Participating in the Paralympic Games Through Exercise Rehabilitation for Individuals with Disabilities

Editorial https://doi.org/10.12965/jer.1836188.094 Journal of Exercise Rehabilitation 2018;14(2):158-159

Participating in the Paralympic Games through exercise rehabilitation for individuals with disabilities

Yong-Seok Jee* https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6797-0843

The 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Paralympic Games were held sponsible for recruiting players and managing events at the na- for 10 days from March 9 to 18, 2018 in Pyeongchang, Gangwon tional level (Special Olympics, 2006). Province, Republic of Korea. This was the first winter paralympic The Paralympics has grown from a small gathering of British stage in Korea since the 1988 Seoul Paralympic Games. World War II veterans in 1948 to become one of the largest inter- The Paralympic Games is a major international mega-sport national sporting events in the early 21st century. The Paralym- event involving athletes with a range of disabilities, including im- pics has grown from 400 athletes with disabilities from 23 coun- paired muscle power (e.g., paraplegia, quadriplegia, muscular tries in 1960 to thousands of competitors from over 100 countries dystrophy, post-polio syndrome, and spina bifida), impaired pas- in the London 2012 Games (Dehghansai et al., 2017). The ety- sive range of movement, limb deficiency (e.g., amputation or dys- mology of ‘paralympics’ reveals that it was meant to be held in melia), leg length difference, short stature, hypertonia, ataxia, parallel with the Olympics, as the prefix, ‘para’ means side by athetosis, vision impairment, and intellectual impairment (Inter- side. However, the present paralympics have deviated from the national Paralympic Committee [IPC], 2018). Since the 1988 original meaning of the word. (International Committee of Sports Summer Games in Seoul, South Korea, the Winter and Summer for the Deaf, 1996). Paralympic Games, have been held almost immediately following Given the wide variety of disabilities that Paralympic athletes the respective Olympic Games. All Paralympic Games are gov- have, there are several categories in which the athletes compete. erned by the IPC (2018). The allowable disabilities are broken down into ten eligible im- The Summer Paralympics consist of 22 events and the Winter pairment types as shown in above. These categories are further Paralympics consist of 6 events with several competitions within broken down into classifications, which vary from sport to sport. each event. For example, Alpine skiing is divided into downhill, Sports including any exercise is a popular hobby and also plays an super combined, super-G, slalom, and giant slalom. The IPC integral part in preparing for games like the Olympics or the oversees most of the sports games, while other international orga- Paralympics. The beneficial effects of exercise are continually be- nizations such as the International Sports Federations, the Interna- ing discovered and advanced research on more effective methods tional Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation, the Interna- of exercise are being made to the general or handicapped people tional Blind Sports Federation and the Cerebral Palsy Internation- (Kim, 2018). al Sports and Recreation Association manage various others. For Life satisfaction for those with disabilities is relatively low, espe- the National Paralympic Association and the international sports cially in terms of economic satisfaction (Stensman, 1985). There is associations mentioned above, there is a national charter that is re- a difference in the quality of life (QoL) satisfaction according to

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons At- tribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright © 2018 Korean Society of Exercise Rehabilitation 158 http://www.e-jer.org pISSN 2288-176X eISSN 2288-1778 Jee YS • Paralympic Games through exercise rehabilitation educational background and gender. The QoL for people with dis- REFERENCES abilities with higher education levels is higher than those with lower levels of education. Individuals with visual impairment or Dehghansai N, Lemez S, Wattie N, Baker J. A Systematic review of influ- physical handicap generally had lower levels of life satisfaction ences on development of athletes with disabilities. Adapt Phys Activ compared to those with other types of disabilities. In addition, the Q 2017;34:72-90. QoL tends to be lower for individuals with more severe grades of International Committee of Sports for the Deaf (ICSD). The World Games disability. for the Deaf and the Paralympic Games [Internet]. Lausanne (Switzer- It is possible for people with disabilities to have the same level land): ICSD; December 1996 [cited 2018 Apr 2]. Available from: http:// of life satisfaction as those without disabilities. The only place www.ciss.org/. where the above-mentioned educational background, gender, dis- International Paralympic Committee (IPC). Classification [Internet]. Bonn ability level, and economic status do not act as barriers is the (Germany): IPC; 2018 [cited 2018 Apr 1]. Available from: http://www. sports scene. In sports, it is possible to make selections preferred paralympic.org/classification . by the disabled, make improvements through exercise rehabilita- Kim CJ. Considering on the exercise rehabilitation and the Journal of Ex- tion, and develop professional sports techniques for each sport. ercise Rehabilitation. J Exerc Rehabil 2018;14:1. Taking the above into consideration, it is possible for a person Special Olympics. Special Olympics and the Olympic Movement [Inter- with a disability to completely start a new life through sports and net]. Washington, DC: Special Olympics; 2006 [cited 2018 Apr 2]. to improve their QoL. The Paralympic Games should become a Available from: https://www.specialolympics.org/. mega-sporting venue for everyone with disabilities. Those with Stensman R. Severely mobility-disabled people assess the quality of their disabilities can set an example for others with disabilities by lives. Scand J Rehabil Med 1985;17:87-99. demonstrating their willingness to overcome their challenges.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was re- Research Institute of Sports and Industry Science, Hanseo University, 46 Hanseo 1-ro, Haemi-myeon, Seosan 31962, Korea ported. E-mail: [email protected]

https://doi.org/10.12965/jer.1836188.094 http://www.e-jer.org 159