-
By:
Associated Press
- August 24, 2021 20:09
- Share to:
The Paralympic Games began on Tuesday in the same empty national stadium - due to the pandemic - in which the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games that ended long ago in Tokyo were held. The Japanese emperor, Naruhito, started it all over again, this time under the theme "We have wings". Among the few on hand were Douglas Emhoff, husband of US Vice President Kamala Harris, International Paralympic Committee president Andrew Parsons, and International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach. It was a circus-like opening with acrobats, clowns, live music and fireworks above the stadium to mark the start of the long parade of athletes.
"I can't believe we're finally here," Parsons said in his opening remarks. "Many doubted that this day would happen. Many thought it was impossible. But thanks to many efforts, the most transformative sporting event on earth will begin."
The opening ceremony featured the national flags of the 162 delegations represented, which included the refugee team. In addition, the flag of Afghanistan was carried by a volunteer despite the fact that the delegation was not in Tokyo. Organizers of Tokyo and the Paralympic Games are under pressure from new infections in the capital. About 40 percent of the Japanese population is fully vaccinated. But daily new cases in Tokyo have increased four to five times since the Olympics opened on July 23. Tokyo is under a state of emergency until September 12, with the Paralympics ending on September 5. Organizers on Tuesday also announced the first positive test for an athlete living in the Paralympic Village. They did not release any names or details and said the athlete had been isolated. The Paralympic Games will be held without fans, although organizers are planning to let some school children go, against the advice of much of the medical community.
Parsons and Seiko Hashimoto, the president of the Tokyo organizing committee, say the Paralympics will be safe. Both have tried to distance the Paralympic and Olympic Games from the rising infection rate in Tokyo.
"At the moment we don't see the correlation between holding the Paralympics in Tokyo and the increase in the number of cases in Tokyo and Japan," said Parsons.
Some medical experts say that even if there is no direct connection, the presence of the Olympics and Paralympics fostered a false sense of security and caused people to drop their protection, which may have helped spread the virus. The Paralympic Games are all about athletic ability. The origin of the word is from "parallel" - an event that takes place together with the Olympics.
Markus Rehm - known as the "Blade Jumper" - lost his right leg below the knee when he was 14 in a water accident, but earlier this year he jumped 8.62m, a distance that would have won the last seven Olympics. including the Tokyo Games. Tokyo's winning long jump was 8.41 meters.
"The stigma associated with disability changes when you look at sport," said Craig Spence, a spokesman for the International Paralympic Committee. “These games will change your attitude towards disability. If you look around Japan, it's very rare to see disabled people on the streets. We need to move from protecting people to empowering people and creating opportunities for people to thrive in society."
Archer Matt Stutzman was born without arms. He holds a world record — for any archer, disabled or otherwise — for the longest and most accurate shot, hitting a target 310 yards, or about 283 yards. Bebe Vivo, who competes in wheelchair fencing, contracted meningitis as a child and to save her life doctors amputated her forearms and both legs below the knees.
"Many people told me that it was impossible to fence without any hands," Vivo said. “So it was so important for me to demonstrate and show people that it doesn't matter if you don't have hands, or you don't have legs or whatever. If you have a dream and you really want to achieve it, just go and get it."
Stutzman and Vivo will both compete in Tokyo and have already won medals at previous games. They are superstars who told their stories last year in Netflix's Paralympic documentary 'Rise of the Phoenix'.
The rest of the 4 Paralympic athletes in Tokyo - a record number for any Paralympics - will tell their stories until the closing ceremony.
"I feel like I'm meeting movie stars," said 14-year-old Ugandan swimmer Husnah Kukundakwe, who is competing for the first time.
She admitted to being a self-conscious teenager, all the more so due to a birth injury that left her without her lower right arm and her left hand was slightly deformed.
"Since it's the Paralympics and everyone else is disabled, I feel really comfortable with myself," she said. "In Uganda there are very few people who have disabilities who want to come out and be themselves."
Stutzman, known as the "Armless Archer," jokes that growing up he wanted to be like former NBA star Michael Jordan.
"I gave up on that idea because I wasn't tall enough," laughs Stutzman.
Meanwhile, Parsons, speaking to the largely empty stadium, added: "Difference is a strength, it's not a weakness. And as we build a better post-pandemic world, it must feature societies where opportunity exists for all."
