The Paralympic Games started in Tokyo this week. They have the potential to make the world a better place. Because they are being noticed more and more. Societies around the world are discovering how they deal with people with disabilities. Through the sporting event, they come to the realization that it is not enough to send athletes to the Paralympics every two years in summer and winter, but that these games, just as they are promoted by society, also have an impact on them . From the promotion of young talent to popular sport, this leads to the general question of the participation of people with disabilities.
Japan, host of the Games, is a good example of this.
Here children in schools have been asked to sit in wheelchairs and do sports.
So they learned that it is harder to throw a ball or kick a ball when you have to sit instead of standing on two legs.
This experience creates acceptance and admiration for those who have mastered it.
And maybe more people with and without disabilities are now playing wheelchair basketball together.
Lighthouses of society
Competitive athletes with disabilities are lighthouses of our society. They show what people are able to achieve. They refute that people with disabilities do less, they give the lie to the word disabled. Who can imagine someone missing a lower leg jumping 8.62 meters with a prosthesis? Until he sees Markus Rehm. In his world record, Rehm jumped further than the Olympic champion from Tokyo. Classic, Olympic sport, from the world federation to the clubs, has to learn that too: to open up to people with disabilities.
We in the German Disabled Sports Association cannot cover what sport and joie de vivre wants to develop with our 6,500 clubs.
There should be no limits to the joy of movement.
The Paralympics would have missed their point if they only existed as a performance comparison every two years.
They are not a show or a refuge.
The Paralympic Games are drivers of development.
Lust for competition
The archetype of sport is comparison.
This applies to Paralympic athletes as well as to Olympic athletes.
Their desire to compete should not be underestimated.
She should be contagious.
It should radiate from top athletes to all parts of society.
Sport is important because it teaches children how to deal with defeat.
Sport prepares you for life.
Those who suffered their disabilities as a result of an accident or were born with it give us an example of how to deal with such a situation. They show unequivocally through willpower and with the help of sport that they are strong, valuable and not disadvantaged members of society. This is a role model. The Paralympic Games should be a source of inspiration, said Eva Loeffler in an interview with a Japanese newspaper this week.