Paralympics, do you care?????

What is it?

There is a long jumper who has recently jumped 8.62.

Not really. I took an interest when I knew quite a few Paralympians.

NBCSN will be showing 5 hours a night from like 9pm-2am .

Just Another Hobby Jogger wrote:

There is a long jumper who has recently jumped 8.62.

Yes his name is Markus Rehm, recently he won the German championship in the long jump outright with all the normal athletes but he was prevented from going to Tokyo because there was a debate over the legality and the advantage that the carbon blades might provide to him. This debate is still ongoing.

Markus info.

athletes.[2] A study by the University of Cologne determined that the prosthetic was a disadvantage in the run-up portion of the long jump but advantageous during the jump, however there was no overall advantage.[11] However, the IAAF ruled that Germany failed to prove its case, and denied Rehm permission to participate at the Rio Olympics.[9]

I don't care. I feel like I should but I'm just not interested. The classifications make it difficult to understand and dilutes the competition.

Will be watching Jaryd Clifford Saturday morning Tokyo time to see if he breaks 14 minutes for 5k as a partially blind athlete.

This amazing athlete has also run 3:41 for 1500m and a 2:19 Marathon as a pace setter.

He could win gold in the 5k, 1500m and Marathon!

https://worldathletics.org/athletes/australia/jaryd-clifford-14730577

OZ hero. Seems like a great guy too.He suffers from macular degeneration and usually that is a very slow process so hopefully he can attain all his goals and athletics before his sight gets worse. However, in the Paralympics there is even a category for totally blind athletes who wear blinders over their eyes and I’ve seen some of those guys run 5000 m in around 15 minutes 30 seconds which is quite incredible for a totally blind athlete. I think the record for a totally blind athlete is right around 15 minutes and 10 seconds but I stand corrected if I’m wrong on that.

Maybe this is an unpopular opinion or maybe I'm just a jerk (I'm sure some will say I am), but the Paralympics gets so much more attention than it deserves. These are people who are the top of their field, but that field is so incredibly diluted that I just don't care. These are not the "best of the best." They are the best of people who have some sort of disability. And they aren't even the best of all people with a disability, but they are the best of a small subset of disabilities because there are so many different Paralympic categories it's kind of a joke. Almost none of these people would be professional athletes if they were able bodied. On the other hand, probably half my college track team (decent DI school, but not top tier DI) could have been paralympians if they were willing to give up a limb. That's not to say they aren't great athletes, but it's just not world class sport.

I'm happy the Paralympics exist for people who have had tragic accidents or were born with some kind of defect; it's good that they have that opportunity. But let's be real, it's pretty much charity. and the fact that some of the top paralympians complain that their sport doesn't get enough attention or they don't get enough money is insane. I think it's those type of comments that really turn me off the paralympics. Also how wheelchair racing has somehow cemented itself as part of the world marathon majors and steals an obnoxious amount of the TV coverage.

PS - If I've offended anyone, maybe it will help my case that I have a similar opinion about most sports at the Winter Olympics. The Winter Olympics is a few pegs above Paralympics, but still way below most sports at the Summer Games. Why do I say this? Because like the Paralympics, Winter Olympians are the best of a smaller subset of people. Relatively rich people born in a country with a winter climate. How many Kenyans do you see on the slopes at the Winter Games? Meanwhile, you can be born into poverty in a dirt poor country and still become the best sprinter or distance runner in the world if you have the talent. Being the best at curling or snowboarding is just not the same as being the best sprinter or distance runner in the world.

From someone who, for years, has worked with several Paralympic athletes (including 4 medallists), I agree 100% with this post.

It gets excessive attention because they don't want to have the normal Olympics then have the Paralympics follow and receive minimal attention. It would look as if we don't care about disabled people. If the Paralymoics did not immediately follow the normal olympics, perhaps this wouldnt be a problem.

I put an Olympic flag out in front of my house when the summer Olympics are on. I figure better to do that than get some tattoo.

Well, I went to take it down and my neighbor asked why I was taking it down. I said the Olympics are over. He said not the Para Olympics.

I left it up. It means I can be an A hole for another two weeks.

He also has his name on the Stanley Cup ( and his sports cars are nicer) so I figure I should listen to him.

No, don't care. wrote:

PS - If I've offended anyone, maybe it will help my case that I have a similar opinion about most sports at the Winter Olympics. The Winter Olympics is a few pegs above Paralympics, but still way below most sports at the Summer Games. Why do I say this? Because like the Paralympics, Winter Olympians are the best of a smaller subset of people. Relatively rich people born in a country with a winter climate. How many Kenyans do you see on the slopes at the Winter Games? Meanwhile, you can be born into poverty in a dirt poor country and still become the best sprinter or distance runner in the world if you have the talent. Being the best at curling or snowboarding is just not the same as being the best sprinter or distance runner in the world.

The same can be said about NFL players. They are the best of a smaller subset of people.

Meanwhile you can be born into poverty in a dirt poor country and still become a world class soccer player.

It seemed like every advertisement during the OGs had a Paralympic athlete in it. It was always awkward to see these ads because I knew that once the Paralympic games came around, no one would care. Advertisers just trot out the Paralympic athletes for marketing value and then that is it.

I might be more interested in watching the Paralympic Games if they weren't in the shadows of the OGs. I am a bit bored with all the different events after the OGs.

up all nights wrote:

Just asking!!!!!

they started today BTW

Watching T20 1500m final for Mikey Brannigan to get the gold again

I care. Sure its not as exciting as the Olympics & we aren't going to see a 3:28 1500m or a sub :46 400mh race, but watching athletes overcome whatever disability they have is pretty inspirational. I can't help but get fired up when I see some guy with one leg high jump or something like that.

There are so many different categories for disability, and such a small portion of the world fits into those categories, and the majority of people in these situations don't compete in anything. So to me the competitiveness just isn't there like it is for the traditional olympics or world championships. I'm happy that these people are staying competitive and making the best of their situation, but it's not interesting to me. Just like I don't have much interest watching some random D3 track meet that doesn't even have the top D3 athletes in it. Occasionally you'll have an incredible paralympic athlete like Oscar Pistorius but then if they're really that good they compete in the Olympics for everybody, and that's when it's more enjoyable to watch.