Now that the Winter Olympics are over, another group of elite athletes is waiting to fill the same venues with awestruck onlookers as they compete for world-class medals.

        More than 1,000 athletes with spinal cord injuries, visual impairments, cerebral palsy, amputated or unformed limbs have been training year-round for the Paralympics, which begin next week. They will compete in ice sledge hockey, downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, slalom skiingand other events. Their strength and determination resembles that of the Olympic athletes we have admired since Feb. 7.

        Since the first serious training of disabled athletes in 1948, interest in sports among people with disabilities has been gaining momentum around the world. The first Paralympics, held in 1960 in Rome was the first event of its name to be held in the same venues as the Olympics, and every Paralympics event since has followed the Olympics in the same facilities and with similar talent among its competitors.

PARALYMPIC LINEUP

• The Paralympic torch will be carried across Utah by 75 runners and will arrive at the Paralympic Opening Ceremonies at Rice-Eccles Stadium Thursday.     • Stevie Wonder, Wynonna and Donny Osmond will headline the event with other celebrated musicians.     • NBC plans to record the opening ceremonies Thursday and air the programSaturday.     • A&E will feature daily highlights, totaling some 20 hours of coverage, through the end of the games March 16.

        During the 2000 Paralympics in Sydney, more than half of all TV viewers in Australia followed television coverage of the Paralympics. They revere wheelchair racer Louise Sauvage with the same awe bestowed upon nondisabled athletic celebrities.

        A new rule required Salt Lake City to bid on both events (Olympics and Paralympics) as one package, ensuring that the two competitions will now always be held in the same location. Paralympic athletes this year represent 36 countries, and in 28 of those, the events will be televised.

        The U.S. Paralympic Organizing Committee believes that the events will be watched by more Americans this year than ever.

        The Paralympics are a highly competitive set of events, showcasing the talent of trained elite athletes.

        Have you ever seen an ice sledge hockey game where the participating athletes are on sit-skis? Have you seen a blind Alpine skier go so fast that it was hard to find a guide to keep up with him? Have you thought about people who have lost limbs going on to become world-class athletes?

        The Paralympics motto is “mind, body and spirit.” If you were addicted to the Olympics, chances are you'll be inspired by the Paralympics. And not in the maudlin silly sense of “Aw gee, they're so wonderful,” but rather with the recognition of how the human “mind, body and spirit” can make adaptations and achieve excellence.

       Contact Deborah Kendrick by phone: 673-4474; fax: 321-6430; e-mail: dkkendrick@earthlink.net.
       

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