The BDN Editorial Board operates independently from the newsroom, and does not set policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com.
The awe-inspiring and record-setting athletics aren’t over in Paris. The Paralympic Games, which are held every four years after the Olympic Games, continue through Sunday.
The Paris games were dubbed by one International Paralympic Committee member as the start of an “inclusion revolution.” They are a reminder of the hard work, dedication and accomplishments of athletes from around the world. But they are also a reminder of the work remaining to be done to break through stigma and celebrate everyone’s potential.
“It’s awesome to win gold, but for me it’s about changing the world, educating the world what people with physical disabilities can do,” American Matthew Stutzman, known as the Armless Archer, said last week, before he won a gold medal in archery.
Stutzman was born without arms and taught himself to manipulate a bow with his feet. He won the gold medal in Paris with a perfect bullseye, earning a record 149 out of a possible 150 points. He began his Paralympic career in 2012 in London. He is also a drag racer, who began driving a truck around the age of 11 after his father threw him the keys and told him to figure out how to drive.
The competition was started in 1948 as the Stoke Mandeville Games in London. The competitors were in wheelchairs and most were former service members.
The first Paralympic Games were in Rome in 1960 with 400 athletes from 23 countries participating. The games have grown to include more countries, more athletes, more sports and athletes with more diverse disabilities, including blindness and cerebral palsy.
This year, 4,400 athletes from 167 countries are participating in 22 sports. Eight athletes who were displaced from their home countries, were part of a refugee team.
Zakia Khudadadi became the first refugee athlete to win a Paralympic medal. She won bronze in taekwondo last week.
Khudadadi, who is from Afghanistan, was born without one forearm. She began practicing taekwondo in secret at age 11 in a hidden gym in her hometown of Herat, in western Afghanistan, according to PBS.
She was blocked from competing following the rise of the Taliban in 2021. She was then evacuated from Afghanistan and was allowed to compete at the Tokyo Olympics following a plea from the international community. She then settled and trained in France.
“It was a surreal moment, my heart started racing when I realized I had won the bronze,” Khudadadi said Thursday. “I went through so much to get here. This medal is for all the women of Afghanistan and all the refugees of the world. I hope that one day there will be peace in my country.”
For many of the athletes competing in Paris, the Paralympic Games are more about inclusion than inspiration. In fact, some athletes caution able-bodied people to not view Paralympians as inspirational because that suggests overcoming a disability rather than celebrating achievements that are the results of years of training and hard work.
The official TikTok of the Paralympics uses humor to educate people about its athletes, which has come with some controversy. The International Paralympic Committee’s digital media coordinator, Richard Fox, is a former Paralympian. In addition to posting edgy content, he spends hours on the account answering questions about Paralympic sports to better inform TikTok users.
André Ramos, a boccia player from Portugal, told Adweek that “making fun with our handicaps is a sign that we accept ourselves as we are and that others do not see the disability as a difference.”
NBC Sports Digital is livestreaming more than 1,500 hours of the Paralympic games, the most ever. The network also has some prime-time coverage of the games.
So, there are plenty of opportunities to view the competition — to cheer, to be awed and maybe even to laugh along with the talented athletes — before the closing ceremonies on Sunday.
