Paralympics wrap up
The 2020 Paralympic Games recently wrapped up and what an amazing couple of weeks that was! What inspires me most about Para-athletes is their perseverance and resilience. This was even more prevalent in these Paralympic games because of the obstacles they had to overcome as a result of the pandemic, including the postponement of the game and travel restrictions, which significantly impacted their qualification and training. The Para-athletes ability to adapt and keep persevering to achieve their goals despite all the difficulties is really motivating during these hard times.
Feeling inspired by the games, I thought I’d take this opportunity to share some of the highlights and also some little insights I learned about the games.
To start I’ll give an overview of Australia’s incredible effort in the games – The Australian team comprised of 179 Para-athletes who competed in 18 out of the 22 sports. They won 80 medals, including 21 gold medals, which means they finished 6th on the overall medal count and 8th on the goal medal count.
I was personally shocked to learn that, unlike the Olympic athletes, the Australian Paralympic athletes did not receive any monetary bonuses for winning medals. However, this has now changed and the Australian Paralympians will receive medal bonuses equivalent to Olympians. I think this is a really important step towards equity in sport and making sure the Para-athletes are as valued as Olympians in our community.
One of my favourite sports to watch at the Paralympic Games is boccia, which is exclusively played by athletes with a physical disability and is one of the four current Summer Paralympic sports that doesn’t have a Summer Olympics counterpart (the other three sports are wheelchair rugby, goalball and powerlifting). It’s a game of skill and strategy where athletes try get the ball as close to a target by either throwing, kicking or using a ramp device (depending on their classification). Jamieson Leeson, who lives with spinal muscular atrophy, made her Paralympic debut at the 2020 games for this sport and she prepared for the games while studying for her HSC!
I also want to highlight one of my personal inspirations, Ellie Cole, who announced that Tokyo 2020 would be her last games and was the flagbearer at the Closing Ceremony. She won two medals for swimming at the games this year which took her career tally to 17, making her the most decorated Australian female Paralympian. Ellie had her leg amputated when she was three due to cancer and started swimming to help with her rehabilitation. Ellie advocates for sport for people with an impairment and equal opportunity. Her motto is that it’s “Better to get a sore neck from aiming too high than a hunchback from aiming too low." and one my favourite quotes of hers is: “You realise you can overcome the limitations people put on you, you can achieve just about anything.” She features in the Netflix documentary Rising Pheonix about the Paralympic games, which I really recommend watching!
For me the Paralympic Games was a constant source of inspiration that always helped lift my lockdown spirits and I already miss it. The countdown is on for 2024!
Love Nic x
