The sory so far: Indian para-athletes created history at the Paris Games by winning 27 medals as on Friday (September 6, 2024) — surpassing the country’s previous best performance at the Games in 2021. There are two more days to go as the Games will end on September 8.
In its 13th appearance in the Summer Paralympics since its debut in 1968, India’s para-athlete contingent has swollen from 10 to 84 this year. As more and more athletes compete at the Games, India’s medal run has also consistently increased from one in the 2012 London Games to its current tally of 27 in 2024 Paris Games — in a span of mere twelve years.
India’s remarkable run at the Paralympic Games has been attributed to several factors — athlete classification, wider array of sports, bigger qualifying contingent, the Centre’s TOPS (Target Olympic Podium Scheme) and the use of assistive technology for Paralympians.
Here’s a look at what is assistive technology, how it has helped Paralympians.
What is assistive technology?
Products and their related systems (mechanical or electronic) which aid any individual’s functioning with respect to his cognition, hearing, mobility, vision, communication are defined as ‘assistive technology’, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Assistive technology is used mainly by old people, children and adults with disabilities and people with long-term health issues such as diabetes, dementia. Sometimes assistive technology is temporarily used by people recuperating from an accident or illness. These products help assist people in bettering their health, well-being and inclusion of participation in their family, community, sports and all areas of society.
Common examples of assistive are hearing aids, wheelchairs, therapeutic footwear which are used by people for general use. Sportspersons use assistive technologies like modified racing bicycles, release brace in archery, running blades, modified wheelchairs to name a few.
How does assistive technology help Paralympians?
In Paralympic Games (as of 2024), there are 22 sports in which 4000 athletes are competing in 549 medal events. Some sort of assistive technology is used in all of these sports, with the most being used in Para Archery, Para Athletics, Para Badminton, Para Judo, Para powerlifting, shooting para sport, para swimming, Para table tennis, Para cycling, Para Canoe.
Apart from assistive technology, classification of athletes helps in determining their eligibility to compete in the sport and group them based on the extent of their impairments apart from gender or weight. Classification is customised to the sport and grouped into ‘sport classes’ based on the activity limitation caused by their impairment.
Let us see in detail how assistive technology helps in Para Archery, Para Athletics, Para Badminton, shooting para sport, para swimming and para powerlifting – all events which Indians have won medals through the years.
Para Archery
In Para archery, athletes shoot arrows from a distance of 50 or 70 metres using either recurve, compound bow in the open category and in the W1 category for athletes impairments in both top and bottom halves of their bodies, using either bow with a release brace.
Para-archer Harvinder Singh in action during the Men’s Singles Recurve Open Archery event at the ongoing Paris Paralympics, in Paris
| Photo Credit:
ANI
The release braces is strapped onto the upper body of the athlete and a manual trigger mechanism or other hinges aid the archer to release the arrow. India’s only para archer without arms, Sheetal Devi, who won a bronze medal in Paris uses a release brace attached to a compound bow which is equipped with mechanical pulleys and telescopic sight for accuracy.
Para Athletics
The largest sporting category with 164 medal events sees para athletes compete in track and field competitions such as long jump, high jump, club throw, discus throw, javelin throw, shot put, and races spanning 100m to 5000m, 4x100m universal relay and the marathon. While athletes are classified as per specifications of the sport, athletes use an array of assisted technology such as wheelchairs, gloves, running blades, sighted guides apart from the sporting equipment such as discus, shot put etc.
The wheelchairs used in racing events are made of aluminium or carbon fibre to make it light and stable and customised to an athlete’s body. A 10-15 degree camber may be added to the wheels to give them lateral stability when an athlete is going at full speed. Gloves used to push these chairs are made by 3D-printing technology to cater to customised needs. India’s para athlete Dharambir who clinched the gold medal in men’s club throw F51 uses a specialised wheelchair since he was paralysed from the waist down after he misjudged dive into a canal and struck rocks below.
Sharad Kumar of India in action in the men’s high jump final
| Photo Credit:
Reuters
Prosthetic devices such as running blades are required to be used in track events, but are optional in field events. Running blades are J-shaped prosthetics which are light, compact and springy, made of carbon fibre to help athletes step ahead during a sprint, a vertical lift or a long jump. One of the most infamous para runner, South Africa’s Oscar Pistorius, has won eight medals using his running blades as he was amputated from the knee below at 11 months.
Visually-impaired athletes use eye-masks, rope tethers to link with their sighted guides (runners leading the athletes) while acoustic devices are used instead of human ‘caller’ to mark take-off in jumping or throwing events. Brazilian sprinter Thalita Vitoria Simplicio Da Silva and her sighted guide runner Felipe Veloso have been racing together for 11 years in perfect unison, winning four silver medals at the Paralympic Games till date.
Para Badminton
Featured first in Tokyo 2020, Para Badminton is an evolving sport with 16 medal events. It has six sport classes – WH1, WH2 (athletes using wheelchairs with support wheels), SL3, SL4 (standing athletes with lower limb impairment), SU5 (standing athletes with upper limb impairment) and SS6 (athletes with genetic condition like dwarfism).
The wheelchairs used are equipped with a backrest and extra caster wheels in the back to allow players to move freely, twist and lean backwards without tipping over. The wheelchairs are built for speed and stability as players rally and execute a smash move while playing.
Shooting
Athletes compete in two categories – SH1 (upper and/or lower body impairment) in pistol or rifle events and SH2 (upper limb and/or lower limb impairment) in rifle events using a shooting stand to support the rifle. The athletes may be standing or use a wheelchair for these events. In Paris, India’s wheelchair-bound para shooters Avani Lekhara, Mona Agarwal have clinched multiple medals in rifle shooting events.
Avani Lekhara of Team India competes during the Women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 Qualification round on day two of the Paris 2024 Summer Paralympic Games at Chateauroux Shooting Centre on August 30, 2024 in Chateauroux, France.
| Photo Credit:
Getty Images
Para swimming
One of the most open sport, para swimming, has 141 medal events in which 600 athletes compete spanning all eligible impairment groups – visual, physical and intellectual). Athletes participate in backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, freestyle, individual medley and relay events using several assistive technology.
The sport has witnessed athletes with spinal cord injuries, amputees, vision impairment, cerebral palsy, Depending on their impairment, the race can begin with a dive, a grip, holding a rope with their mouth and in the water. Physically impaired athletes are classified into ten sport classes and have to compete without any protheses.
Visually-impaired athletes have three sport classes and can use assistive technology like blackout goggles or an assistant with a ‘tapper’ – a pole with a soft piece attached to its end to tap the player on the head, shoulder or back to indicate a turn or a wall. USA’s Trischa Zorn-Hudson, born blind due to a genetic eye condition, is the most decorated athlete in Paralympic history winning 46 medals including 32 gold medals, nine silver medals and five bronze medals.
Para powerlifting
Para powerlifting sees 180 athletes competing in 20 medal events in one sport class- impairment in their lower limbs or hips. Irrespective of the impairments, all athletes have to attempt to lift the bar and the weights as per the body weight and gender category. While the athletes do not use any assistive technology, power assist suits were introduced in Tokyo 2020 to help support staff attach and remove weights from barbells.
What is the need and effect of assistive technologies?
According to WHO’s Global report on assistive technology (2022), only 3% of people in some low-income countries have access to the assistive products in comparison to 90% in some high-income countries. Detailing the lack of most commonly used assistive technologies, WHO estimates that only 5-35% of the 80 million people who need a wheelchair have access to it, while less than 10% of the 1.5 billion suffering from hearing loss have a hearing aid to assist them. Need for these technologies is a global necessity, specially in sporting events.
Use of assistive technology began with the first official Paralympics in 1968 when regular wheelchairs with simple strapping were used. As technology evolved, most of the above-mentioned products were put to use by the end of 2000s, promoting inclusion, diversity and opportunity to para athletes. The biggest breakthrough has been the running blades which have enabled lower-limb impaired athletes to compete at speeds comparable to, and sometimes even faster than regular athletes, says PTI.
File picture of South Africa’s Oscar Pistorius in the men’s 400-meter semifinal during the athletics in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
| Photo Credit:
AP
Assistive technology is gradually bridging the gap for para-athletes and regular able-bodied ones. Neuro-prosthetics which interface with the human nervous system to overcome lack of muscular strength can be used to improve performances of para-athletes in rowing machines, wheelchairs etc. A research team based in the University of Queensland is using artificial intelligence-driven classification system to allow athletes perform a wide array of movements over time and submit their video for classification. This will result in a more accurate, objective sports class.
However, with increased inclusion and technological advancements, cases of unfair advantage have cropped up in the recent years. In 2019, Blake Leeper, a bilateral amputee sprinter sought to compete in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics against able-bodied athletes. However, he was rejected by the International Olympic Committee stating that Leeper’s prosthetics gave him a competitive advantage.
Hence, to steer the dialogue back to inclusivity and access, WHO teamed with the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) to launch the ‘Equipped for equity’ campaign in the Paris Games. This calls upon governments to reduce or eliminate taxes on assistive technology, integrate assistive technology into primary health care and ensure its widespread access.
Published – September 07, 2024 01:39 pm IST