"Resilience" -Don't be afraid of failure or unknown-June 15th, 18:30
Para-athletes who face obstacles and challenge the limits of their power.
There is a certain "power" that they are supposed to have.
That is "resilience".
It means "power to bounce".
For them, obstacles have never been overcome, sometimes faced, sometimes given up, and sometimes accepted.
In the process, it is attracting attention that it has "the ability to survive in difficult situations" and "the unbreakable heart."
I have had severe hearing loss since I was born, but I want to convey the "potential" and "diversity" of para-athletes from the standpoint of having the same disability, both domestically and internationally for the past four years. I am interviewing players at.
This time, I spoke to a global Paralympian to learn more about this resilience.
Then, there was an important hint for everyone to survive this difficult time.
(NHK Paralympic Broadcasting Reporter Yuki Goto)
What "resilience" taught me
"The idea of resilience has taught me that in life you can't do anything if you're afraid of failure or the unknown."
That's what Marie Amelie Lefure, 32, who won the gold medal in the Rio de Janeiro Paralympics women's long jump, breaking the world record twice with a jump over 6 meters.
Below the knee of the left foot is a para-athlete with a prosthesis.
He has participated in three consecutive tournaments since the 2008 Beijing tournament, and has won medals in all 100m, 200m, and 400m in addition to the long jump.
I was able to hear the story in late May when I was devoting myself to practice for the Tokyo tournament.
The first question I asked was about the "resilience" that Lefur thinks.
He achieved brilliant results at the Rio Games, such as winning two gold medals, but at that time he was injured two months before the Games and had to rest for six weeks.
Even so, I thought that I was able to demonstrate my strength because I had the power of resilience.
Le Fuyuru players
"and resilience in my life, in the back of all the trials and difficulties, things always a some sort of positive, yourself, your life, is the power to understand that you have hidden a chance to change the way of thinking. Hardships When you encounter a problem, you are shattered at first. If you look only at the difficulties and cannot see what lies ahead, you end up stepping on at best and turning back at worst. Resilience is your perspective on your life. It ’s a way to change. ”
"Power" conscious of obstacles
Lefur, who has been active since he was little and started athletics at the age of six.
When I grew up, my dream was to become a firefighter who wanted to work to help people.
However, when he was 15 years old, he had a head-on collision with an oncoming vehicle while driving a scooter.
He was blown a dozen meters and severely injured his left leg and amputated.
I had to give up the dream I had in mind.
It supported the broken Lefur player.
It was the "unwavering attitude" of the family, who did not suffer from disabilities and did not deny all possibilities.
Lefur:
"I had a very difficult experience at a young age, so if I didn't fight there, my life and the lives of the people around me would be ruined. I was forced to choose between moving forward, succumbing to it, wasting my life, and getting people around me into a negative situation. I don't want to waste my life, there are many great things to do. I decided to move forward. "
Then, as he started to move forward again, he said, "Let's stop thinking about things we can't do."
Lefur:
"I can no longer be a firefighter. But I didn't let anyone decide about the other" impossible ". If there was an" impossible ", it was myself. I thought that I couldn't decide without trying out my abilities and limits. I didn't prejudice that these movements and movements in my life were impossible. "
Experience of communicating with Le Fur
I myself have a similar "experience".
I have "progressive sensorineural hearing loss" with a disability in the "inner ear" that recognizes sound.
I'm currently wearing a hearing aid called a cochlear implant, but when I remove it, I can't hear it at all.
When I was little, I could still hear faint sounds, and I trained in "listening" and "speaking", but by the time I entered elementary school, I couldn't even hear the sound of the car horn, and I had the most severe deafness.
Even so, my parents didn't say, "I have a disability, so stop it," and let me try whatever I wanted to do, such as swimming or playing the piano.
For hearing-impaired people, they let us experience what they tend to avoid most when they are small, which leads to a successful experience of "I can do it too."
I feel that the experience has become the "power to live forward" that leads to the present.
Resilience "Power" that everyone is asked
Lefur is said to have become aware of "resilience (= rebounding power)" as a result of having a disability.
He says that the power is not limited to competition, but everyone who lives in the face of difficulties now feels that it is the power to be asked.
Three years ago, she suffered the tragedy of having her first child stillborn eight months pregnant.
The reality is still unacceptable.
Still, I wanted to move my life forward because of my own "resilience."
Lefur:
"I'm not living in the ideal world, so of course I'm depressed, but it's important not to be swallowed by negative energy. There is no real failure in life, only learning. Constraints You can learn from your mistakes, your mistakes, and your hardships. You can adapt naturally in your daily life because you have a disability at the age of 15 and the resilience you have acquired there. "
"I want to change the" position "of people with disabilities"
After that, he was blessed with the long-awaited child and was a Lefur player who balances child-rearing and competitive life.
She has another face.
He is the president of the French Paralympic Committee.
People with disabilities are still discriminated against in many situations in France, such as having no working environment or no environment to play sports.
In order to realize the dream of "changing" that position, I assumed the heavy responsibility of being chairman.
She believed in the power of the Paralympics in parasports.
Lefur:
"People don't understand what it means to have a disability and to live as a disabled person, and there are still many taboos around disability. Parasports are much more familiar. I want to become more proficient and raise awareness among people with disabilities that they can play more sports. Through sports, people with disabilities are confident in their abilities and their disabilities are not necessarily negative. Instead, it can be shown that it is one of the ways of life. Through sports, by showing society that everyone with disabilities has abilities, we can change the eyes of society on disabilities. Is. "
I want to convey with "my voice" For a diverse society
I also have a dream as a reporter.
I still feel that there is a "borderline" between healthy people and people with disabilities in many situations.
The pronunciation is not clear due to hearing loss, and sometimes there are painful voices such as "difficult to hear" and "impossible for the disabled".
However, I believe that "Is it necessary for narration to be read as cleanly as a normal hearing person?", "I have been working hard since I was a child, and I think there is something that can be conveyed because of my voice." I dream that this voice will be an opportunity for diverse societies.
What is the significance of the Paralympics?
A Paralympic Games where para-athletes who challenge the limits of their power gather from all over the world.
Once every four years, I asked him what he thinks about the significance of this tournament, which puts the spotlight on people with disabilities.
Lefure
"The Paralympics are more than just a competition with high-level performance, it is a place where you can convey a different message about" obstacles "." There is nothing impossible, just the same thing. It's just a different way to do it. ”It's also a place to evolve the way people perceive disabilities in the world. As a result, a new perspective on the high talents and abilities of people with disabilities will be born. It will continue to drive better change in society. "
“Don't be afraid of failure or the unknown”
Due to the influence of the new coronavirus, there are voices that threaten the holding of the Tokyo Paralympics.
Lefur had decided to retire from active duty at the 2020 Tokyo Games, but he also postponed his retirement in line with the Games.
Since then, there has been a long period of severe lockdown in France, and both as an athlete and as a mother, Lefur is now in adversity.
How should we confront the uncertain times?
What I got back was a positive word like her.
Le Fühl
"Don't try to live in the past, because the past can't be changed. The future is what people can create. The difficulty we have now is the life we have lived so far. Think of it as a way to rethink your style and way of life. What resilience has taught me is that in life you can't do anything if you're afraid of failure or the unknown. The unknown is what you know. It brings us progress, because we can find positive things in the worst trials of our lives. "
To the future without "boundaries"
She always looks forward, but when I asked her the most important thing at the end, she answered without hesitation.
Lefur,
"My husband, daughter, parents, sister, etc., who are by my side every day, because I can't do anything in my life alone. If I were alone, I could stand up again or rebuild myself. And that, and I couldn't have been the woman I am today, so the people around me are my foundation and my daily energy. "
It seemed that these words were bleeding into the pain and pain that Lefur had experienced so far.
That's why I felt her strong determination that I don't want the people who will be responsible for the next to think that way.
France is making a national effort to eliminate the barrier between disabled and able-bodied people, such as by uniting the Olympic and Paralympic athletes for the Tokyo Games and unifying the tournament emblems at the 2024 Paris Games. I will.
On the contrary, in Japan, neither is joint.
What kind of legacy can we leave behind ...
I wanted the line between people with disabilities and healthy people to disappear as much as possible.
NHK Paralympic Broadcasting Reporter
Yuki Goto
Coverage on issues such as parasports and the realization of a symbiotic society from 2017
I have been hearing impaired since I was born and used a cochlear implant in my left ear
Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Reporter Struggle
News Watch 9 Director
Masayoshi Asshoku
Joined in 2013 After working at Sapporo and Asahikawa stations, he is currently in charge of News Watch 9. During the
Pyeongchang Paralympics, we interviewed chair ski players.