The 2016 Paralympics just ended Sunday, September 18. I am a little saddened that they were not covered in the media more; I barely even knew that they were going on! This is kind of crazy to me because they were a big deal. More than 160 countries were represented by approximately 4,350 participants. It lasted 12 days and consisted of 22 different sports.
Let's start with the opening ceremony. A 24-year-old athlete rolled down a ramp, went through a ring of fire, and did a flip. In. A. Wheelchair. How incredibly amazing is that?! Seriously, you should just watch it right now:
The history of the Paralympics is actually really interesting too. It has grown in size and participation significantly since it first started. The first official Paralympic games took place in Rome, Italy in the summer of 1960. In these official games, there were 400 athletes that were representing 23 countries. The winter games did not start until the year 1976 when they were held in Sweden. Both the summer and the winter Paralympics are held every four years, just like the Olympics.
Even though these were the first official games, the Paralympics started as the Stoke Mandeville Games where 16 wounded servicemen and women competed against each other in archery. This took place on the same day as the opening ceremony of the 1948 Olympic games in London. A few years later, in 1952, the Paralympic games became international. Interestingly the word "Paralympics" comes from the Greek words "para" and "Olympics." The preposition "para" translates to "alongside," meaning that the Paralympics are the parallel games to the Olympics.
And I think that this phrase is very appropriate when you watch the Paralympics. These athletes do some pretty incredible things! Can you imagine playing volleyball sitting down? Or tennis in a wheelchair? I surely cannot! What about propelling yourself around a track as fast as you possibly can using only your arms? What about swimming even though you cannot move or feel your legs? These athletes are truly inspiring. Not only did athletes do these things I could never dream of doing, but they did them amazingly! Some athletes in the Paralympics beat the gold medal times of their Olympic athlete counterparts. The Paralympic games even have a sport that the Olympics does not have; it is called Goalball. This sport was specifically designed for blind athletes and kind of has the same concept as soccer. Not only is this awesome, but it is pretty interesting to watch:
