ELLIE'S BLOG on Living Well with Disability

The first record of the Olympic games was in 776 B.C.in Greece. In them a naked runner, Coroebus (a cook from Elis),won the sole event at the Olympics, a run of approximately 192 meters (210 yards). This made Coroebus the very first Olympic champion in history. These games grew and they continued to be played every four years for nearly 1200  years. The games were abolished in 393 AD by The Roman Emperor Theodosius 1 a Christian because of their pagan in influence.

But 1500 years later Pierre de Courbetin a young Frenchman Influenced by the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 began their revival . He recognized the value to the youth in countries like Germany that were emphasizing physical activities. He felt that the youth in France, England and the United States would benefit from sports activities. And further that it would benefit the cause of peace because they could compete with each other in the sporting events not war. Sadly it didn't stop World War 1, World War 11 and other smaller wars  like Korea and Vietnam. But in the cold war with the Soviet Union I think it was a positive force. I remember watching the Olympics and cheering on our nation to beat the Soviet's. And in the 1980 Olympics when our hockey team beat their championship team up in Lake Placid, N.Y. the whole country roared it's thunderous applause.

Now we move on to the Paralympic games. The  Paralympic Games started in 1948.  In England Sir Ludwig Guttmann organized a sports competition involving WW11veterans with spinal cord injuries in England .The flagship sport became wheelchair basketball. Wheelchair basketball games in America began approximately at the same time .The first games were formed by the California and the New England chapters of Paralyzed Veterans of America . For more information check the website below. http://www.abilitymagazine.com/Paralympic_Military.html 

Four years later competitors from the Netherlands joined the games and an international movement was born . In Rome in 1960 athletes with disabilities were officially organized and the name of Paralympic's was given. In 1976 in Toronto more disability groups were added. Today the Paralympic's are an elite sport event for athletes competing in 22 different sports from six different disability groups. Which are : Amputation, Cerebral palsy, Visual impairment, Spinal injuries,The Others and Intellectual. And within these groups there is a classification system for each athlete with their level of disability for each sport.  This is to make competition fare. However,they emphasize their athletic achievemeint rather than their disability . And since 1988 Paralympic games have been held in the same venue as the Olympic games.    The Military is still involved in training paralympic athletes see the video:    http://video.on.nytimes.com/index.jsp?fr_story=f1f4c3004cad46e5bab3dbadabe56865b4121455

In the past A few athletes with disabilities had completed in the Olympics . George Eyser an American won three gold medals in gymnastics with a wooden leg at the 1904 saint Louis games.

Neroli Fairhall a paraplegic from new Zealand competed in archery at the 1984  Los Angeles games. Neroli Fairhall was the first paraplegic to compete in the Olympic Games.

Maria Runyan a legally blind runner from the united states made the final of the 1,500m and 2000 Sydney games and participated in the 5,000 meter at the 2004 Athens Games.