Paralympic Reflections

Like a lot of people – I thoroughly enjoyed the London 2012 Olympic Games and living near London I was able to see lots of it live. When I originally applied for tickets the result was a trip to watch the table tennis at the rather underwhelming ExCel Centre. Along the way we kept reapplying when we could and nabbed hockey tickets (bonus – this venue is inside the Olympic Village), and we saw lots of road cycling and thanks to the wonderful and generous Flora Marriott I even wangled a visit to the Greco Roman Wrestling!

Before all the Olympic activity got underway I applied for Paralympic tickets too. At the time of applying, this was done partly to witness more sporting excitement and partly to salve the disappointment at not securing swimming and athletics tickets for the Olympics.

Now I sit here reflecting on watching a few days of outstanding human achievement. Carole, Keira and I have been completely absorbed in the Paralympic Games and have been fortunate to witness Ellie Simmonds and David Weir among many others, win gold for themselves, their teams and their countries. It’s been a motivating and humbling learning experience for me, and I’d like to share something of my thoughts with you.

Equally Outstanding

I’ve learned that for sure I was wrong to even think about the Paralympic experience as somehow being secondary to the Olympics. Our experiences at the pool last Saturday and in the arena last night have been outstanding.

Humour

I’ve learned courtesy of the excellent Last Leg programme on Channel Four that the world of disability can be explored with excellent humour. I laugh at myself a lot, and I love to see other people and groups doing it too. Somehow my ignorance had left me feeling less sure that people with physical and intellectual challenges would see the funny side of life, and of course they do. I find that really uplifting.

Valuing Participation

I’ve learned to see beyond any impairment and appreciate the sporting participation and achievement. I think one of the best things about the Paralympic experience is being lost in sheer excitement and seeing these games for what they are – performances at the very highest level. And the reactions from crowds towards everyone from the gold medal winners to those who finish last in their heats and finals is inspiring. In sport we often reserve our admiration for those who stand on the podium (and perhaps the plucky fourth place too?) – celebrating achievement has shone through for me at these games and it’s something I hope endures beyond them.

Living Legacy

I’ve learned to love the visibility of disability. Through my work with Guide Dogs, Blatchington Court Trust and RLSB I’ve learned about the worryingly high levels of isolation experienced by people with visual impairment. Above all from my recent experiences I hope the heightened levels of awareness continue, I want to be reminded of the needs of other people more often, I want to see more people have more access to more of the things that I take for granted.

What are you taking away from your Paralympic experience? I’d love to know what others think and feel about this too.

Author: Doug Shaw

Artist and Consultant. Embracing uncertainty, sketching myself into existence. Helping people do things differently, through an artistic lens. View all posts by Doug Shaw