The XX Summer Paralympic Games held in Atlanta are already history.
For many of us who were fortunate enough to experience them in person, the
fact that we formed part of the second most important sporting event
of 1996, in terms of the number of athletes and participating countries,
is something that will surely never be erased from our memory.
Atlanta represented ten magical days during which victories and defeats,
joys and sorrows, surprises and disappointments coexisted to achieve one
sole objective: to enable the best athletes in the world to compete together
and demonstrate how apt the Paralympic slogan is:
"The triumph of the human spirit"
IBSA was present with an unprecedented display of its resources.
From the office installed in the Hotel Marriot Marquis, dozens
of requests for information and assistance were attended
from the 90 plus countries that go to make up our organization.
Moreover, we took advantage of these Paralympic Games to broaden
the scope of the communication of our activities to the whole world,
through the recently created IBSA web site in INTERNET.
News relating to international sports for the blind
and visually impaired was updated and made available on a daily basis.
From a sporting point of view, the assessment made by all
the IBSA Subcommittee Chairpersons after the Games is frankly
optimistic and highly satisfactory. Although there were several
erroneous and awkward situations - that will for certain be rectified
in the near future- the feedback is positive.
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GENERAL PROGRESSION
In athletics, the participation and good results of the developing countries
gives rise to hope and encouragement for the future. In GOALBALL, the members
of the Subcommittee all agreed in the days leading up to the competition
that it was difficult to guess who was going to win, as the standard had
improved a lot and several countries had possibilities of going for gold.
In JUDO, 14 of the 19 participating countries won medals, which goes
to show that no one country dominates this event, but rather that the top
judokas are widely spread, geographically speaking. This will allow the
number of people practising this sport to increase in each country, thus
promising future international tournaments of a really high quality.
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In LAWNBOWLING, the competition was also of a truly high standard.
Nevertheless, the negative aspect was the fact that the B2's and B3's were
combined into one class. This situation will not be repeated ever again
in the future, according to the representatives of the different nations,
in the meeting this sport held in ATLANTA.
TANDEM CYCLING was a truly fortunate sport, as all the competition events
were held in the beautiful surroundings of STONE MOUNTAIN. The number of
records broken can only spur us on in our continuing work.
Finally, we must add that the blind swimmers performed really well,
finishing many events fractions of a second apart. It was in this sport,
however, that the number of participants, both men and women, had dropped
with respect to the previous edition of the Paralympic Games held in BARCELONA.
There are surely several reasons for this phenomenon, perhaps one of them
being that the organizational standard of the international competitions
(World and Regional Championships) held in the four-year period between
the Paralympic Games left a lot to be desired, and thus quite a few of our
athletes became discouraged.
I should like to include, as a historical note, that for the first time
two blind athletes were elected members of the ATHLETES COMMITTEE in the
Assembly held on the final day. The opinion of the blind sportsmen and women
is essential to ensure that the diversity that exists in the world of disabled
sports is respected in the Paralympics.
COMMON SENSE FOR THE FUTURE.
As technical personnel within IBSA, we know that the work carried out
to date has borne fruits, yet we are also aware that a lot more remains
to be done. In the extraordinary General Assembly of the International Paralympic
Committee (IPC) held in Atlanta, the subject was broached as to whether
or not blind sports would continue within the context of the IPC. There
are four years to go before the next Paralympics are held in SYDNEY. IBSA,
from its foundation 15 years ago, accepted the commitment to develop and
promote sports for the blind. This includes the organization of Championships,
developing competition rules, etc. If we, those responsible for technical
matters, find our capacity for action limited, this will only be detrimental
for blind sports, and thus for the quality, universality and diversity of
the Paralympics. I trust the leaders of sports for the disabled will be
capable of dialogue, given that, with willingness and common sense, everything
is possible.
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