What are the Paralympics and how do they differ to the Olympics?
The Paralympics are games that allow athletes with disabilities to participate in an international competition against athletes with similar or the same disabilities. There are five different disability groups that are registered in the games. There are nineteen different sports, four of which are unique to the Paralympics.
‘Para’ refers to the Greek term ‘beside’ or ‘alongside’. They chose this because it refers to the fact that members of each movement didn’t want the Olympics and Paralympics to be seen as two competing events, instead they wanted it to be seen as existing side-by-side.
Because the athletes competing in the Paralympics have certain disabilities they are allowed concessions that may help them compete competitively, but do not give them an unfair advantage over other competitors.
History of the Paralympics
Sports had existed for more than 100 years before the Paralympics came into founding. After World War ll the idea of sport for impaired athletes became widely accepted and practiced. The original purpose of the Paralympics was to assist the increasing number of retired war soldiers and injured civilians. In 1944, rehabilitation sport turned slowly into a competitive sport.
At the opening ceremony of the Olympic games in 1948, Dr. Guttmann was a man who organized the very first competitions for athletes limited to wheelchairs (Stoke Mandeville Games). In 1952 a Dutch ex-serviceman supported the cause that Guttmann was trying to promote, and so the International Stoke Mandville Games were created and founded. Later they were changed to the Paralympic Games. The first Paralympic Games were held in Rome, twenty three countries took part and since th...
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...no-jump or a scratch which will result with zero points.
-The length of how far the athlete jumped is measured from where the athlete’s foot touched the pit the first landing to the board where they leaped from. Three tries are allowed for each athlete but only the furthest jump counts
-If an athlete falls back after landing, the jump is measured from the closest point of contact to the board.
-Vertical jumping events such as high jump and pole vault have different rules although the similarity is that they get three chances and only the best height counts.
-The height that participants have to jump over (the goal) is marked by a bar. If they clear the goal height they score points for that specific round
-Some events allow athletes to have three chances, others allow athletes to keep trying on higher bars until they fail and they hit the bar.
(sporting99.com, 2012)
Since 776 BCE, the Olympics have been a way for people of different cultures to come together and compete in friendly competition. In 1892 the first modern Olympics were held in Athens, although it had been over a thousand years since the last game it still had brought together an assortment of different religions and ethnic groups together. Many factors shaping the Olympic Games reflect the changes that have taken place in our world since the last game in 393 CE in Greece such changes include woman’s suffrage, global economy, world wars, and proving competency.
Sports Medicine is a medical field that specializes with physical fitness, treatment and prevention of injuries related to sports and exercise. It was introduced around the early Greek and Roman era when the first modern Olympic Games took place. The Greek felt they could do something to help heal and prevent injuries that the athletes were receiving. Now in sports medicine, certain injuries can only be assessed and treated by specific physicians. These physicians can include physical therapists, athletic trainers, and strength and conditioning coaches. Although sports physicians are most commonly seen by athletes after they are hurt so they can be treated, there are some physicians that are seen before an injury occurs so that they can learn how to prevent injuries.
“It is universally accepted that 776 B.C. was the year the festival at Olympia, in honor of Zeus, became known as the Olympics, and the period of four years between celebrations became an Olympiad (Zimmerman 1984).” Yet the precise circumstances surrounding the creation of the ancient Olympics are still shrouded in mystery. Several myths encompassin...
...top of a barrel or even a soapy table top! As the Penal laws started to lighten the stages increased in size. Nowadays competitions are held on huge stages that allow for large groups and bigger more elaborate steps such as flying jumps.
Burfoot, Amby. "The Disabled Athlete Has an Unfair Advantage." Footloose: Amby Burfoot's Notes from the Road (24 June 2007). Rpt. in The Olympics. Ed. Tamara L. Roleff. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2009. General Onefile. Web.
Some other factors that can come into play are: snow conditions, the type of snowboard, and experience of the rider. Which are much more advanced topics, and way beyond the scope of what we're worrying about here. What I am mainly going to be looking at are the basic characteristics of your average snowboard jump.
To be counted as a fall the competitor's back, shoulders, or hip must hit the ground. Another way is if your opponent raises his right hand with the index finger pointed.
Print. The. Jane Laing, ed., pp. 113-117. Chronicle of the Olympics, 1896-1996. New York: DK Pub., 1996.
A standing broad jump is a jump for distance from a standing position. It can be divided into four temporal phases: countermovement, propulsion, flight, and landing. In the countermovement phase, the subject squats to load up and extends the shoulders and the arms. In the propulsion phase, the goal is to generate enough force to propel the body forward. The person must stand erect in full extension of the trunk, hips, and knees. Then, the person flexes at the hip and the knee, which results with the trunk being rotated in a forward direction. Next, the arms become slightly flexed to hyperextension, to full flexion. Prior to the flight phase, the body goes into full extension. The flight phase begins as soon as the feet have left the ground. During this phase, the body stays in full extension or can become hyperextended. Towards the end of the flight phase, the trunk rotates forward in an anterior direction along with minor hip and knee flexion just before landing. During the landing phase, the knees and the hips are in maximum flexion and forward rotation of the trunk. There is also arm movement by moving both arms in the vertical direction to improve jumping distance. At the onset of the jump, the arm swings forward and during landing, they swing back and forth.
Gymnasts use physics everyday. As a gymnast I never realized how much physics went into every motion, every back handspring, every mistake on the bars. If gymnasts were physicists (or at least knew more about physics) they would be better equipped to handle the difficult aspects of gymnastics. As a gymnast I learned the motions that were necessary to complete the tricks that I was working on, and as a coach I taught others the same. I never truly understood why a particular angle gave me a better back handspring or why the angle that I hit a springboard at really mattered when completing a vault. We are going to explore some of the different apparatuses in gymnastics and a few of the physics laws that are involved in them. We will not even barely scratch the surface of the different ways that physics can explain gymnastics.
This is achieved when the diver takes the first leap into the air with his arms raised. When he comes back down on the board, his own mass falling onto the board will apply a certain force. An additional force is added as the arms swing down at the same time with a greater acceleration, applying more force. At the bottom of the diving board's oscillation, all of the now stored potential energy is released. The diver swings his arms upward and begins to release his pressure on the board. The board pushes the diver up and into the air with a huge force.
The Special Olympics date back all the way to the year 1968. Many see these Games as a time to honor someone who is able to “overcome” a task, but author William Peace sees this as an insulting portrayal of people with disabilities. Peace is a multidisciplinary school teacher and scholar that uses a wheel chair and writes about the science behind disabilities and handicaps. As a physically handicapped individual, Peace is able to observe a negative portrayal of disabled persons. In his article titled, “Slippery Slopes: Media, Disability, and Adaptive Sports,” William Peace offers his own personal insight, utilizes several statistics regarding handicaps, as well as numerous rhetorical appeals in order to communicate to the “common man”
Jumping is only one part of Olympic riding. There is arena jumping, cross country jumping, and dressage which has no jumping at all. It is based more on
Christopher Bidlack, an author of studies involving changes in the use of prosthetics in sports and contributor to sports law studies on Marquette University’s research website, feels that the reason this topic is relevant today is because the technology behind prosthetic limbs has evolved greatly, both in terms of design and materials. Because of this great jump in the quality of prosthetics, American sports entities will soon have to determine whether disabled athletes will be eligible to compete on prosthetic limbs(Bidlack). It is because of this approaching decision that many officials fear the change and outcome of either banning or allowing the use of prosthetics in the sports. Along with this “there is frustration among athletes, but also fears that a liberal approach to enhancements would prove controversial. Double amputees are increasingly running faster than single counterparts as neither leg tires and they can take longer strides, creating a potential incentive to have both removed”(Monks). Meaning that by allowing the use of prosthetic limbs in sports, a moral dilemma could arise regarding an encouraged amputation of both limbs in order to perform better in the sport. The safety of the other athlete is also a major concern for officials. With the design of these prosthetic limbs, officials find them to pose a possible safety hazard to other athletes on the field. One incident occurred when paralympic runner Blake Leeper’s prosthetic limb came off during the paralympic trials as he crossed the finish line(Rubinroit). Many saw this as dangerous to the other athletes on the track as it could possibly lead to their injury. It is clear to see that whether or not amputee athletes can participate in the sports sanctioned for able bodied athletes will pose problems for the future, but with regulations and changes to the
A to prevent these injuries is to use a proper technique in landing. This could be done to land in a proper stance were feet are set width apart.