Para sport has come a long way since Ludwig Guttman, a neurologist at Stoke Mandeville hospital near Aylesbury in England, organised a sports competition in 1948 for sixteen World War 2 veterans with spinal cord injuries. By 1960 this had evolved into the first Paralympic Games in Rome with 400 disabled athletes from 23 countries, and by 2004 in Athens the Paralympics had nearly 4,000 competitors with a wide range of impairments.
This week, whilst finalising my MSc thesis, I’ve been watching The Commonwealth Games where para sport has reached full parity with regular sport. There is no longer a separate set of competition dates for the para athletes, just one combined games where all the competitors get to enjoy the packed stadiums, and all the medals count towards a single medals table. It really feels like para sport has come of age. Like many people I used to be sceptical that para sport is way less competitive than regular sport and, whilst it’s true that there are only a handful of competitors in some events, after watching the likes of Maisie Summers-Newton win the 100m breaststroke in the pool or Hannah Cockcroft win the wheelchair 100m on the track, I can’t do anything other than share their happiness.
Para sport has a wide range of events for athletes with a wide range of disabilities. A well as obvious physical disabilities like missing limbs or short stature, there are things like visual impairment and some neurological conditions like cerebral palsy. But there are no people with Parkinson’s. Why is this and is it likely to change?
This is where it all gets a bit technical and thorny. The relevant text is section 1.3.2.1 of the International Paralympic Committee Handbook. This lists ten eligible impairments, as below:
- Impaired Muscle Power
- Impaired Passive Range of Movement
Athletes with Impaired Passive Range of Movement have a restriction or a lack of passive movement in one or more joints. Examples of an Underlying Health Condition that may lead to Impaired Passive Range of Movement include arthrogryposis and contracture resulting from chronic joint immobilisation or trauma affecting a joint.
- Limb Deficiency
Athletes with Limb Deficiency have total or partial absence of bones or joints as a consequence of trauma (for example traumatic amputation), illness (for example amputation due to bone cancer) or congenital limb deficiency (for example dysmelia).
- Leg Length Difference
- Short Stature
- Hypertonia
Athletes with hypertonia have an increase in muscle tension and a reduced ability of a muscle to stretch caused by damage to the central nervous system. Examples of an Underlying Health Condition that may lead to Hypertonia include cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury and stroke.
- Ataxia
Athletes with Ataxia have uncoordinated movements caused by damage to the central nervous system. Examples of an Underlying Health Condition that may lead to Ataxia include: cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury, stroke and multiple sclerosis.
- Athetosis
Athletes with Athetosis have continual slow involuntary movements. Examples of an Underlying Health Condition that may lead to Athetosis include cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury and stroke.
- Vision Impairment
Athletes with Vision Impairment have reduced or no vision caused by damage to the eye structure, optical nerves or optical pathways, or visual cortex of the brain. Examples of an Underlying Health Condition that may lead to Vision Impairment include retinitis pigmentosa and diabetic retinopathy.
- Intellectual Impairment
Athletes with an intellectual Impairment have a restriction in intellectual functioning and adaptive behaviour in which affects conceptual, social and practical adaptive skills required for everyday life. This Impairment must be present before the age of 18.
There’s a pretty strong argument that Parkinson’s ticks boxes 1 (impaired muscle power) and 6 (hypotonia) and possibly 7 (ataxia) as well, and yet it is not a recognised condition for para sport.
I think the issue here is the highly variable nature of Parkinson’s. In the early days, the symptoms are mild – indeed, it is entirely possible that Parkinson’s starts several decades before most people even notice they have it – and there is no blood test for it, only a subjective clinical diagnosis. Six years ago, I ran a marathon; today I struggle to run to the shops 400 metres away. Where do you draw the line? And how do you check that people aren’t exaggerating their disability? And what about the dramatic temporary effects of levodopa and other dopaminergic drugs?
There are a few people calling for inclusion but they seem to be few and far between and it doesn’t seem like PWPs will feature in the Paralympics anytime soon.
Perhaps there’s another problem here. Parkinson’s is a condition that gets progressively worse with older age, not something you’re born with that is relatively stable. Despite having been an amateur athlete myself in the past, I have little desire to compete knowing that, however hard I train, in the long run I will only get worse. I’ve accepted that my time participating in sports is over and I now live vicariously through the joy of others. In other words I simply can't be bothered.
Time to switch on the
TV and enjoy some more Commonwealth Games action from the comfort of my sofa...
