The past couple weeks, we’ve been experiencing that post-Olympic slump….what do we watch?
There’s not constant coverage of different sporting events that we wouldn’t normally see, and we are no longer being amazed daily by incredible athletic endeavors and athletes achieving their Olympic dreams!
Well now, as of a couple days ago (Wednesday, August 28th), we have the perfect solution to that post-Olympic depression– the Paris Paralympic Games! These Games are taking place until September 8th and feature over 4,000 athletes from around the world competing in 22 different sports across the iconic Paris venues displayed in the Olympics!
The Paralympics have been occurring alongside the Olympics since 1960– literally, “para” in Greek means “next to,” so they are meant to be parallel–or alongside–the Olympics!
Most of the sports in the Paralympics include complements of the same sports in the Olympics; however, the Paralympic Games also include two sports that don’t have Olympic counterparts: Boccia and Goalball.
Boccia debuted in the Paralympics in 1984. It consists of a precision ball game that was originally developed for people with coordination impairments and now includes a variety of athletes with different impairments.
In boccia, two teams compete against each other either as individuals, pairs, or teams of three. Each side gets a set of six balls: red or blue. The goal is to get the most balls closest to a white ball called “the Jack.” A coin flip determines the first ball and which side gets to play the Jack on the court. The furthest team from the Jack will continue throwing until they get their ball closest or until they run out of balls.
Athletes in wheelchairs compete in boccia within four different classes depending how much their impairments impact their ability to perform. Some classes allow athletes to compete with the support of a Sport Assistant who also receives a medal if their supported athlete wins.
© Getty Images (Boccia)
Goalball is not only exclusive to the Paralympic Games but also exclusive to vision impaired athletes. Since a variety of vision impairments exist, all the competitors in goalball wear blackout eye masks to level the playing field.
This is a fast-paced ball game where athletes must score goals quickly and defend shots only using their own bodies.
Each team is made up of six players with three of the team members playing at any one time. Goalball matches consist of two 12-minute halves. The goals on each side of the court span the width of the court at 9 meters. There are slightly raised court lines so that the athletes can feel their position on the court, and the ball has bells inside so players can hear it. The crowd must also stay silent during the game so the athletes are able to hear where the ball is on the court.
In an attacking position, athletes can bounce or spin the ball past opponents in order to score. For a throw to count, the ball must touch the team area (near the goal) first and then touch the neutral area (towards the middle of the court).
If a player blocks the ball from getting into the goal, they have 10 seconds to counter-attack. The team that scores the most goals or leads by 10 points wins the match.
This fast-paced highly competitive ball game is definitely going to be one to watch this Paralympics!
ⒸKiyoshi Ota/ Getty Images (Goalball)
If you’re looking for a local athlete to watch during the track and field coverage of the Paralympic Games, keep an eye out for Mikey Brannigan! Brannigan is originally from East Northport, NY but now lives and trains mostly in the Buffalo area. He frequently competes in some of the local road races as well!
Brannigan is famous for winning a gold medal in the men’s 1500m race at the 2016 Rio Summer Paralympics! He has an impressive personal best of 3:45.50 in this event! Brannigan will be competing in this year’s men’s 1500m (T20) race again, which will take place on September 6th. Definitely a great athlete to look out and cheer for!
If you’re inspired by watching these incredible world-class Paralympic athletes and want help chasing your own athletic pursuits (of any kind!), we want to help you AWAKEN YOUR POTENTIAL!
Don’t hesitate to reach out to us, we love working with athletes of all levels and we want to help you achieve your individual goals!
Happy Paralympic watching!
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