Day 178: Paralympics

The other night I went to the opening ceremonies for the paralympics. The tickets were very affordable. If the tickets were highly priced like the regular Olympics, I wouldn't have gone. I went to experience the excitement. There was so much energy in the stadium. When the athletes came marching in, we cheered for every team. There was an extra loud cheer and excitement for the Canadian team (obviously!). The highlight for me was the inspirational stories of Rick Hansen and Terry Fox. Rick Hansen's Man in Motion tour was extraordinary. As an able bodied person, I would never even think of walking or running around the world to raise money for any cause. But for a wheelchair bound person to make it around the world to raise money, it is just incredible. When he arrived in the stadium, he was center stage. There was nothing else in the stadium to distract the spectators. It was just him. We were all focused on him.

Terry Fox started the Marathon of Hope in 1980. It was one man's dream of trying to find a cure for cancer by raising money. When he started running, there was little notice of one man running on the highway. The more he ran, the more publicity he received. He wasn't on a mission to be rich or famous, he was one man trying to make a difference. He finally succumbed to his cancer in 1981 at the tender age of 22. His legacy still lives on 30 years later with the annual Terry Fox run. To represent his inspiration to all, his parents, Betty and Rolly Fox, came in the stadium with the paralympic torch. The inspirational timeline of a national hero: https://www.terryfox.org/Foundation/Facts.html

The paralympics aren't as popular as the 'regular' Olympics. I think as humans we are attracted to 'beautiful/normal' things. I know that sounds really superficial. If there was a game of sledge hockey or regular hockey game on tv, I would rather watch the regular hockey game. It is 'normal' to me. Maybe that's why many games are very affordable to watch? Most people aren't used to watching paralympians competing. If many people don't watch the events, it isn't publicized and widely aired so therefore it doesn't get the advertising dollars as the regular Olympics. There was also a smaller budget for their opening ceremonies (and probably for their closing ceremonies). It is all backwards. We should all be watching more of the Paralympics and less of the Olympics. It is twice as hard for the paralympian then a regular athlete. They have to adjust to their new lifestyle in their new prosthetic limbs AND they have to excel in their selected sporting event. So they work twice as hard but they receive half the money (in support) ?