Paralympics is an international sporting event for disabled or specially-abled individuals who are a sportsperson. Paralympics is held immediately after Olympics in the same city where the Olympics was held. Following the ‘one bid, one city’ policy of the International Paralympic Committee and the International Olympics Committee.
Paralympics is held in two sessions, summer games and winter games, alternatively every two years. comprises 28 sports inclusive of 22 summer sports and 6 sports which are conducted in winter games.
All the Sports and sporting events of the Paralympics may sound similar to the Olympics. So how are these sports events modified to fit in the comfort of para-athletes? The International Paralympics Committee has made 6 different disability groups.
Further classification is made numerically from 1-5 for athletes who play with the support of a Wheelchair, 6-10 for athletes who can compete while standing, and 11-13 for athletes who are visually impaired and is furthermore catered accordingly.
Paralympics in India in 2021
India won 19 medals including 5 gold, 8 silver and 6 bronze in various sporting events securing 24th position in India. History was crafted by Indian para-athletes, they were praised for their dedication and hard work. This least talked topic of the Paralympics became the talk of the town last year. Getting a small corner of the paper and a snippet was celebrated on the front page.
The Olympic and Paralympic Games from the Indian perspective
Biased is a base for any society or culture. Biased is also the base of the sports fraternity and its audiences. In India, the Olympics as compared to the Paralympics is highly anticipated, commercialized and talked about.
No matter how the current performance was higher hopes for better future performances are built even before its announcement. India’s 48th position with 7 medals at Tokyo Olympics 2021 is at the tip of the tongue of many but they need google’s assistance to remember India’s 24th position with 19 medals at Tokyo Paralympics 2021.
Conclusion
History embarked at Tokyo Paralympics 2021 shall change the perspectives of many. ‘Para’ in Paralympics means parallel, which indicates that it should go parallel with the Olympics in all formats. And with the 2021 performance of Indian para-athletes hope is high with the para sporting events to snatch as many medals and grab a higher position at the table
EDITED BY – Banibrata Chakraborty
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