PARIS — The Paralympic Games, commencing Wednesday, promise to deliver an inspiring series of athletic achievements as around 4,400 competitors with various disabilities aim for medals across 549 events in 22 sports. Following the Paris Olympics is no small feat, but these games focus on the resilience and determination of athletes who defy odds.
Italian fencer Bebe Vio, who lost her forearms and legs due to meningitis in childhood, is set to compete for her third consecutive gold medal in wheelchair fencing. Her motto, “If it seems impossible, then it can be done!” encapsulates the spirit of the event.
Among the sports featured in the Paralympics, only two—goalball and boccia—do not have Olympic counterparts. Goalball is a team sport played by visually impaired athletes who aim to score by throwing a ball with bells into the opposing goal, while boccia involves rolling leather balls toward a target ball known as the jack.
Other wheelchair sports include basketball, fencing, rugby, and tennis, alongside sitting volleyball, blind soccer, para archery, athletics, badminton, canoeing, cycling, equestrian events, judo, powerlifting, rowing, shooting, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, and triathlon. Notably, blind soccer will take place near the Eiffel Tower, featuring teams of five using a ball that contains rattles.
Athletes must have a permanent eligible impairment stemming from a health condition to qualify for the Paralympics, as defined by the International Paralympic Committee. Impairments can arise from cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis, amputations, or visual impairments, among others.
To ensure fair competition, athletes are categorized based on the extent their impairment affects their athletic performance. This classification system is designed so that sporting excellence is the ultimate determinant of success in the games.
The Paralympics categorize impairments into three main groups: physical, visual, and intellectual. Physical impairments are further divided into eight categories, such as impaired muscle power and limb deficiency. Each sport within the Paralympics defines specific competition categories based on these impairments.
All participants undergo assessment to determine their sports class, which aims to group athletes with similar functional abilities together, regardless of their disability type. This allows for a diverse competition environment where athletes of different impairments have the opportunity to excel.