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SPORTS MEDICINE DISABILITY SPORT
MEDICAL ASPECTS OF PARALYMPIC SPORT
BY DR I. STUART MILLER, CMO PARALYMPICS GB
INTRODUCTION Paralympic sport has come a long way since the days of Sir Ludwig Guttmann, who fielded 16 archers in the first Olympics for disabled people on the same day as the opening of the 1948 Olympic Games. From a beginning steeped in the tragedy and misfortune of injured servicemen returning at the end of Second World War has emerged a professional organisation where over 4000 highly skilled athletes from over 140 countries compete to the highest professional standards, attracting global cumulative TV audiences in excess of 3.8 billion viewers (1).
As with any sport, there is a
price to pay. Injury and illness are encountered with as much, if not more, frequency in disabled athletes as in their able-bodied colleagues. However, the support that disabled athletes receive frequently falls short, as fewer doctors and therapists have risen to the challenge to support these athletes. The reasons for this are complex but undoubtedly lie in the roots of a
THE INJURY AFFECTS THE ATHLETE AS A WHOLE
THERE NEEDS TO BE A REALISATION OF HOW
This article explores some of the injuries and illnesses seen in athletes with a disability and highlights some of the additional difficulties and special medical needs encountered in this group.
traditionally poorly funded sport, a lack of “glamorous” athletes, the perception of a lack of professionalism, and perhaps a concern that the problems associated with disability are too great for the practitioner to take on board. Fortunately, there is an increasing interest in sport for disabled people, and more and more practitioners have expressed a desire to get involved, despite feeling somewhat uncertain of the challenges that they face. This article looks at some of these issues, concentrating on those that surround the more elite athletes competing under the Paralympic banner. We do not look at the issues surrounding sport for deaf people or intellectually impaired people, as these athletes currently lie outside the Paralympic grouping. As the category of “Les Autres” (a diverse group of disability) is so varied, it is included in this article only in the broadest terms.
THE PARALYMPIC PROGRAMME
Sport for athletes with a disability has
TABLE 1: PARALYMPIC SUMMER SPORTS
Adaptive rowing Archery
Athletics (track and field) Boccia Cycling Equestrian Football five-a-side (blind)
Football seven-a-side (cerebral palsy) Goalball Judo Powerlifting Sailing Shooting Swimming Table tennis Volleyball (sitting) Wheelchair basketball Wheelchair fencing Wheelchair rugby Wheelchair tennis
grown up from adaptation of traditional sports and sports designed specifically for disabled people, to produce a varied mix of sports to enable athletes with many types of disability to compete together. Tables 1 and 2 list the Paralympic summer and winter sports.
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