Lack of accessibility in sports facilities and infrastructure limits the involvement of individuals with disabilities in sports, making it tough for athletes to find a safe and supporting environment to jump-start their sporting careers at an early age.
Toshiyuki Saito, the head of the All Nippon ID Sport Association, also known as ANISA, is urging the IPC to allow competitors with intellectual impairments to contest a broader range of sports to give them more visibility at the Paralympics.
“They should increase the number of intellectual disability Paralympic medal events in order to give athletes with intellectual disability a chance to inspire the world,” Saito said.
The International Paralympic Committee on Saturday said it has asked China’s state broadcaster to explain the apparent censorship of its president’s forceful anti-war speech at the opening of the Beijing Winter Paralympics.
International Paralympic Committee board member Miki Matheson has high hopes that the Beijing Winter Paralympic Games, which kick off on Friday 4th March, will be an event that showcases sporting excellence and deepens understanding about people with disabilities.
Japanese sit skier Momoka Muraoka won gold in the women’s downhill Alpine skiing at the Beijing Paralympics Saturday, Japan’s first medal at the Winter Paralympic Games in the Chinese capital.
Many people with disabilities have additional underlying health needs that make them particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus, so Winter Paralympians and their teams have to take extra precautions.
Athletes from around the world have voiced support for war-torn Ukraine ahead of the upcoming Beijing Winter Paralympics, with some already in China expressing solidarity with the Ukrainian team that arrived Wednesday.
While the success sparked increased interest in the Paralympics, it came against a background in which many domestic athletes with disabilities struggle to find places to practice.
A total of 29 athletes who will represent Japan in the upcoming Beijing Paralympics are awaiting the nation’s spotlight with 10 days to go until competitions get under way in the Chinese capital.
Japanese Paralympic Committee president Junichi Kawai will head the Japan delegation that includes athletes who will compete across four snow sports — alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, biathlon and snowboarding.
The Japan Para Alpine Skiing Championships for people with disabilities were held on February 1st at the Sugadaira Kogen Pine Beak Ski Resort in Ueda City, Nagano Prefecture, where two super giant slalom races were held.
Barrier Free Japan