The topic chosen for this month’s article could not be different from last month, that is, the Paralympics! 😉 That’s because, after a long delay due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 Paralympics officially started on August 24th here in Japan.
According to the Wikipedia, “Every participant at the Paralympics has their disability grouped into one of ten disability categories; impaired muscle power, impaired passive range of movement, limb deficiency, leg length difference, short stature, hypertonia, ataxia, athetosis, vision impairment and intellectual impairment. Each Paralympic sport then has its own classifications, dependent upon the specific physical demands of competition. Events are given a code, made of numbers and letters, describing the type of event and classification of the athletes competing. Some sports, such as athletics, divide athletes by both the category and severity of their disabilities, other sports, for example swimming, group competitors from different categories together, the only separation being based on the severity of the disability. Within the ten disability categories the athletes still need to be divided according to their level of impairment. The classification systems differ from sport to sport, and is intended to even the playing field so as to allow as many athletes to participate as possible. Classifications vary in accordance with the different skills required to perform the sport.”
Best Regards from the Land of Paralympics with empty stadiums,
Wilson
Works Cited
“2020 Summer Paralympics.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 30 Aug. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Summer_Paralympics.
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