23 Aug 2021

Just when we’ve gotten over our Olympics blues, gotten back into all the trash reality television - we’re blessed with the Paralympics taking over our screens tonight and for the next eleven days. Yessir, couch potato livin’ is upon us.

The Tokyo Paralympics will feature 22 sports including two debuts: badminton and taekwondo - how good! 

 

While most sports participated in the Olympics are also held in the Paralympics, there are two sports that are unique to the Games. Goalball, where vision-impaired players compete using a ball with bells inside it and boccia, where players with motor impairments play a similar game to bowls.

While we had Miraitowa as the Olympic mascot, we’re introduced to Someity for the Paralympic Games! Someity has cherry blossom tactile sensors, telepathic powers, can fly with their cape and even move objects (Matilda vibes).

 

This year, Paralympians are leading the charge in a new worldwide campaign to end the discrimination faced by 1.2 billion people or 15 per cent of people living with a disability, called WeThe15. 

This campaign aims to change the attitudes towards disability, increase awareness of accessibility and challenge the misconceptions around what it is to be someone with disability. This video will be shown at the opening ceremony and you’ll be seeing the #WeThe15 logo for the next couple of weeks!

While the Olympics categories are generally grouped by gender or weight class, there are a number of classifications that are assigned to eligible impairments in order to create fairness in competition - whether that’s muscle weakness, limb deficiency, short stature, intellectual impairment, visual impairment, ataxia, athetosis or a difference in leg length - we’ve got some amazing athletes that are going to smash it out of the park (stadium) and bring home some gold.

Speaking of athletes, Australia has the largest ever Paralympics team to date with 179 competing athletes over 18 sports.

Keep an eye out for Isis Holt, 20-year-old track runner and three-time medal holder!

Ellie Cole, a #WeThe15 ambassador and Paralympic swimmer at her fourth Paralympic Games.

 

After being named the Australian Paralympian of the Year due to his outstanding achievements at Rio in 2016, Dylan Alcott is back to defend the gold.

 

Australian co-captains Danni di Toro, wheelchair tennis player, now table tennis player at her sixth Paralympics and idol for many, as well as Ryley Batt, wheelchair rugby player and at his fifth Games will be the flag bearers at the opening ceremony tonight.

 

Whichever games you’re keen for, here’s a schedule, here’s to 7+plus and here’s to two sport-filled weeks of celebrating and empowering disability through these elite athletes! Go you Aussie legends 🤙


Source: 7News Tokyo Paralympic Games schedule