The Olympic Games, initially set for 2020 summer in Tokyo, has now been officially rescheduled, with new dates announced for 2021. It will currently run from August 24 until September 5, 2021. With a rich history going back almost 3,000 years, the very first Olympics games are dated to 776 B.C. The games were a celebration to the God Zeus and were held at regular intervals until they were smothered in 393 C.E. Truces were ordered so competitors from various regions could go to the games with a sense of security and ease. The International Olympic Committee was established in 1894, and the first modern games were held in 1896.
The Paralympic Games are a very important part of the sporting calendar. The Paralympics date back to the 1948 Summer Olympics in London when the 1948 International Wheelchair Games were planned to correspond with the season’s opening. The first official Paralympic Games was held in Rome in 1960. The games incorporate different sports, including worldwide athletes, similar to the Olympic Games. What makes the Paralympics unique is the assurance of the competitors who conquer inabilities, such as debilitating muscle power, hindered passive scope of development, loss of a limb, limb insufficiency, leg-length distinction, and short height because of a musculoskeletal injury deficit, hypertonia, ataxia, or athetosis.
The 2020 Summer Paralympics are an upcoming major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee. Scheduled as the 16th Summer Paralympic Games, they are expected to be held in Tokyo, Japan, between 24 August and 5 September 2021. They were formerly scheduled to take place between 25 August and 6 September 2020.
On 24 March 2020, the IOC and the Tokyo Organising Committee officially announced that the 2020 Summer Olympics and 2020 Summer Paralympics would be postponed to 2021 due to the global pandemic.
Paralympics and physiotherapy intervention:
Training more enthusiastically than at any other time seriously risks injury. Many experts are accountable for keeping competitors as injury clear as possible including physiotherapists. They place immense significance on focusing similarly as much on injury avoidance as receptive injury treatment.
An athlete may have worked with specialist teams on an individual premise. In modern competitor development, the accentuation is put significantly more intensely on a coordinated effort between all parties to bring the best from sportsperson.
The good facilities at the Sports Training Village mean athletes, physiotherapists, mentors and strength and conditioning specialists work closely to achieve the same goals.
The current year’s Paralympics mark the sixteenth authority Paralympic games. With billions watching all throughout the planet, the remarkable exhibitions of Paralympians will again show why everyone should be respected and recognised for their physical abilities.
References:
Cooper, G. F. (2020, March 30). Tokyo 2020 Olympics will now take place in July 2021, due to coronavirus. CNET. https://www.cnet.com/news/tokyo-2020-olympics-will-now-take-place-in-july-2021-due-to-coronavirus/.
Niekerk, W. V. (n.d.). The Role of the Sports Physiotherapist. Physiopedia. https://www.physio-pedia.com
Preparing for a Paralympic Games: Physiotherapy. Team Bath. (2016, August 25). https://www.teambath.com/2016/08/25/preparing-for-a-paralympic-games-physiotherapy/.
Schad, T. (2021, June 1). When do the 2021 Olympics start? What new events will there be in Tokyo? Here’s what you need to know about Summer Olympics. USA Today. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2021/06/01/2021-summer-olympics-when-do-they-start-tokyo/7465013002/.
Shefferd, N. (2021, April 13). International Paralympic Committee announces reduction in accredited guests. https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1106554/ipc-reduces-tokyo-2020-accredited-guests.
Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games Guide. JRailPass. (2020, March 31). https://www.jrailpass.com/blog/tokyo-2020-olympics/paralympic-games.
* Contact Reach Physiotherapy for a list of references used for this blog content.
