For the joy of the Paralympics

The opening ceremony for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games began with a metaphor. The Little One-Winged Plane, played by a youngster chosen for facial expressions and had never performed at any stage before, portrayed the journey from self doubt to inspiration.

The closing ceremony for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games did not leave any room for subtlety. It had an inspiring rendition of What A Wonderful World, interspersed with moving images from the Games. Spirit in motion, as the motto of the Games goes.

Between those two moments, we had 12 days of action filled with reminders of why sport is powerful, joyful, and has the special ability to move complete strangers, united by their love for a game.

#Paralympics #WheelchairTennis

What. A. Rally. 🎾

🎥 Paralympic Games pic.twitter.com/dZ5Iut0lpV

— The Field (@thefield_in) September 3, 2021

And while all these athletes defied belief with their determination to succeed, there were a couple of conflicting line of thoughts… do the athletes want to be remembered based on their stories, the hardships they had to overcome, inspirational as they are? Or do they want it to be about their sporting talent and be seen as, more than Paralympians, just athletes?

Perhaps, even they would be conflicted. Some embrace their disability and want to show the world what…

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