The actual competitor is still the most important person in
the team. He or she has to summon up almost superhuman effort and endurance. Nevertheless,
the performance of the surrounding team is crucial in crossing the increasingly
fine dividing line between winning and not winning.
This applies equally, or more so, to those taking part in the
Paralympics and in other sporting competitions for those with physical
disabilities.
In either case the
winner is becoming more an emblem of a successful joint effort than a person to
be admired – hopefully not worshipped - in himself or herself. Neil
Armstrong was celebrated as the culmination of the American space effort in a
ten year race against the Soviets to get a man on the moon, rather than praised
as an individual. This seems to be the way sport is going. Even team sport. Football
is not just about the 11 players on the field – it is about the managers,
coaches, financial backers and, most of all, the supporters.
I recently heard an expert in prosthetics predicting that expected
developments in aids to the human body could allow the Paralympics and Olympics
to be merged. An expanded Olympics would incorporate both categories of contestant
in one system of games, with no distinction or allowance made for the intrinsic
physical endowments of the competitor or the participant in a team sport. Similarly, events for males and females could
be replaced by events for human beings.
Initially, this may be possible with some sports more than
others; but it could well be the way sport is going and in my view it would add
to its interest while at the same time allowing competitors to win in a more
meaningful and gracious way. It would also help to remind us that a person is
not defined by his or her physical attributes.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18174501
