Technology, Innovation and Grit: Faster, Higher, Stronger in Disabled Sports
| Author | Catherine Jewell/Sylvie Castonguay |
| Position | Senior Information Officer, Media Relations and Public Affairs Section/WIPO Magazine Editorial Team, Communications and Public Outreach Division |
Nowhere is the impact of technological innovation more evident than in the area of disabled sports. For years athletes with talent, determination and drive have been excluded from competitive sports by disabilities. But scientific innovation has come a long way in finding solutions using bio-mechanics and other technologies to serve these athletes.
The development of new materials and cutting-edge designs as well as major advances in engineering and surgical techniques have given disabled athletes unprecedented opportunities to actively participate in sport. These trends have put sport as recreation within the reach of many individuals with a disability, but also have boosted the ranks of elite athletes with disabilities and enabled previously unimaginable sporting feats.
The 13 th Paralympic Games, which will be held in Beijing in September, demonstrate this advance in disabled sports. Some 4,000 Paralympians from 150 countries will participate in the Games, marking a ten-fold increase from the 400 competitors from 23 countries in the 1960 Games in Rome. The Games will include a wide range of sport - archery, athletics, boccia, cycling, equestrian, 5-a-side and 7-a-side football , goalball, judo, power lifting, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, table tennis, volleyball (sitting), wheelchair basketball, wheelchair fencing, wheelchair rugby and wheelchair tennis. Athletes from six different disability groups defined by the degree of function determined by the disability - those with an amputation, cerebral palsy, visual impairment, spinal cord injuries, intellectual disability and others which do not fit into these above groups - will participate in these events.
Major advances in the prosthetics industry and wheelchair technology have transformed the sporting arena for these athletes. Today specialized prostheses are crafted to meet the specific requirements for amputee athletes aiming to compete. Similarly wheelchair technology now allows adjustments to readily accommodate the varying needs of the athletes competing in different sports.
Prosthetic devices, such as artificial limbs or eyes, have existed for centuries, but early devices were crude, heavy, unwieldy and uncomfortable. Greater understanding of the biomechanical...
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