What do we talk about when we discuss Paralympics?
A vibrant and heart-warming closing ceremony at the Bird's Nest in Beijing on Sunday night brought the curtain down on the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games, which has sent out a message of inclusion, resilience and hope to the world during challenging times.
I rolled my eyes at WeChat Moments when I took a short break before resuming my work at home last night. From the living room came the sound of news: China finished in first place with 18 gold medals in the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games.
"I never knew about our unassailable lead in the standings. How about you?" my husband said as he brought me a cup of tea. "No idea, either," I answered, somewhat idly curious.
My mind has lately been so loaded as big news just keeps popping up: the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Two Sessions (the annual meetings of China's national legislature and top political advisory body) and the city's latest COVID-19 surge that has me quarantining at home, just to name a few. As a matter of course, the Games slipped my mind.
The news said China ranked first in both gold and overall medal counts by pocketing 18 golds, 20 silvers and 23 bronzes, the best performance in the history of China's participation in the Winter Paralympics.
I was not aware of it. Was I alone? So I looked to see whether any of my 1,200-plus WeChat friends had shared bits of relevant information. About 20 minutes on, at long last, came one.
It was posted by retired para-athlete Yun Weiping more than a week ago to congratulate his former teammate, Zhu Daqing, on winning China's first medal in the Games. And that's all! That is to say, over the entire period from March 4 to 13, almost none of my WeChat friends cared about it.
China defended its wheelchair curling crown at the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games by beating Sweden 8-3 here on Saturday.
And it's not just China. At the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in 2018, 1.07 million tickets were sold, but only 340,000 tickets were sold for the Winter Paralympics. Ticket sales for the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014 were four times higher than for the Paralympics.
Taking place every four years, Paralympics have grown into one of the world's biggest sporting events. According to the United Nations, the world's population is nearing 8 billion, including 1.5 billion people with disabilities – exceeding the entire population of China. In other words, across the globe, almost one in five has a disability.
But the disabled seem to be a large minority group. Why? Society certainly cares about people with disabilities, but when it comes to their sports, public awareness has yet to catch up.
Torchbearer Li Duan prepares to light up the Paralympic Winter Games Cauldron during the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games at the National Stadium in Beijing on March 4. Li, Paralympic long jump and triple jump champion at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008, became the first blind person in the world to light the Paralympic flame at the opening ceremony.
So, what do we really talk about when we talk about the Paralympics? What's the point of it?
Tracing the origin of the Paralympics, I found that "para" is actually a Greek prefix for "beside." So it was born as a "parallel" game to Olympics, not the "paralyzed" version that many of us might think.
If we leave all these biases behind, we may well find the Paralympics just as exciting as the Olympics. What's more, some Paralympians outperform Olympians. For instance, at the Rio Summer Olympics in 2016, the top four visually impaired runners finished the 1,500-meter race faster than the Olympic champion. So, it's wrong to feel sorry for Paralympians. They should be admired just like all other athletes.
Besides, technological advances are helping the Paralympics, and, most importantly, there are many uplifting stories.
"It encourages people with disabilities to stand up. Their willingness, confidence and courage deserve respect," Yun told me.
He lost his right arm in an accident when he was only 16 years old. With all-out inspiration, he became the national champion in the 100- and 200-meter running races in 2005. In 2008, he was part of the Beijing Olympic torch relay.
"Many people don't know how hard it is for a disabled athlete to compete in the same events. It requires many times the effort. It really hurts when artificial limbs suffer from friction," he said.
Para-athletes are great survivors, and Paralympics allow us to admire their indomitable spirit.
