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A32 sports
Diaranson 25 augustus 2021

Paralympics open in empty stadium — just like Olympics

(AP) — The Paralympics be- most transformative sport event on nounced the first positive test for an terview. “So it was so important to
gan Tuesday in the same empty earth is about to begin.” athlete living in the Paralympic Vil- me to demonstrate and show people
National Stadium — during the lage. They gave no name or details that it doesn’t matter if you don’t
same pandemic — as the open- The opening ceremony featured the and said the athlete had been isolated. have hands, or you don’t have legs
ing and closing ceremonies of the national flags of the 162 delegations or whatever. If you have a dream and
recently completed Tokyo Olym- represented, which included the ref- The Paralympics are being held with- you really want to achieve it, just go
pics. ugee team. In addition, the flag of Af- out fans, although organizers are and take it.”
ghanistan was carried by a volunteer planning to let some school children
Japanese Emperor Naruhito got it despite the delegation not being on attend, going against the advice of Stutzman and Vivo are both set to
all started again, this time under the hand in Tokyo. much of the medical community. compete in Tokyo and have already
theme “We Have Wings.” Among the won medals in previous games, su-
few on hand were Douglas Emhoff, Comparisons to the Olympics stop Parsons and Seiko Hashimoto, the perstars who told their stories last year
husband of U.S. Vice President Ka- with the colorful jamboree, save for president of the Tokyo organizing in the Netflix documentary about the
mala Harris, International Paralym- the logistical and medical barriers committee, say the Paralympics can Paralympics called “Rising Phoenix.”
pic Committee President Andrew during the pandemic, and the hol- be held safely. Both have tried to dis-
Parsons and International Olympic lowing out of almost everything else. tance the Paralympics and Olympics The rest of the 4,403 Paralympic ath-
President Thomas Bach. from Tokyo’s rising infection rate. letes in Tokyo — a record number
Tokyo and Paralympic organizers are for any Paralympics — will be tell-
It was a circus-like opening with ac- under pressure from soaring new in- “For the moment we don’t see the ing their stories until the closing cer-
robats, clowns, vibrant music and fections in the capital. About 40% of correlation between having the Para- emony.
fireworks atop the stadium to mark the Japanese population is fully vac- lympics in Tokyo with the rising
the the start of the long parade of ath- cinated. But daily new cases in Tokyo number of cases in Tokyo and Japan,” “I feel like I’m meeting movie stars,”
letes. have increased four to five times since Parsons told The Associated Press. said 14-year-old Ugandan swimmer
the Olympics opened on July 23. To- Husnah Kukundakwe, who is com-
“I cannot believe we are finally here,” kyo is under a state of emergency Some medical experts say even if peting for the first time.
Parsons said in his opening remarks. until Sept. 12, with the Paralympics there is no direct link, the presence of
“Many doubted this day would hap- ending Sept. 5. the Olympics and Paralympics pro- She acknowledged being a self-con-
pen. Many thought it impossible. moted a false sense of security and scious adolescent, even more so be-
But thanks to the efforts of many, the Organizers on Tuesday also an- prompted people to let down their cause of a congenital impairment that
guard, which may have helped spread left her with no lower right arm, an
the virus. her left hand slightly misshapen.

The Paralympics are about athletic “Since it’s the Paralympics and ev-
prowess. The origin of the word is erybody else is disabled, I feel really
from “parallel” — an event running comfortable with myself,” she said.
alongside the Olympics. “In Uganda, there are very few peo-
ple who have disabilities who want to
Markus Rehm — known as the come out and be themselves.”
“Blade Jumper” — lost his right leg
below the knee when he was 14 in Paralympic organizers played a part
a wakeboarding accident, but earlier last week in launching “WeThe15,”
this year he jumped 8.62 meters, a a human-rights campaign aimed
distance that would have won the last at 1.2 billion people — 15% of the
seven Olympics, including the Tokyo global population — with disabilities.
Games. Tokyo’s winning long jump They’ve also produced a 90-second
was 8.41 meters. video to promote the cause of social
inclusion.
“The stigma attached to disability
changes when you watch the sport,” “Difference is a strength, it is not a
said Craig Spence, a spokesman for weakness,” Parsons said, speaking in
the International Paralympic Com- the largely empty stadium. “And as
mittee. “These games will change we build back better in the post-pan-
your attitude toward disability. demic world, it must feature societies
where opportunities exist for all.”
“If you look around Japan, it’s very
rare you see persons with disabilities Shingo Katori, a member of boy band
on the street,” Spence added. “We’ve SMAP that had its roots in the 1980s,
got to go from protecting people to now works with Paralympic organiz-
empowering people and creating op- ers. He acknowledged his early fears
portunities for people to flourish in of working with people with disabili-
society.” ties.

Archer Matt Stutzman was born with “Frankly speaking, people in wheel-
no arms, just stumps at the shoulders. chairs or people with artificial legs —
He holds a world record — for any I hadn’t had an opportunity to meet
archer, disabled or otherwise — for these people and I didn’t know how
the longest, most accurate shot, hit- to communicate with them,” he said.
ting a target at 310 yards, or about 283 “But through Paralympic sports, such
meters. hesitation faded away.”

Wheelchair fencer Bebe Vivo con- Stutzman, known as the “Armless
tracted meningitis as a child and to Archer,” has a disarming sense of
save her life, doctors amputated both humor — pardon the pun. He jokes
her forearms and both her legs at the about growing up wanting the be like
knees. former NBA star Michael Jordan.
“So many people told me that it was “I gave it up,” he deadpans. “I wasn’t
impossible to do fencing without tall enough.”
any hands,” Vivo said in a recent in-