Paralympics 2012: Truly Inspirational Athletes

"Sport has the power to change the world, it has the power to unite people in a way that little else does"--Nelson Mandela

I always look for quotes to start these things off because I feel like they set a tone for what I'm writing and can sum up what I want to convey without me pretending to be philosophical and inventing my own quotes. After attending a Paralympic event the other week this quote really spoke to me. The whole world watches the Olympics and for a brief period of time everyone is united in the fact that we are watching these athletes compete together, watching them meet people from all over the world and how they all represent their countries. Each country wants their own to win, but I always find myself rooting for everyone playing, especially if who I want to win is not competing. Sports, especially international events such as the Olympics and Paralympics, really do bring people together.

Needless to say I was extremely excited to be living in England during the games. A few friends and I made our way over to the stadium and sat in the nosebleed section, which has a surprisingly amazing view. The entire stadium was filled and a record number of attendees were there that night. It was a cool thing to be a part of. The atmosphere was incredible. Excitement was oozing from everyone. You just don't get that enough in daily life.

The Olympics are ridiculously impressive and to me are the ultimate challenge for athletes. The Paralympics, at least in my opinion, represent more than that and require more mental and physical strength to overcome their disability, to take control of their lives and adapt to what it has dealt them, and to obtain a world renowned level of athleticism. I feel like I am a decently in shape person and I love working out; I do it every day. I felt like a tub of lard sitting in the stands, the entire bag of snack food I had brought didn't help, as I watched people who were missing limbs, had mental illnesses, and lacked vision or hearing competing at such a high standard. No one has an excuse to not exercise, especially after seeing something like this.

We were lucky enough to get to see a track and field event, meaning we got to see TONS of events. When we got there javelin throwing was the main event. This quickly turned into about 4 different events going on at once and none of us knew which event to concentrate on. We just wanted to see everything.

We saw a Chinese man jump over 15m and set a new world record. He then did his second jump and broke his world record. I can barely jump 4ft much less 15m....    

The main events were the 100m heats for various different disabilities. We had no idea which heats were which as they called them things like T45 or T52. Not exactly explanatory, but we had fun nevertheless. The blade runners were by far one of my favorites. They are never the same length as the uninjured leg and they walk awkwardly. Not sure why they don't have blades that would make their legs even. Does anyone know?

Several world records were broken that night. We definitely picked a fantastic night to attend! My favorite race was the T52. Here's a picture so you know what I'm talking about.

 Toooooo cool!! We also got to see some world champions and the one and only Pistorius! He won his heat by about a mile.

The last events of the day were the blind 100m heats. There were varying degrees of sight capabilities and some could race without a guide. I can only imagine the courage it takes to run full speed at a target you can't see while being watched by thousands of people. These athletes really set the bar high for what a person can achieve.

If anyone reading this ever gets a chance to go see a Paralympic event I highly recommend it. It is just as thrilling, and much more inspirational, than a regular sporting event. As a huge sports fanatic I had high hopes, which were undoubtedly surpassed. I'm just happy that I got to experience it for myself. Go see the games and cheer on your country and all of the competitors! A chance like this doesn't come very often!

P.S. They had little remote controlled mini coopers that acted like carts to carry the javelins back to the athletes. We really got a kick out of them. It was a funny and unique way of doing things.

And yes I made odd sound effects every time I saw it move around.

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear."--Ambrose Redmoon