Paralympics Games Ticket
So you'd like to see elite athletes from all over the world compete, but you're too busy to go to the Beijing Olympics in August? Why not go to the Paralympic Games in Beijing in September? Paralympic Games present an opportunity for athletes with disabilities to represent their countries in sports competitions, similar to the Olympics. In fact, the Greek word 'Para' was used to mean parallel, as in parallel to the Olympics' not less than, with the emphasis on ability versus disability. The Paralympic Games are held in the same year and same city as the Olympics, typically two weeks after. Since it's inception, participation has dramatically grown. In the 1960 Paralympics, 400 athletes from 23 nations competed, compared with 3806 athletes from 136 countries in Athens in 2004. The games also broke records in amount of television coverage (300 hours) and in number of tickets sold (800,000). The Paralympic Games, which fall under the umbrella of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) showcase 26 sports during the winter and summer games, including alpine skiing, ice sledge hockey, power lifting, table tennis, wheelchair tennis, cross country skiing, football 5-a-side, and wheelchair fencing. Wheelchair basketball and the biathlon are two of the most popular events
Athletes in the Paralympic Games are grouped into categories based on type of disability: amputee, cerebral palsy, spinal cord injury, vision impairment, intellectual disability and all others that do not fit into one of the previous categories (les autres). At this time, intellectual disability is being reviewed to determine if it is appropriately included in the games. The Paralympic Games are the second largest sporting event in the world, but it is often not well known. It is sometimes confused with the Special Olympics. Different bodies govern the two, and while they both celebrate abilities through athletics, the Special Olympics helps those with intellectual disabilities compete through sports. Disabilities in Paralympic Games are primarily physical. In addition, in Special Olympics, the emphasis is on participation. Everyone who is willing and able to compete is welcome. With the Paralympic Games, competition is fierce and is based on ability. In the Paralympic Games, athletes are grouped according to ability to function, much like wrestlers and boxers are grouped according to weight. For example, in wheelchair basketball, the team members are each given a point value assessing the degree of their disability. A 4.5, for example, would not be as severe as a .5. Five team members are on the court at one time, and the total value for those players cannot exceed 14 points. In some sports the court size may be different or the same, the terminology may be slightly different, i.e. 'traveling' in basketball means touching the wheels on the wheelchair more than twice when dribbling the ball. There may be minor changes, such as in wheelchair tennis, when the players can allow the ball to bounce twice before hitting it. Still, the competition is at a level higher than most people will ever see, and it is definitely worth the ticket.
