There was a time in the past where being disabled was a marked as a hindrance. They were marginalized and discriminated against. Even though there are some aspects to be improved, the world has come a long way since back then. Para-sports have been a huge leap in that journey. I’m pretty sure you have heard about the Paralympics but did you know that the Commonwealth games have para-sports too and they are fully inclusive? This is my rather abstract attempt to give you a glance into that topic.
History records that sports for people with disabilities have existed for over a 100 years but they weren’t widely introduced until after the Second World War. As sports were considered as an effective method for treating and rehabilitating injured veterans and civilians, the Paralympic Movement was born in the 1940s, which lead to a widespread interest in para-sports. It’s worth mentioning Ludwig Guttmann, a German neurologist who was a huge driving force behind the Paralympic Movement. The IPC – International Paralympic Committee is the current governing body of the Paralympic Movement and para-sports throughout the world. Mind you this is just a scaled down version of the history, which is quite interesting and worth taking a look at more thoroughly.
So where do the Commonwealth games come in to the picture? The concept for a sports event for athletes with special needs in the Commonwealth was first implemented alongside the Commonwealth games in Perth in 1962 as the Commonwealth Paraplegic games, which was open for athletes suffering from spinal injuries and polio. This event went on until 1974 alongside the Commonwealth games, where it was discontinued. The main reason being the logistics and costs associated with the participation for such an event, which lead to a fewer number of countries taking part. It took further 20 years until such an opportunity was given to para-sports in the Commonwealth arena, where the 1994 Victoria games saw para-sports events were carried out as exhibition events. In the 2002 Manchester games, the para-sports movement took a huge leap in the form of being the first international multi-sports events with fully inclusive para-sports events and it has continued this tradition ever since. The para-sports schedule which started with only 20 countries competing for 10 sports events has grown into a massive 38 medal event with up to 300 athletes in the 2018 Glasgow games and it will be further extended in the 2022 Birmingham games with the inclusion of several new events.
What’s special about this format of events is, even though it’s not fully comprehensive as the Paralympics, it offers both athletes and spectators a unique experience where para-athletes are not considered differently but as athletes who have the same level of determination and talent as the rest. They get to compete alongside the able-bodied participants and the spectators get to cheer on the competitors, without the difference as disabled and able-bodied. They’re performance directly contribute to their countries’ medal tally as well. It’s truly fascinating and inspirational to see the disabled athletes fighting with pride for their countries alongside their fellow athletes. It takes them out of the frame of being “disabled” and in turn pushes the world to view them with more respect.
“It meant so much to me that the Commonwealth games decided that a performance is a performance- and it doesn’t matter if you accomplish it in a wheel chair”. This was the reaction of the first para-sports gold medal winner in the fully inclusive Commonwealth Games, Chantal Petitclerc who won in the 800 m event in 2002. She was given the honour of being the flag bearer of the Canadian team in the 2006 Melbourne games, making her the first disabled athlete to do so. This proves to be a fine example of the effect the Commonwealth games have had towards promoting awareness and gaining respect towards the disabled community. It has truly being an inspirational event for thousands of disabled people and the whole world.
The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth game will include 42 para-sports events, including para-athletics, para-swimming and para-lawn bowling events along with the inclusion of wheelchair basketball for the first time ever in the history of the games. The title of the 2022 version of the games would be, “Games for Everyone”, which is quite fitting as it IS for the sense, an event for everyone. It’s right to speculate that we will surely witness the talent of the para-athletes at its best through 2022 games and it will push the course for the betterment of the disabled community even further.
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