Disabled
Athletes/Star Athletes
According to the chapter “Disability
and Sport” by Marie Harden in our textbook, disabled athletes competing in
mainstream sports is viewed as outside of what sports fan expect to see. We will
discuss the ways disabled athletes are changing the playing fields and endeavor
to show how the athletes are finding different methods of showcasing their
sports activities.
Wounded warriors make up a growing
group of disabled men and women. The Wounded Warrior Project provides help to
service members in adjusting to life after their injuries. Besides the sports
and fitness program using adaptive equipment and trained instructors, the WWP
provides outdoor recreation opportunities. Some of the activities are
snowboarding, skiing, bicycling, and rafting[1]. A
major activity is the Soldier Ride. This is a four day event utilizing cycling
“to overcome physical, mental and emotional wounds.” All bicycles are provided
for the participants, from adaptive hand-cycles to regular bicycles.
An inquiry to the resource center at the Wounded Warriors project on April 21, 2012 resulted in this response from Lonni Maddox on April 23, 2012:
An inquiry to the resource center at the Wounded Warriors project on April 21, 2012 resulted in this response from Lonni Maddox on April 23, 2012:
In
the past, Soldier Ride was a fundraising program, with individuals could
register to ride with our Warriors, and that “ride” had a fundraising
requirement. That portion of the program was eliminated. Soldier
Ride is one of our Alumni only programs and has no fundraising requirement.
When
WWP does have an event, such as the upcoming WWP8K Runs in Jacksonville and San
Antonio that have a fundraising component for participation, our Alumni are not
charged to participate nor do they have a fundraising requirement.
Geico and U-Haul are prominently featured on the webpage.[2] In an article published in Active Living, the director of Disable
Sports USA, Kirk Bauer, said his group provides sports rehabilitation, and does
not limit the rehabilitation to veterans. Along with the Wounded Warrior
Project, DSUSA established the Wounded Warrior Disabled Sports Project. In
2007, the groups have held more than 60 events[3].
An article in The Washington Times (October 3, 2008)[4]
talked about Team River Runner. The article covered a joint fundraiser with the
Adventure Sports Center International, in McHenry, Maryland, with wounded
soldiers, and Olympic kayakers. The fundraising goal was $10,000. The volunteer
organization (started in 2004) works with active duty soldiers wounded in Iraq
and Afghanistan, placing them in kayaks with adaptive equipment. There are now
approximately 40 chapters.[5] The
process starts with the soldiers learning to control a kayak in the pool,
before taking them to open water. The article contains a quote that is a
perfect lead into the following video. The quote is by Joe Mornini, one of the
founders of Team River Runners. “When they are in the water, nobody knows that
they are amputees. They are kayakers.” [6]
Another group working U.S. troops injured in Iraq and Afghanistan is the
Challenged Athletes Foundation. In the journal Triathlete, the 2008 issue featured an article about the raising of
$174,000 to support injured troops. Team Operation Rebound California 70.3
included seven injured troops, including two who ran the entire triathlon, with
the remaining five contributing as part of relay teams.On the Challenged Athletes Operation Rebound website there
is more detailed information on the program. It is open to American Military
personnel, veterans and first responders with permanent physical disabilities.
The program provides access to funding for equipment and training, competition expenses,
military medical center physical training and sports clinics. [7]
The
article on the legality of letting Oscar Pistorius compete with able bodied
runners, inspired a search for a Baltimore Sun article on Tatyana McFadden. She
went to court in order to compete with able bodied runners in track meets while
attending Atholton High School in Columbia, Maryland.[8] Compare
Tatyana McFadden, wheelchair athlete to Oscar Pistorius, amputee sprinter,
which one will have the best chance to medal in the 2012 Olympics? As of today,
Oscar Pistorius still needs one more qualifying 400m below 45:30 before he will
know if he will be able to compete in both the Olympics and the Paralympics. He
won three gold medals in the 2008 Olympics. Tatyana McFadden has won six medals
in the Paralympics and will compete in the marathon and several other races for
Team USA.
When the news media spotlights disabled athletes, the focus more often than not is on said athletes' disabilities rather than their performance, and their victories are used as material for inspirational human interest stories rather than normal sports coverage. In an interview with ESPN, wheelchair rugby player Mark Zupan said
If I can be an inspiration for someone, that's fine, but just don't look down on me. Don't say, "Oh, you're in a wheelchair."[9]An athlete's disability is usually seen as a disadvantage for them to overcome, but in the case of many of the athletes this post discusses, their disabilities helped them excel in other ways. With this in mind, does our fascination with and love of disabled athletes take on an ableist light? Do we look up to them because of their athletic skill, or does our support of them stem from good intentioned but misguided condescension?
[1] http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/programs/physical-health-wellness.aspx
[2] http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/programs/soldier-ride.aspx
[3] Active Living; Vol. 15, Issue 2, pg26,
28
[5] http://www.teamriverrunner.org/?q=chapter_map
[6] http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bwh&AN=4KB520081003081730000&site=ehost-live
[7] http://www.challengedathletes.org/site/c.4nJHJQPqEiKUE/b.6449449/k.B480/Operation_Rebound.htm
[8] http://www.baltimoresun.com/explore/howard/publications/howard-magazine/bs-exho-tatyana-mcfadden-howard-countys-lady-velocity-20120328,0,7339185,print.story
[9] http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page3/story?page=kamenetzky/murderball/050707
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