Paralympian
Encyclopedia
A Paralympian is an athlete who has participated in the Paralympic Games
.
A Paralympic athlete has a physical disability
. The disability can be amputation
, spinal cord injuries, visual impairment
or cerebral palsy
. An exception is the sighted guide
s for athletes with a visual impairment. They are such a close and essential part of the competition, that the athlete and its guide are considered a team, and both athletes are medal candidates. There are also some events in the Summer Paralympics (per 2012: in athletics, swimming and table tennis) where athletes with an intellectual disabiliy compete.
Paralympians compete and train at a high level. Some of the most popular Paralympic sports include Athletics, Wheelchair Basketball
, Wheelchair Rugby
, and Ice Sledge Hockey.
The Paralympic Games are held every four years, and are held two weeks after the conclusion of the Olympic Games
. They are held at the same location, using the same venues as the Olympics. Similar to a Paralympian, an Olympian is a participant in the Olympic Games.
.jpg)
Trischa Zorn
from the United States
is (per June 2010) the most winning Paralympian of all time, with 55 medals, of which 41 are gold. Other notable athletes include Béatrice Hess
of France
, Ragnhild Myklebust
of Norway
, Reinhild Möller
of Germany
, and Mayumi Narita
of Japan
.
Jonas Jacobsson
from Sweden
is the most successful male Paralympian, with 27 medals, of which 16 are gold, while Mike Kenny from Great Britain
, has 16 medals total, all of which are gold.
Paralympic Games
The Paralympic Games are a major international multi-sport event where athletes with a physical disability compete; this includes athletes with mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness, and Cerebral Palsy. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which are held immediately following their...
.
A Paralympic athlete has a physical disability
Physical disability
A physical disability is any impairment which limits the physical function of one or more limbs or fine or gross motor ability. Other physical disabilities include impairments which limit other facets of daily living, such as respiratory disorders and epilepsy....
. The disability can be amputation
Amputation
Amputation is the removal of a body extremity by trauma, prolonged constriction, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on individuals as a preventative surgery for...
, spinal cord injuries, visual impairment
Visual impairment
Visual impairment is vision loss to such a degree as to qualify as an additional support need through a significant limitation of visual capability resulting from either disease, trauma, or congenital or degenerative conditions that cannot be corrected by conventional means, such as refractive...
or cerebral palsy
Cerebral palsy
Cerebral palsy is an umbrella term encompassing a group of non-progressive, non-contagious motor conditions that cause physical disability in human development, chiefly in the various areas of body movement....
. An exception is the sighted guide
Sighted guide
A sighted guide is a person who guides a person with blindness or vision impairment.-Paralympic Games:At the Paralympic Games there are various classifications of athletes with a visual impairment....
s for athletes with a visual impairment. They are such a close and essential part of the competition, that the athlete and its guide are considered a team, and both athletes are medal candidates. There are also some events in the Summer Paralympics (per 2012: in athletics, swimming and table tennis) where athletes with an intellectual disabiliy compete.
Paralympians compete and train at a high level. Some of the most popular Paralympic sports include Athletics, Wheelchair Basketball
Wheelchair basketball
Wheelchair basketball is basketball played by people in wheelchairs and is considered one of the major disabled sports practiced. The International Wheelchair Basketball Federation is the governing body for this sport. It is recognized by the International Paralympic Committee as the sole...
, Wheelchair Rugby
Wheelchair rugby
Wheelchair rugby, , is a team sport for athletes with a disability. It is currently practiced in over twenty countries around the world and is a Paralympic sport....
, and Ice Sledge Hockey.
The Paralympic Games are held every four years, and are held two weeks after the conclusion of the Olympic Games
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
. They are held at the same location, using the same venues as the Olympics. Similar to a Paralympian, an Olympian is a participant in the Olympic Games.
Notable Paralympians
Trischa Zorn
Trischa Zorn
Trischa Zorn, born June 1, 1964 in Orange, California, is a United States swimmer. Blind from birth, she competes in Paralympic swimming . She is, at present, the most successful athlete in the history of the Paralympic Games, having won 55 medals, of which 41 are gold...
from the United States
United States at the Paralympics
The United States has participated in every Summer and Winter Paralympic Games. The United States has performed particularly well at the Summer Paralympic Games, but its performance at the Winter Games has also been impressive...
is (per June 2010) the most winning Paralympian of all time, with 55 medals, of which 41 are gold. Other notable athletes include Béatrice Hess
Béatrice Hess
Béatrice Pierre Hess, born in 1961 or 1962, is a French swimmer. The French newspaper L'Humanité has described her as "one of the best swimmers in the world", while the magazine Marianne has described her as "the French Thorpedo".Competing at the Paralympic Games, Hess won four gold medals in 1984,...
of France
France at the Paralympics
France participated in the inaugural Paralympic Games in 1960 in Rome, and has taken part in every edition of the Summer and Winter Paralympics since then...
, Ragnhild Myklebust
Ragnhild Myklebust
Ragnhild Myklebust is a Norwegian nordic skier and multiple gold medal winner at the Paralympic Games. , she holds the record for the most ever medals won at the Winter Paralympics, having won 27 medals, of which 22 were gold....
of Norway
Norway at the Paralympics
Norway has participated in every edition of both the Summer and Winter Paralympics, except the second Summer Games in 1964. It was one of the seventeen countries to take part in the inaugural Paralympic Games in 1960 in Rome, where it sent a delegation of eleven athletes...
, Reinhild Möller
Reinhild Möller
Reinhild Möller is a German former alpine ski racer.She is the only alpine skier to win 19 Paralympic medals. She has also won 4 Paralympic medals in athletics....
of Germany
Germany at the Paralympics
Germany participated in the inaugural Paralympic Games in 1960 in Rome, where it sent a delegation of nine athletes. The country, since 1949 officially the Federal Republic of Germany , was until 1990 also called West Germany while the separate East German Democratic Republic existed, which was...
, and Mayumi Narita
Mayumi Narita
is a Japanese swimmer, described as "one of the world’s best Paralympic athletes" by the International Paralympic Committee. Japan Today has described her as a "swimming sensation perhaps as great as the Thorpedo but whose name few know"...
of Japan
Japan at the Paralympics
Absent at the inaugural Paralympic Games in 1960 in Rome, Japan made its Paralympic début by hosting the 1964 Games in Tokyo. The country has participated in every subsequent edition of the Summer Paralympics, and in every edition of the Winter Paralympics since the first in 1976...
.
Jonas Jacobsson
Jonas Jacobsson
Jonas Jacobsson is a Swedish sport shooter who has won several gold medals at the Paralympic Games. He has participated in eight consecutive Summer Paralympics from 1980 to 2008, winning a total of sixteen gold, two silver, and nine bronze medals...
from Sweden
Sweden at the Paralympics
Sweden first competed at the Paralympic Games in 1960, at the 1960 Summer Paralympics. Sweden first won a medal at the Paralympics in 1964, at the Summer Games in Tokyo, Japan....
is the most successful male Paralympian, with 27 medals, of which 16 are gold, while Mike Kenny from Great Britain
Great Britain at the Paralympics
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has participated in every Summer and Winter Paralympic Games. Britain has performed particularly well at the Summer Paralympic Games, consistently finishing between second and fifth on the medal tables - a slightly better performance than at...
, has 16 medals total, all of which are gold.