The 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris began this Wednesday. As has been the case since Seoul 1988 (although the Paralympics have existed since 1960), the 4,400 Paralympic athletes will use the facilities that until August 11 were the scene of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Over the course of 10 days, athletes from 185 countries will meet to compete in nearly 540 events where medals will be awarded.
One of the main characteristics of the Paralympic Games is that Each sport has a disability classificationso it is possible that several medals may be awarded in the same event.
Many more than at the Olympics: there are 329 events in 32 sports that award medals, while at the Paralympics that figure is 549 events with awards in 22 different sports.
For example, in swimming there is a classification of 1-10 that groups physical disabilities, 11-13 for levels of visual disabilities and 14 which has to do with intellectual disabilities.
Another big difference is the symbols: while the Olympians are represented by the famous five rings, The Paralympians are associated with the five “crescents” or “agitos” (which comes from the Latin “I move”) of three colors: red, blue and green.
And another of the big differences between these two major events is the sports that are practiced.
Although most Paralympic disciplines have a counterpart at the Olympics, there are two sports that are exclusive to the Paralympic Games: boccia and goalball.
1. Boccia
In Italian “boccia” means ball.
And for this sport the ball is essential.
It has its origins in a popular game played in several European countries. In Italy it is known as “boccia” and in Spain and France there are variations known as “bochas” or “petanques”.
The Paralympic discipline, which has existed since 1984, is contested on an indoor field measuring no more than 12 metres by six, where participants can compete individually, in pairs or in teams of three.
The aim of the game is, as the Paralympic organisation notes, “to throw or roll these balls as close as possible to another small ball called a ‘target’.”
Players can use their hands. Being A tactical game, where strength and distance are not as important as strategy.athletes can ask a person for help to throw the ball.
The matches are divided into four rounds or games when it is individual or in pairs and six when it is a team match.
One of the qualities of “boccia” is that allows people with severe disabilities to participate in major sporting competitions.
Britain’s David John Smith won gold at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 and is considered one of the legends of the sport.
2. Goalball
After World War II, hundreds of soldiers were left with vision problems as a result of the conflict.
Around 1946, the Austrian Hans Lorenzen and the German Sepp Reindle designed a game with the idea of rehabilitating these war veterans.
This is where goalball was born, a sport that consists of two teams of three members each defending a goal that measures about nine meters long.
The idea is to prevent a ball – which has a bell or sleigh bell inside it – from entering that goal and becoming a score.
All players have their eyes covered (to standardize the competition and avoid advantages) and the idea is to use the whole body to cover the goal.
Goalball consists of trying to score with a ball inside a goal that measures nine meters and is protected by three rivals.
It is a highly physically demanding sport, as the most trained players can throw the ball at a speed of 70 km/h.
Due to its popularity, it was included as an exhibition sport at the 1976 Paralympics and began to award medals at the 1980 Games.
At the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, the gold medal went to the Brazilian team in the men’s category and Turkey, which had already won in Rio 2016, in the women’s category.
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