Top sports performances at the 16th Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020

Dutch flag Written in: Dutch • Randy Koo •
The 16th Paralympic Games will be held in Tokyo from August 24 to September 5, 2021. Who took the initiative to organize the Paralympic Games? Has the Netherlands ever hosted the Paralympic Games? Which sports are held in Tokyo that do not feature in the 'normal' Olympic Games? On most sports stamps, you see the athletes depicted in wheelchairs. The Netherlands has issued only two Paralympic stamps to date. Far too few when you consider the achievements of these top athletes.

Who is in Tokyo?

De Paralympic Games are the Olympic Games for people with, among others, a physical disability, visual impairment, and/or cerebral palsy. A total of 4.403 athletes from 162 countries are participating.
Paralympic Games logo. Source: Wikipedia.
Although no Afghan athletes will participate in the Paralympic Games in Tokyo, the country's flag will still be carried into the Olympic stadium during the opening ceremony. The President of the International Paralympic Committee (IPCAndrew Parsons announced, the day before the start of the event, that the Afghan flag would be given a place during the parade as a sign of solidarity.
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Following the Taliban's takeover, many Afghans are attempting to flee the country in vain. Two Afghan athletes had qualified for the Paralympics but will not be competing in Japan. "We would love to have them there. Unfortunately, that is not possible, but we will be thinking of them here," declared Parsons. A representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees ( UNHCR ) will carry the Afghan flag into the stadium.

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Precursors to the Paralympic Games

A spinal cord injury once meant a sentence to lifelong bedriddenness and often a quick death. About eighty years ago, neurosurgeon Ludwig Guttmann (1899–1980) began to realize that things could be different. His recipe: exercise. It made people physically fitter and restored their self-image. Using sports as rehabilitation led to competitions. Perhaps the most memorable was an archery competition for wheelchair users at Guttmann’s own Stoke Mandeville Hospital on the opening day of the 1948 Olympic Games in London. The small competition between ten men and two women laid the foundation for the later Paralympic Games, the sixteenth edition of which kicked off this week in Tokyo.

Rusland (2013): Sir Ludwig Guttmann

Guttmann's controversial approach (' movement' ) not only lowered mortality rates but also helped many of his patients reintegrate into society. Patients adored him. One of the youngest even called him 'Poppa'. Guttmann's archery competition of 1948 proved to be the start of the annual Stoke Mandeville Games. These took on an international character for the first time in 1952 with the participation of a Dutch team of war veterans. Other countries followed later. The Paralympic Games were a logical next step. They were organized for the first time in 1960 in the same city where the Olympic Games were held, Rome.

Over the years, appreciation for 'Poppa' Guttmann's insights and merits grew. Pope John XXIII placed the neurologist on the same level as the founding father of the modern Olympic Games by calling him ' the Pierre de Coubertin of the disabled '. Queen Elizabeth knighted the German, who had already been naturalized as a British citizen much earlier, in 1966. From then on, he was allowed to call himself Sir Ludwig Guttmann. Guttmann died on March 18, 1980, at the age of eighty, from the effects of a heart attack. Three months after his death, Princess Margriet opened the Paralympic Games in Arnhem, the first without their great advocate.

Paralympic Games Arnhem 1980

De 6th Paralympic Games, at that time the Olympic Games for the disabled mentioned, were held in Arnhem in 1980. The Soviet Union, which had been awarded the Olympic Games that year, did not want to organize the Games for the disabled as well, because disabled people would not exist in a socialist utopia (as the Soviet Union saw itself). The Games were held from June 21 to July 5, 1980. Princess Margriet performed the opening ceremony before 12.000 spectators. 1.973 athletes from 43 participating countries took part in 13 sports: archery, athletics, goalball, dartchery, boules, shooting, swimming, table tennis, sitting volleyball, powerlifting, wheelchair basketball, wrestling, and wheelchair fencing. The swimming took place at the Valleibad in Veenendaal. The gold medalists for the organizing country at the time were swimmers Kers and Hageraats, each with three medals. The USA (195) and Poland (177) won the most medals. West Germany, Canada, and Great Britain completed the top five. South Africa was not allowed to participate due to an international sports boycott against apartheid. The name 'Olympic' was changed to Paralympic after the Arnhem Games. The IOC objected to the use of the name Olympic because it holds the exclusive rights to that name.
Research by the Mulier Institute shows that Arnhem 1980 can be considered a significant turning point for disability sports in the Netherlands. It was the first time such a major tournament for athletes with disabilities was organized in our country. The perception of people with disabilities changed drastically and paved the way for the social integration and recognition of people with disabilities. However, the Games also showed that, with a few exceptions, the professionalism of the sport itself was still in its infancy. The second major international sporting event for people with disabilities, the Assen World Games in 1990, demonstrated that significant progress had been made within a decade. In that respect, Arnhem can be seen as a milestone, marking the beginning of the professionalization of disability sports nationally and internationally.  

Dutch contenders

A total of 73 Dutch athletes are participating. Due to the absence of a number of team sports, this is a smaller group than five years ago. “But if you qualify, you really stand a chance of winning a medal,” said Chef de mission Esther Vergeer . The opening ceremony was held in the Tokyo Olympic Stadium. Para-athlete Fleur Jong and handbiker Jetze Plat carried the Dutch flag. As with the Olympic Games, restrictions apply due to the coronavirus. For example, no spectators are allowed at the sporting events. Badminton and taekwondo are on the Paralympic program for the first time. The Netherlands is represented in 11 sports. At the previous Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, the Dutch team was particularly successful, winning a total of 62 medals: 17 gold, 19 silver, and 26 bronze.

The Netherlands (2012): 100 years of NOC * NSF with Esther Vergeer (wheelchair tennis player).
Esther Verger (1981) is a former wheelchair tennis player and wheelchair basketball player. From April 1999 she held the number one spot on the world rankings uninterruptedly in the wheelchair tennis until January 2013. Moreover, she has been undefeated in singles since January 2003. Vergeer is a seven-time Paralympic champion in tennis, was voted disabled athlete of the year five times, and won the Laureus World Sports Awards in 2002 and 2008. In 2018, Esther Vergeer served as Chef de Mission for the Dutch team at the Paralympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, a role she also fulfilled in Tokyo in the summer of 2021. As a sports icon, she could not be missing from the '100 years NOC * NSF' sheet. [/ One_half] [one_half_last]          

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What a phenomenon: Kelly van ZonIn 2008, the table tennis player made her debut at the Paralympic Games with a bronze medal. Four years later: gold. In 2016: gold. And now she wins the Paralympic title again. In the thrilling final, she defeats her opponent from Russia 3-2. Three in a row! The very best for thirteen years.
There are also medal chances for the Netherlands in the other sports: cycling, athletics, rowing, basketball, swimming, equestrian, tennis, boccia. [/ One_half] [one_half_last]             [/one_half_last]   [one_half] [/ One_half] [one_half_last]        

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Remarkable Paralympic sports

Boccia

Boccia is a ball and throwing sport that is similar to bowls, lawn bowling en petanqueBoccia is suitable for athletes with cerebral palsy or severe motor impairments. Athletes are classified into specific categories depending on their abilities. Athletes in the same category compete against each other. There are four categories: BC1 through BC4. Boccia is played individually or in teams of either two or three players. The aim is to throw a leather ball as close as possible to the white ball (the target). The ball can be thrown with the hand or the foot. If the athlete has a disability that is too severe, an aid may also be used. Blue and red balls are used. The surface is usually hard. [/ One_half] [one_half_last]         First, someone from one team throws the white ball; the white ball is the same size as the other balls. Next, they try to get their own ball as close as possible to that white ball. One team has the blue balls, the other team the red ones. Then, someone from the other team throws and tries to throw their ball closer. The team continues throwing until it is closer, or until all their balls are used up. Then it is the other team's turn again. For every ball of your own that is closer to the white ball than the opponent's shortest ball, you get one point. Whoever has the highest number of points at the end of the match wins. The same playing order applies to individual matches. The number of balls and rounds per match varies. Individual matches consist of four rounds, and each player has six balls. For duos, there are four rounds and three balls per team member (also six in total). For trios, there are six rounds and two balls per player (also six in total). [/ One_half] [one_half_last]             One game of boules It is a collective game in which the balls are approached as closely as possible to a specific target, usually a smaller ball, which is thrown a few meters from the players. Jeu de boules games are popular in France, Italy, Croatia, and some former French colonies. The most common forms are jeu de boules, of Provençal origin, jeu de boules in Italy, and jeu de boules in the Commonwealth countries; however, there are also other types of jeu de boules, some of which are played very locally. On September 6, 2021, a 'Jeu de Boules' sheet was issued as part of French heritage, using the original design from 1958.
France (2021); Jeu de Boules as part of sport and recreation.
 

goalball

goalball is a ball sport for people with a visual impairment. It was invented in 1946 by the Austrian Hanz Lorenzen and the German Sepp Reindle to support the recovery of blind veterans from World War II. Goalball players wear taped-up ski goggles, allowing athletes without a visual impairment to also participate in this sport. Goalball was introduced in the Netherlands in 1979. It was a demonstration sport at the 1976 Paralympics and has been part of the Paralympic Games since 1980.
England (2010): from the series Olympic & Paralympic Games 2012.
Goalball is played in two halves of 12 minutes (since 2011, previously 10 minutes) on a field measuring 18 by 9 meters. Two teams of a maximum of six people play, with three on the field at any one time. Each team occupies one half of the field. Using an underhand throw, the rattle ball—a 1,25 kg ball with a bell inside—is thrown towards the opposing team's goal. The goal extends across the full width of the field. The players of the opposing team must orient themselves to the ball by ear and try to keep it out of the goal. Both halves of the field are divided into three areas, each three meters deep. From outside to inside, these areas are: team area, throwing area, and neutral area.
 

Wheelchair Rugby

Wheelchair Rugby, or Quad Rugby, also better known as wheelchair rugby and Murderball, is a team sport for men and women with tetraplegia, meaning there are limitations affecting all four limbs. The sport originated as a variant of wheelchair basketball to allow people with arm limitations to participate in sports. There is a mixed tournament at the Games. Most teams consist of men, but women can also participate. Each country may enter with a team of eleven athletes, or a team of twelve if at least one woman is included.
England (2011): from the series Olympic & Paralympic Games 2012.
 

<strong> More info: </strong>

TeamNL: https://teamnl.org/paralympische-spelen Paralympics Tokyo:  https://www.paralympic.org/tokyo-2020  
New Zealand (2020): Tokyo Paralympic Games.
 

Used sources:

Trouw articleDéjà vu – Begin van Paralympic Games Wikipedia for Paralympic sports. NOC*NSF: Paralympic Games 1980.
Finland (2012): London Paralympic Games.
Unfortunately, the Netherlands only has two Paralympic stamps issued. Very few when you consider how many stamps have been issued for able-bodied athletes. PostNL, take a look at how other countries handle this. This blog contains numerous examples of how creative these countries have been with their designs.

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