Harvesting Medals at the Paralympics

We are off to a good start at the 2012 Paralympics being hosted in London at the moment – ten medals at my last count. Expectations are high: at the 2008 Paralympics South Africa brought home no less than 30 medals.

The opening ceremony last Wednesday evening was a colourful and joyous affair with athletes from countries which had me scratching my head to remember where on earth they were! Many of the countries - Samoa, Madagascar and Rwanda - had not had any athletes at the Olympics. Some of the countries, like China, have sent teams of 100s of athletes while others have only 5 or 6.  The South African team consists of 65 athletes - so if we keep to our pattern from the last games, we should do an average of almost every second athlete a medal...not bad.

It was interesting watching the opening parade and seeing the variety of disabilities - I wonder what the statistics are regarding the types of injuries, the causes and severity. Countries like Rwanda and Iran or Palestine would have injuries as a result of war and civil unrest whereas other countries may have disabilities more as a result of motor vehicle accidents, crime or birth abnormalities.

In order to ensure fairness, the athletes are classified into different categories, which can be a little confusing. Sometimes you might see someone breaking a world or Olympic record but not winning the race. This is because they might be classified differently to others in the race, e.g. single or double amputees.

The Paralympics which are presently the second largest sporting event after the Olympics has its origins in the 1948 Wheelchair Games, the brainchild of Dr Ludwig Guttmann who worked at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital in England. As an occupational therapy student, I remember that this hospital was held up as an example of excellence when it came to the rehabilitation of people with spinal cord injuries.

The first Paralympics was held in 1960 in Italy with only athletes in wheelchairs competing. Now the range of disabilities has extended to include with people with cerebral palsy, hearing and visual handicaps, amputations and more. Take a look if you want to be inspired by how the human spirit can overcome adversity and excel.

The Paralympics are live on DSTV’s SuperSport 6 Channel with coverage on SABC 3. The Games run until 8 September, with the closing ceremony on the 9th.