Reply to: Paralympics

[TestMangler]

The basketball is great!

I heard a scandal was looming as some Team GB basketball players had tested positive for WD40

[sasguru]

Track cyclists really need three attributes; a means of holding on, strong legs and a small brain.

Ah that explains why Brillo is a good cyclist.

[cojak]

The basketball is great!

[oscarose]

Yep. And that guy Oscar Pistorius is amazing. He's even faster than some of the able-bodied sportsmen in his event.

+1

[Mich the Tester]

Yep. And that guy Oscar Pistorius is amazing. He's even faster than some of the able-bodied sportsmen in his event.



To be fair, having a shrivelled hand does sound like a significant disability for a cyclist. That's like a Project Manager having a conscience.

There's nothing in the rules that says they have to be worse at their sport than their able-bodied contemporaries. If they can compete against other people that don't have their disabilities, all the more power to them.

That's not a disability; it would be a miracle!

But anyway, yes a shrivelled hand might be a disability for a road cyclist, and even more so for a BMX cyclist or mountain biker, but not really for a trackie. Track cyclists really need three attributes; a means of holding on, strong legs and a small brain.

[SueEllen]

How they do it I don't know... maybe simply on statistical grounds.

They work out how the disability effects them then categorise them.

There is one woman (can't remember her name) who is a swimmer who has been put up 2 levels as she was caught on Facebook standing up in photos and on Youtube in a promotional video walking with aids.

Apparently she was originally in a category where you weren't suppose to have control of your legs, and as she can clearly kick off and use them to move her she was made to move categories.

[SueEllen]

Umm, much as I congratulate Sarah Storey on her gold medal, she doesn't seem to be very disabled for a cyclist. Or can someone shed some light on any other disability she may have other than having a very small hand?

Having one hand does put you at a disadvantage in terms of balance and holding on to things.

Of course if you always had one arm then it's normal to you so you get on with it and grow up knowing how to compensate for it.

However watching the swimmers and wheelchair basketball it was explained by the commentators that some of them had different accidents or had caught viruses resulting in either them having a limb amputated or being paralysed on one side.

She competes in the British able bodied championships where she beat Dani King who won a gold at the olympics. I don't get this. I thought the paralympics was about giving disabled people the opportunity to compete on even terms with other disabled athletes;

Who else are they going to train with? You and I are too cr*p to give them a decent challenge. Just because you have a disability - got your leg blown off at age 13, had a motorbike accident at 22 etc doesn't mean you were never extremely very good at sport.

Like with abled-bodied people people with disabilities
have different levels of ability in everything from sport to intelligence.

I went to a primary school with deaf children while most of them had difficulties with learning because of not being able to hear, a few of them didn't and out of those 2 were very intelligent. When I went to secondary school I discovered a few of the pupils in my classes could also be classified as deaf. However as they had some hearing their parents refused to get them labelled so to ensure they went to a mainstream school.

what's the point in categories where they could probably qualify for the Olympics with a serious chance of a medal?

While Oscar Pistorius and Natalia Partyka did compete in the Olympics, in 400m and table tennis respectively, not all the rest can.

The categories define the level of disability the competitor has. This in turn allows them to have compensate for certain things.

So in the swimming if you have one arm or are paralysed on one-side of your body, so swim with one arm you are allowed to breath to the side.

BTW Abled-bodied people are allowed to play wheelchair basketball however you cannot compete in international competitions. Though personally seeing that they play on a normal basketball court and people's chairs knocked over I think I will pass.

[Gentile]

Now I might have questions about some of the sports and categories, but what you're saying now is bollocks of the lowest order. It was originally set up for injured soldiers who wanted to continue in sports and wanted serious, hard, painful competition with all that competitive sport entails instead of having some PC people feeling sorry for them. High level competitive sport is ANYTHING BUT PC.

Did anyone see that Rob Brydon thing about the founding of the Paralympics the other week? It looked quite good; I must see if it's still on iPlayer.

[Gentile]

Some of the sports look good - wheelchair basketball is pretty well established, and the rugby looks crazy.

Yep. And that guy Oscar Pistorius is amazing. He's even faster than some of the able-bodied sportsmen in his event.

Umm, much as I congratulate Sarah Storey on her gold medal, she doesn't seem to be very disabled for a cyclist. Or can someone shed some light on any other disability she may have other than having a very small hand? ..

To be fair, having a shrivelled hand does sound like a significant disability for a cyclist. That's like a Project Manager having a conscience.

There's nothing in the rules that says they have to be worse at their sport than their able-bodied contemporaries. If they can compete against other people that don't have their disabilities, all the more power to them.

[d000hg]

Umm, much as I congratulate Sarah Storey on her gold medal, she doesn't seem to be very disabled for a cyclist. Or can someone shed some light on any other disability she may have other than having a very small hand? She competes in the British able bodied championships where she beat Dani King who won a gold at the olympics. I don't get this. I thought the paralympics was about giving disabled people the opportunity to compete on even terms with other disabled athletes; what's the point in categories where they could probably qualify for the Olympics with a serious chance of a medal?



Mind you, her opponent looked even less 'disabled'. Missing a little finger perhaps?

I can only suggest you look at the official site, they discuss how the categorisations are done for each sport in quite some detail... I imagine many disabilities aren't even visible.

For instance this morning I watched seemingly able-bodied swimmers get thrashed at Butterfly by one-armed swimmers. Their system says a fit person who lost an arm is on the same level as someone with a full set of limbs suffering from muscular disabilities.

How they do it I don't know... maybe simply on statistical grounds.

[Mich the Tester]

The whole thing is some horrendous PC exercise.

Now I might have questions about some of the sports and categories, but what you're saying now is bollocks of the lowest order. It was originally set up for injured soldiers who wanted to continue in sports and wanted serious, hard, painful competition with all that competitive sport entails instead of having some PC people feeling sorry for them. High level competitive sport is ANYTHING BUT PC.

[Mich the Tester]

Umm, much as I congratulate Sarah Storey on her gold medal, she doesn't seem to be very disabled for a cyclist. Or can someone shed some light on any other disability she may have other than having a very small hand? She competes in the British able bodied championships where she beat Dani King who won a gold at the olympics. I don't get this. I thought the paralympics was about giving disabled people the opportunity to compete on even terms with other disabled athletes; what's the point in categories where they could probably qualify for the Olympics with a serious chance of a medal?



Mind you, her opponent looked even less 'disabled'. Missing a little finger perhaps?

[cykophysh39]

I have found the whole strangely inspirational! had half an eye on the OC last night, and the torch came past the cafe i was in yesterday in c.lon, so bizaarly I am a little more connected to this than the big O, spent most of July/Aug in Fr.

might take a look at wheel chair rugby, it does sound mental!

[sasguru]

You mean he lacks the intelligence to contribute meaningfully or add a sparkle of wit to the discussion

He's a legend in his own lunchtime.

[Spacecadet]

What you fail to understand is that Robby has decided to become the new CUK troll, his life being as dull and boring as it is.

You mean he lacks the intelligence to contribute meaningfully or add a sparkle of wit to the discussion