Outside Perspectives

You only really get an idea of what you are like as a person through the eyes of other people. The Paralympic movement—its games and athletes—is a treasure trove of positive values, which at the current time, modern society both recognises and needs.

At times, we Paralympic athletes underestimate what we are and what we mean to many people. I am not talking about the typical “compliments” giving us more credit for our performances than to “able-bodied” athletes. That’s just wrong. I am talking about what sport for the disabled means to many people in modern society. When a normal spectator sits down to watch the Olympic 100m final, what he or she sees on the track is eight perfect, god-like figures. They don’t think of the athletes as mere mortals like themselves. But, when that same spectator gets the chance to watch the 100m for the blind, or for amputees, or for athletes in wheelchairs, they begin to get the idea that these athletes are just like them, normal people struggling against adversity.What is more, the real pleasure people take from watching such exciting races, quite apart from the beauty of the race itself, is in seeing how people like themselves overcome difficulties on a daily basis with great dignity and strength.

When I competed, I noticed that it was able-bodied athletes who most appreciated and were most aware of our sporting performances. If top-level Olympic athletes praise Paralympic athletes, nobody will dare question the fact that sport for the disabled is truly spectacular, elite sport. I think this is what is beginning to happen and people are becoming more and more aware of what I have experienced on the training field for the last few years.

Enrique Sánchez-Guijo

When I found out in February of this year that the Athletes’ Commission of the European Olympic Committees (EOC) had decided they wanted to have a Paralympic athlete sitting on their committee, it seemed to me to be a crucial step forward. Their Paralympic representative was not just going to be a guest or merely a sop to political correctness. What European Olympic athletes want, is someone who can bring a fresh approach and different experience to tackle the problems that, let’s be honest, affect all athletes—both Olympic and Paralympic—in the same way.

I attended a meeting of the EOCs Athletes’ Commission as a full member of the commission. The main goal of the EOC Athletes’ Commission at present is to set up an athletes’ commission in each of the EOC National Olympic Committees (NOCs). I realise this type of goal is not achievable in the Paralympic movement, largely due to lack of resources but I think it is a very valuable idea which ensures the athletes’ voice is heard in every country as well as internationally and should perhaps be taken on as a long-term objective by the IPC Athletes’ Committee.

Enrique Sánchez-Guijo, IPC Athelets’ Committee
Secretary General, European Paralympic Committee