Cheers for equality: The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games opening ceremony at the Place de la Concorde around the Obelisque de Louxor (Luxor Obelisk) in Paris on Aug 28. — AFP
ATHLETES with disabilities are currently striving to reach their full potential and gain glory in Paris. We hope this will be an opportunity for performances by such athletes to be engraved in people’s memories, deepening understanding of sports for those with different abilities.
Since Aug 28, about 4,400 disabled athletes from 170 countries and regions have been participating in 22 sports, competing on strength and skill.
The 2024 Paris Paralympics Games will end on Sept 8.
We hope that people will enthusiastically cheer for the athletes who have persistently worked hard to participate in the Games.
The opening ceremony was held in central Paris, and the athletes marched down the Avenue des Champs-Elysees with radiant expressions on their faces. As at the recent Olympics, the open atmosphere of a ceremony not enclosed by a stadium was inspiring.
More than 170 athletes from Japan are participating.
When it comes to the Japanese athletes, hopes are high for outstanding performances by those in younger generations. Tokito Oda is 18 years old, but he is a gold medal favourite for wheelchair tennis singles. He has already won three of the four Grand Slam titles, including the French Open.
Oda began playing wheelchair tennis because he admired Shingo Kunieda, who won four Paralympic gold medals and retired last year. We hope that Oda’s passionate performance will remind people of Kunieda’s.
Swimmer Taiyo Kawabuchi is the youngest athlete in the Japanese delegation at 15 years old, and he is a rising star who won a gold medal at last year’s Asian Para Games. It is hoped that he will show his bold and excellent swimming at his first Paralympic Games.
In 2017, the government launched the “Japan Rising Star Project” to discover promising athletes for the Olympics and Paralympics. Eight athletes from that programme will compete in the Games this time. It can be said that the project has achieved a certain level of success.
However, 20 of 25 sports organisations for the disabled that were surveyed by The Yomiuri Shimbun responded that they lacked funds for their activities.
Some organisations are struggling to deal with a significant decrease in income for such reasons as the termination of sponsor support since the Tokyo Games in 2021, and they had to shorten the schedules for their training camps.
It is desirable to have a society in which everyone can enjoy sports regardless of whether they have a disability or not. It is important for the public and private sectors to work together to provide continuous support for that purpose.
International conflicts are casting a dark shadow over the Games. Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has intensified, and there is no end to warfare in the Middle East.
A Ukrainian athlete who lost his left leg in the fighting will be competing in sitting volleyball at the Games. The athlete said that he wants people to see the reality of what is happening in Ukraine through his performance.
The Paralympics are said to have originated as a competition for wounded soldiers. At the root of the event is the wish for peace. – The Yomiuri Shimbun/Asia News Network
