a score of 7-5.

The next Summer Paralympic Games will be held in London in 2012, and the next Winter Paralympic games will be held in Sochi, Russia, in 2014. For more information on the Paralympics, visit ( www.paralympic.org), the official website of the International Paralympic Committee, or for more information on the 2010 Vancouver Paralympic Games, visit (http://www.vancouver2010.com/paralympic-games/).


blog comments powered by Disqus