The 14th Paralympic Games held Closing Ceremonies yesterday in London’s Olympic Stadium. Even if U.S. media had been committed to providing more live coverage of the events leading into the game, it would have been difficult for the day-to-day stories to garner public awareness during a news cycle that included national conventions for the two major political parties and the first hurricane to truly test New Orleans’ newly built levee system since Katrina.
But, of course, there were great stories to be told. The human interest element is part of the draw to coverage of the Olympics and Paralympics alike, or any sport really. It’s knowing what we know about South African runner Oscar Pistorius as a person that compels us to watch the whole story arc that had him getting upset by Brazil’s Alan Oliveira in the 200-meter final, then upset at the International Paralympic Committee for their prostheses-measuring criteria, before finally getting upset with himself for losing his cool in the public eye.
NPR told two great stories right at the onset of the games last week. While we were busy drilling down into what the GOP vision for America’s future meant for career training and employment opportunities for people with disabilities, Morning Edition was airing “Doing It To Win: Veterans Raise Bar at Paralympics” by correspondent Quil Lawrence. Ten percent of the U.S. Paralympic team is comprised of military veterans, and Lawrence credits the presence to the Pentagon’s investment into prosthetics technology.
The never-leave-a-soldier-behind culture of America’s Armed Forces extends well beyond the battlefield. In early August, we noted that the Department of Defense is one of the leading employers of people with disabilities, and their commitment to helping veterans find ways to make their life matter after being wounded in the line of duty is a vital step in helping them transition back to a civilian life with their families.
Rob Jones is one of the veterans Lawrence speaks to in his piece, and he is also featured in David Gilkey’s wonderful slideshow of photos. Jones says even though he had never considered rowing competitively until after losing his legs in Afghanistan, he knew participating in sports would keep him striving to achieve, no matter where his life led. Jones said:
When I compete, I do it to win. I wanted to get as high up the ladder as I could, and I really don’t think there’s anything higher than the Paralympics. So I set my goals high and went after it.
Three days later, Weekend Edition aired Joseph Shapiro’s segment about two sisters set to compete against each other in wheelchair race events. In fact, the story of the eldest sister, Tatyana McFadden, is worthy of national attention even had she not excelled to the level of a world-class athlete.
The 23-year-old was adopted from a Russian orphanage as a child already paralyzed from the waist down due to spina bifida. But her mother, Deborah, saw a spirit in her young daughter that would not be dampened:
McFadden says every time she introduced Tatyana to a new sport, she took to it right away: swimming, gymnastics, wheelchair basketball, and downhill skiing. ‘She kept saying ‘ya sama.’ And ya sama in Russian doesn’t mean: I can do it. It means, I can do it myself. So I’d say, ‘Let’s go swimming.’ ‘Ya sama. Ya sama.’
The McFaddens had to go to court in order for Tatyana to have the same opportunities to compete as other high school athletes. It is in part thanks to their efforts that U.S. Paralympians have access to the same facilities and coaches as the members of the U.S. Olympic teams.
Maybe she didn’t do it all by herself, but as Tatyana herself says in this British Petroleum promotional ad, sports have helped her become the person she is today, which in her mind is “the fastest woman in the world,” without any qualification of that title necessary.
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Image by Electrified01 (Kevin V.).