Bachelor Thesis

MASARYK UNIVERSITY Faculty of Sport studies BACHELOR THESIS Brno 2013 Ana Luisa Gil Beras MASARYK UNIVERSITY Faculty of Sport studies Department of Social Sciences in Sport And Department of Health Promotion Management of Paralympics Games: Problems and perspectives Bachelor Thesis Management Paralympijských Her: Problémy a perspektivy Thesis Supervisor: Prepared by: Doc. PaedDr. Jitka Kopřivová, CSc.. Ana Luisa Gil Beras Brno, 2013 2 I declare that this bachelor thesis developed independently and based on literature and sources listed in the sources used. In Brno 26. 4. 2013 Signature 3 Acknowledgements I would like to express my thanks to my supervisor doc. PaedDr. Jitka Kopřivová, CSc. and to all the staff members of the Sport Faculty for their kind help and valuable advice that they provided me during my studies and my work on the bachelor thesis. 4 CONTENT INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………… 06 1. HISTORY OF PARALYMPICS GAMES…………………...………………. 08 1.1 The Olympic Games role in history…...……………………………………………... 08 1.2 The Paralympics Games a historical event…………………………………………… 10 2. PARALYMPIC GAMES AND DISABILITY……………………………..... 11 2.1 What is a Disability?..................................................................................................... 11 2.2 Paralympic disability categories……………………………………………………… 12 2.2.1 Sports classes………...…………………………………………………….……….. 19 2.2.1.1 Summer sports….……………………………………………………..………….. 20 2.2.1.2 Winter sports…………….…………………………………………..…………… 33 3. INTERNATIONAL PARALYMPICS GAMES COMMITTEE (IPC): STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONS…………………………………………… 35 3.1 International Paralympics committee.............................................................................35 3.1.1 The Athletes ………….............................................................................................. 35 3.1.2 Paralympic Games…………….................................................................................. 37 3.1.3 International Paralympic Committee Structure…...................................................... 40 3.1.4 Paralympism and Youth …........................................................................................ 00 3.1.5 International Paralympic Committee Digital Revolution........................................... 00 3.2 International Paralympic Committee Research segments …………............................ 00 3.3 International Paralympic Committee Finance ………………...……………............... 00 4. PROBLEMATIC IN THE MODERN PARALYMPICS GAMES AND PERSPECTIVES FOR THE PARALYMPICS GAMES IN THE ERA OF GLOBALIZATION……………………………………………...…………… 00 CONCLUTION……………………………………………………...……………. 00 SUMMARY……………………………………………...………………………... 00 LITERATURE…………………………………………...……………………….. 00 APPENDIX 5 INTRODUCTION Olympism is a way of life, promoting and uniting in one piece the potentials of the body, determination and mind. Joining together the sport with culture and education, Olympism pursues to create philosophy of life based on the delight of effort, the educational importance of good example and reverence for universal fundamental ethical principles. The idea of Olympism can be perceived as similar to the development of social study which involves a dialogue between concepts and evidence. As Ragin (1994, p. 55) noted: “Ideas help social researchers use evidence to extend, revise, and test ideas. The end result of this dialogue is a representation of social life-evidence that has been shaped and reshaped by ideas, presented along with the thinking that guided the construction of representation” The objective of Olympism is to place sport at the disposition of the pleasant growth of man, with an outlook to encouraging a nonviolent society concerned with the protection of human self-esteem. As a former professional sportsman I always admired the sportsmen with a disability that are fighting day by day with a big smile in their faces and with a focus aim of progress in their life’s condition. For me is a big example to follow such wonderful people that are living in the maximum each day as a unique and unforgettable day. I think is important for society to get to know these valuable sportsmen and to learn how to admire and respect them as human beings with no difference or restrictions. The aim of my work is to present some of the problems presented in the sports for an athlete with a disability and also during the organization of the Games. Also where are the Games heading in this time of changes and its perspective. In the followed text is divided into four parts. The first chapter will cover the history since the beginning of the Olympics till the time where those who also have excellence in sports but also have an impairment got the chance to show it in a special part of the Olympics that is known as the Paralympic Games. In the next part of the chapter will be presented the history of the Paralympics how it all starts and where it’s standing right now. In the second chapter will be a short explanation about disability, what types of 6 disability are and which of those types are included in the Paralympic category; also what are the sports classes according to the type of disability presented by the elite sportsmen. The third chapter is all about the International Paralympic Committee, the structure and all what is connected to them. The fourth chapter will be presented the actual problems that exist in the Paralympic Movement and in the Games; also the perspective that offer the movement, games and the committee for this elite group of sportsmen in this era of globalization. I’ll try to present what are the developments made to improve the Games and the idea of the Paralympic Movement. 7 1. HISTORY OF PARALYMPICS GAMES “Olympism is a doctrine of the fraternity between the body and the soul.” (Coubertin, 1936). "Olympism is not a system it is a state of mind - It can permeate a wide variety of modes of expression and no single race or era can claim to have the monopoly of it." (Coubertin, 1936). 1.1 The Olympic Games role in history. The Olympic ideal and the Olympic Games stand as symbols of global cooperation, international understanding and the bonding of individuals through the medium of sports (Bloomsbury, 2011). The first written mention of the name “Olympic” dates back to 776 BC. The Games were dedicated to the Olympian gods. Sports competitions were organized in Olympia, Greece and were named after their locations, hence their name of “Olympic” Games. Since it began, more than two thousand years ago, the Olympic Games have been the competition grounds for the world’s greatest athletes. From its beginning, as a competition for the citizens of ancient Greece and other surrounding countries, the Olympics have developed into a worldwide, commercially oriented event. These Games took place every four years in Greece. The four-year period acquired the name “Olympiad” and was used a date system and time was counted in Olympiads rather than years. The oldest myth which concerns the beginning of the Olympic Games is that of Idaios, Daktylos, and Herakles. According to other myths, Zeus, the father of humanity, fought and defeated Cronus in a struggle for the throne of the gods. Finally, the well-known demigod Herakles is mentioned. He staged games in Olympia in honor of Zeus (Olympics, 1999). The earliest Olympic Games were originally a one-day event up until the 684 BC, when they were prolonged to three days. In the 5th century B.C., the Games were prolonged once more to cover five days. The ancient Games involved Running, Long jump, Shot put, Javelin, Boxing, Pankration1, Equestrian events, Pentathlon and Wrestling. According to Segrave (1988, pp. 159): “As in ancient times, Olympism is the manifestation of a fundamental dialectic between body and soul, existence and essence, individual and 1 Pankration: was a martial art introduced into the Greek Olympic Games in 648 BC and founded as a blend of boxing and wrestling but with scarcely any rules. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Olympics/pankration.html 8 group, and competition and cooperation. By the seeking to assuage conflict and enhance harmony, Olympism places sport in the service of an enlightened humanity” The Current Olympics as we know it were the idea of a child today known as the "Father of the Modern Olympics"; a man from France named Baron Pierre de Coubertin. The Baron firstly recommended in 1892 the idea of redoing the glorious cultural and sport festivals of the ancient Greece, mainly the Olympic 'Games'. Formally expressed in 1894, that Olympism was not only unique and whole in terms of the possibility of social change anticipated, but very altruistic, enthusiastic and controversial as well. According to Wamsley and Young (Girgonov, 2010, pp. 9): “judge in terms of global participation, world media coverage, the construction and cost of elaborate facilities, billions of dollars of expenditure, environmental and community disruption, crises, scandals and political intrigue of various sorts, massive popular consumption, and the threat of terrorism, the Games may well be the most consistently compelling cultural phenomenon of modern times” As Coubertin (Coubertin, 1936, p. 34) expressed: “Olympism it’s a social reform or rather it’s the foundation of a new era that I can see coming and which will have no value or force unless it’s firmly based on the principles of a completely new type of education” The first Olympic Games of modern times were celebrated in 1896. The aim of the modern Olympic Games is (Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee, 2010): "To

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