Rising from the Ashes:
The Grit and Grace of Paralympians
“When you fail, you learn a lot about yourself and come back stronger. Life need not have limits. Having an opportunity in life is important but what defines you is what you do with that opportunity.”
– Richard Whitehead, Team Great Britain Paralympic marathoner
While most of us knew exactly when the 2020 Olympic Games took place, few of us were even aware that the Paralympics happened immediately after, ending just weeks ago in Tokyo, Japan. From August 24 to September 5, 2021, 4,403 Paralympians competed– a record-breaking number of participants.
History of the Paralympic Games
According to the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), the Paralympic Movement offers sport opportunities for athletes with physical, vision, and intellectual impairments that have at least one of the following 10 eligible impairments: impaired muscle power, impaired passive range of movement, limb deficiency, leg length difference, short stature, muscle tension, uncoordinated movement, involuntary movements, vision impairment, and intellectual impairment.
The Paralympic Games began in 1960 in Rome, Italy, featuring 400 athletes from 23 countries. Since then, they have taken place every four years, with 15 Summer Paralympic Games held in 13 separate cities and 11 Winter Paralympic Games held in 10 separate cities. There are currently 28 Paralympic sports sanctioned by the IPC, including archery, badminton, powerlifting, rowing, sitting volleyball, swimming, para ice hockey, and wheelchair curling, among others.
Stories from the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games
The Paralympic Games teach us about the power of inclusion. Creating a space where athletes with mental and physical disabilities can come together and compete is a prime example of how organizations can similarly provide opportunities for all people.
The 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games included some ground-breaking moments for the Paralympic community:
This year's games featured the first-ever Refugee Paralympic Team with six athletes representing the 82 million refugees worldwide.
Female athletes broke records, too, with 1,853 competing—an 11 percent increase from the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.
Morteza Mehrzad, who competed for Iran's sitting volleyball team, stands at 8'1", making him the tallest Paralympian in history and the second tallest man on earth.
Morocco's blind football team was the first team from Africa to ever make it to the semifinals.
In many cases, people with mental and physical impairments face greater challenges than people who do not have such impairments. Many Paralympians have experienced significant trauma and developed seemingly superhuman grit because they choose to overcome.
Take cyclist Clara Brown, for example. Brown has competed at the Paralympic level for only three years, after being recruited by a member of the United States Olympic Committee’s Paralympic Advisory Committee, whom she guided on a cycling trip in Georgia. The 25-year-old admitted: “I came into the Paralympics so headstrong wanting a certain number of medals, and I wouldn’t be satisfied, and I’ve realized that I needed a reality check.”
And understandably so—anyone who has thrived through a life-threatening accident has honed a level of determination that makes any goal seem possible. Brown’s inflection point came at age 12. While competing as a gymnast, she endured a fall that left her paralyzed from the neck down. She spent years in therapy and rehabilitation, and today she has little or no motor control in her right hand, and her left side is sensory-impaired.
Yet even those who spend their lives fighting all odds must show themselves some grace from time to time. Brown competed in the women’s C1-3 category in the 2020 Paralympic Games, on the road and track. She was fifth in the 16-kilometer time trial, and fourth in the 3,000 meter pursuit. Despite her drive to earn medals, she has taken this experience in stride, illuminating the lesson that self-kindness is perhaps the greatest feat of all.
Inspiration from the Paralympic Games
Such stories of disciplined, determined, and gracious Paralympians inspire us at Cynuria Consulting. One of our corporate values is empathy, and part of our mission is to invest in our community. We work closely with economically and socially disadvantaged communities to give them the tools needed to develop a growth mindset and change their vision for their future.
We would love to partner with you for greater community impact. Learn more about our mission, the ways we serve others, and how you can get involved today.
