POINT: I’m an athlete first — not a denizen of a parallel universe!
By Courtney
Language is key to understanding meaning. However, the recent move by the Canadian sport system to adopt the prefix ‘para’ to identify sport for athletes with physical disabilities is not, in my opinion a step in the right direction. But to explain my perspective, I need to first give you my take on the origin of the word ‘Paralympic’. Here’s a brief history lesson.
The history of ‘Para’
The birth of what is now the Paralympic Games took place on July 29, 1948 — the opening day of the Summer Olympic Games in London. Sir Ludwig Guttmann, a neurologist at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital, organized a sporting competition for World War II veterans on the premise that sport was great means of promoting rehabilitation. Originally called the Stoke Mandeville Games for the Paralysed, in 1949 Guttmann claimed the event would one day be recognized as the paraplegics’ equivalent to the Olympic Games and in the early 1950’s, the word “Paralympic” started to appear in newspapers in reference to the Stoke Mandevile Games. In this context, it cannot be denied the origin of the word ‘Paralympic’ was in fact a deliberate combination of ‘paraplegic’ and ‘Olympic’.
The Stoke Mandeville Games grew dramatically over the years — in 1952 they became an international event when the Netherlands sent a team of war veterans with spinal cord injuries and in 1960 they were held in Rome just weeks after the closing of the Olympics — this was the first time competitors other than war veterans were included in the event although it was still limited to wheelchair users.
How ‘paraplegic’ became ‘parallel’… kind of…
In 1976 (finally!), the International Stoke Mandeville Games expanded to include other disability groups. As a result, the term ‘Paralympic’ has more recently been promoted as a combination of the Greek prefix ‘para’, meaning ‘alongside’ or ‘parallel’, and ‘Olympic’. Still others argue the word ‘Paralympic’ is a unique concept rather than a blended word. The word “Paralympic” so succiently captured the concept of an Olympics for paraplegics that trying to re-brand it can only end in failure. It would be like trying to get people to think Reebok when they see a Nike swoosh.
The white elephant in the Paralympic stadium is that the original meaning of the word was obviously in reference to paraplegics and everyone knows it. Even 25 years after athletes with visual impairments, amputations and other disabilities joined the competition, we continue to face an uphill battle getting the general public to understand that the Paralympics are about more than just wheelchair sport.
But what does this have to do with the recent move in the Canadian sport system to add ‘para’ in front of a sport to indicate it is the Paralympic stream? Everything! If the Paralympic movement in Canada is struggling to get the average person to understand that ‘para’ means ‘parallel’, why are we muddying the waters by now adding the ‘para’ prefix to sports?
Why adaptive makes more sense
I would, therefore, argue a more appropriate term would be ‘adapted’. Instead of para-athletics and para-swimming, we’d have adapted athletics and adapted swimming. Instead of AWADs (athletes with a disability), we’d have adaptive athletes. Even that would be a huge step forward — who in their right mind wants to be referred to as an AWAD?
There are few, if any, sports that athletes with physical disabilities compete in that are not also contested by able-bodied athletes. The difference is athletes with physical disabilities have adapted the sport, be it through rule or equipment changes, so they can participate despite the unique demands of their disability. For me, competing in track and field requires no modifications and I follow able-bodied rules. Put me out on a cross-country ski course though and I need a guide to avoid getting up close and personal with a tree. In either situation, I am an athlete first; my lack of vision simply poses challenges needing creative adaptations. As far as I’m concerned, I am competing in track and field or cross-country skiing just like anybody else — I am not in some parallel sport universe!
I also feel the word ‘adapted’ is more readily understood by the general population. The singular definition of ‘adapt’ is very clear: to make fit (as for a new use), often by modification. No confusion there.
Additionally, the added benefit of the more easily understood term ‘adapted’ is that it could potentially encourage more coaches and athletes to get involved. ‘Adapted’ is free from the assumptions that confuse the meaning of ‘para.’ It is a very real possibility that someone somewhere lacking an understanding of the Paralympic movement has wrongly assumed that a para-sport program is only for wheelchair users. You do not get this confusion with ‘adapted’ — it may even prompt people unfamiliar with disability sport to ask about the adaptations that have been made and therefore learn more about the sport.
Fourth, I like ‘adapted’ over ‘para’ because ‘para’ always seems to bring up an assumed lack of ability. To have a disability in today’s society is certainly easier than it was 50 years ago, but people with disabilities are still struggling to be treated just the same as their able-bodied peers. I once had a woman congratulate me on my silver medal in the discus at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Games, but then she said ‘It’s so nice you are doing something with your life.” Really? Would she have said that to Usain Bolt or Clara Hughes? I doubt it. That is because she saw the disability first and the athlete in me second. Made me feel like a real AWAD….. 
By using the word ‘adapted’, we are minimizing the disability and emphasizing the athlete. In contrast, ‘para’ puts the disability front and centre. Not only do I dislike that, but I dislike that the disability most people think of first isn’t even one I have any experience with. ‘Para’ completely fails to represent who I am as an athlete.
I think the driving force behind my preference of ‘adapted’ over ‘para’ is a result of my never having thought of myself as having a disability or of being disabled. Certainly my lack of vision has given me unique challenges my sighted peers will never face, but I do not see it as a disability. I can do almost anything I want — I just might have to change the way I do it compared to someone with full sight. I want my identity in sport to reflect this attitude by not putting me in a position of having to explain time and time again what ‘para’ means. I want people to see me first and accept that I adapt my life to the unique needs of my lack of vision, but I am not disabled. All I want is for athletes to put first, not their disability.
COUNTERPOINT: The power of parasport
By Josh
In Starting from Scratch: A Different Kind of Writer’s Manual, American writer Rita Mae Brown wisely notes: “Language exerts hidden power, like a moon on the tides.” Unlike the moon though, language is also influenced by its tides. It is dynamic, and whether we like it or not, language is constantly shaped by use.
Words change with the times
A word is only as good as the meaning associated with it. “Paralympic’ may certainly have originated as a combination of ‘paraplegic’ and ‘Olympic,’ but it now undeniably embodies a global force that inspires the world. Its original use referred to the rehabilitation of paraplegic war veterans, and it now refers to an exciting, global sport movement that creates heroes from a spectrum of physical and intellectual disabilities, culminating in the Paralympic Games every two years.
Most importantly, today fans, media, coaches and athletes, apply the word Paralympian equally to paraplegic athletes like Josh Dueck, amputee athletes like Lauren Wolstencroft, and visually impaired athletes like Brian McKeever. It is reasonable to call the collection of sports they compete in parasport.
The word ‘Olympic’ has gone through a similar evolution to ‘Paralympic.’ First, a popular legend that Greek Gods Heracles and Zeus created the Ancient Games did not endure. Today, the Olympic movement pays homage to ancient Greek culture, but the values of Olympism are not tied to Greek mythology, and athletes do not fear retribution from above the clouds of Mount Olympus.
Second, the modern Games were clearly created overwhelmingly for men. Yet the Olympics have gradually moved from Baron Pierre de Coubertin’s famous misogynist quotes, to embracing male and female athletes. The movement itself is becoming a more and more powerful tool to empower women and girls around the world.
It could be argued that the word ‘Olympic’ is the wrong direction for the world’s international system of high performance sports, because it worships Greek gods and demeans women. But, the word does neither, just as ‘Paralympic’ no longer refers exclusively to paraplegia.
The ‘para’ prefix as parallel makes sense for the sports that make up the Paralympic Games. Classification systems and adaptations to rules mean that Parasport is a sport system that runs side by side the Olympic games. Some other examples of major parallel sport systems to the Olympics and Paralympics (with different rules, eligibility, sizes of playing fields and so on) are the North American and European professional sport leagues, the Australian Football League, the ICC international cricket leagues and competitions, and the extreme sports played at the X-Games. These parallel systems are all equal to each other in inherent worth, regardless of what fans of a particular league or discipline will passionately argue.
Parasport is legitimate sport
Parasport, as a feeder to the Paralympic Games, is an exciting entertainment event for fans and a legitimate competitive venture for eligible athletes. It is an elegant group of sports that stands on its own competition and entertainment value. To classify this group of sports as ‘adapted’ sport is to say it is a rung below sport, or less than or different from ‘real’ sport.
Australian Rules Football, for example, does not refer to itself as Adapted American Football, because it would demean the legitimacy of the game for fans and players. It of course does not call itself ‘Parafootball’ either, but this is because it is not played in the Paralympic Games — a multisport event with a growing brand.
The prefix ‘para’ is catchy, and athletes in the emerging Parasports, using the prefix, can proudly refer to themselves as para-rowers, or para-sailors, or para-alpine skiiers. Just like all participants in the Paralympic Games refer to themselves, very proudly, as Paralympians.
If the word ‘Olympic’ lent itself to a catchy prefix, I think the movement would use it to refer to its sports. Olyrowing, olyfencing and olyweight lifting, sadly do not have a very good ring. Instead, I often hear Olympians proudly say that they compete in Olympic Rowing, Olympic Fencing, or Olympic Weight Lifting. Para-athletes should be equally proud to play their respective sports.
Growing the movement and the brand
The para prefix is a meaningful way to invoke a powerful brand. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and International Paralympic Committee (IPC) are increasingly protecting their intellectual property rights to Olympic and Paralympic trade-marks and are controlling how they may be used throughout the world. Paralympic (and Olympic) must refer to the actual Games, and can only be used for commercial or promotional purposes with permission of the IOC or IPC. So far, I am not aware of the para prefix being challenged or regulated.
Important sport development organisations in Canada like Parasport Ontario, formerly Paralympics Ontario, have felt the force of this intellectual property ownership and have been forced to change their names. I agree that in order to protect the prestige of the Paralympic Games, Paralympic and Paralympian should only be used in reference to the actual Games. For example, in the summer of 2004 I became a Paralympian while competing in the Athens Games; before that, I was a para-athlete. I was also an athlete, and still am — the para prefix adds another level of description, which as you can see above, I believe is positive.
Parasport is a constructive way of describing a group of sports that makes up the Paralympic games. The para prefix, like the word it creates, is only as good as its application. So far, we seem to be using it in the right way.
What are your thoughts? Which word do you prefer to use – para? or adaptive? or something else entirely? Share your opinion in the ‘comment box’ below.