Do you know the Paralympic Games?
Most people would answer this question saying “They are Olympic games for disabled people” Well, that's right, but they are much more than that!
Marcell Jacobs or Ambra Sabatini?
The Olympic and Paralympic Games 2020, were postponed because of Covid and were held in Tokyo in August 2021
When people watched Jacob’s fantastic gold 100 race and Caironi’s, Sabatini’s and Contraffato’s races and saw their victories, they felt the same emotions, the same adrenaline, the same pride to be Italian. They cheered and clapped all of them with the same sincere enthusiasm. All those athletes achieved incredible goals and made history. They are the fastest men and the women in the world! Marcell Jacobs ran 100 mt on both his legs, Ambra Sabatini ran the same distance in 14,11 on her only leg.
A rain
of medals
There is not a class A gold medal and a class B gold medal. They are top results achieved through great efforts, huge sacrifices and lots of tears.
Each medal tells a story. Think of Bebe Vio,
the girl without arms and legs that a
few months before winning again at Paralympics had risked not competing because of a dangerous infection. Think of Carlotta Gilli , a blind swimmer who lost her sight for a disease
when she was a child, or of Monica Contrafatto, the heroic Italian
soldier who lost one of her legs in Afghanistan
10 years ago, and of many other athletes
who have well deserved to get their medals.
69 medals have been won by
Paralympic athletes this year and it has been the best edition of the last decades;
14 gold, 29, silver, 26 bronze, a rain of medals for us!!!! Italy was 9th in the world ranking.
Hero
or simply a man?
If you asked a Paralympic athlete if he feels an exceptional person, he would answer: “No, I am not a Superman, I'm a normal a person who loves sport, I don’t fight against a cruel destiny, I fight against myself, my weakness, my disease. I want to be judged only for my sports merit not for my disability, I am an athlete who wants to compete, win or lose. I would like people to see my performance not my disability.”
They rebel to stereotypes and pietism, they don’t accept the limits that life or nature imposed them and they want to be free to change a minus into a plus.
Is
it easy to be a Paralympic athlete?
Is it easy to be a Paralympic athlete? No,
it isn’t, at all. They probably have to overcome a lot of national selections,
international competitions to achieve good results. Not all disabled people
become Paralympic athletes, you must have great will strength, you must cope
with stress, frustration, physical pain and disappointments.
Agnese, 3sc
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