Iraqi Rasul Kadhim, a weight lifter with a paralyzed leg, trains for the Paralympics. As the Paralympics draws closer, I will probably be posting stories from around the world on the international sporting event in Beijing Sept. 6-17 that draws top disabled athletes to the competition.
Although not much into sports myself, I think the Paralympics does give much-needed attention to disabled people in many countries who otherwise would receive little recognition.
For the summer games, athletes compete in the following sports:
- Archery
- Athletics (track and field)
- Boccia
- Bowls
- Cycling
- Equestrian
- Football 5-a-Side
- Football 7-a-Side
- Goalball
- Judo
- Powerlifting
- Rowing
- Sailing
- Shooting
- Swimming
- Table Tennis
- Volleyball
- Wheelchair Basketball
- Wheelchair Dance Sport
- Wheelchair Fencing
- Wheelchair Rugby
- Wheelchair Tennis
As for Iran and Iraq, the Tehran Times reports that its cerebral palsy football (soccer) team will go to Portugal in August for a warm-up camp prior to the Paralympics.
And The New York Times wrote about the Iraq Paralympics team June 29, whose wheelchair fencing coach, Ahmed Abid Hassan, explained: “As a country that participated in many wars since 1980, we have many disabled people. Our Paralympic team is better than our Olympic team.”
