Julian Drew
THE opening ceremonies of both the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games used Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech to portray the lofty ideals to which they aspire. But it is the Paralympics and their constant struggle against the stereotyping of disabled people with which King would probably have identified most.
King’s life was dedicated to eradicating all forms of prejudice and discrimination, and whether it was through indifference of the media and hence the general public, or the lack of support from big business and the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (Acog), the Paralympics faced a continual uphill battle.
In the end though the trials and tribulations of the Paralympics carried the day and left many people feeling that it was these Games rather than the Olympics which most closely resembled the original concept of Baron Pierre de Coubertin who brought the modern Olympic Games into being a hundred years ago.
>From the very moment that paraplegic mountaineer Mark Wellmann, using only a rope and his incredible arm power, scaled the tower to light the Paralympic flame, it was evident that these Games would indeed live up to their theme: the Triumph of the Human Spirit.
Run on a shoestring budget of little more than the $60-million it cost to put on the opening and closing ceremonies for the Olympics, the Paralympics not surprisingly had their fair share of organisational problems.
But those who witnessed the competition at these Games were genuinely inspired by what they saw. “Many people have asked me what is the difference between the Olympics and the Paralympics,” said one volunteer who had worked on both Games. “I told them it was like the difference between staying at the Ritz and living in a teepee. One is beautiful to look at but the other is real.”
And if at first it was possible to feel sorry for some of the participants and then later to start regarding them as superheroes, at the end it was easy to look upon them all just as great sportsmen and women, which is exactly how they would like it to be.
South Africa’s 41-strong team to the Games contained many great athletes and they proved that by winning an amazing total of 28 medals, including 10 golds. And make no mistake, their successes were every bit as hard earned as those of their able-bodied counterparts.
Paralympic champions like Jean-Jacques Terblanche, Ebert Kleynhans and Fanie Lombaard all train at least four hours a day. Many of the team were expected to do well, with the team’s chef de mission Andy Scott predicting between 12 and 20 medals before the Games. The fact that they did much better than expected is because several of the younger athletes really rose to the occasion and surpassed themselves.
Perhaps the biggest find of the Games for South Africa was Malcolm Pringle who won two silvers and a gold in the men’s T 37 cerebral palsy class. Originally only entered in his speciality event over 800m it was decided to enter him in the 400m and 1 500m as well — and what a sensation he turned out to be.
He started with the the 400m, which he had never run seriously before, and came second behind Britain’s Stephen Payton who set a new world record of 54.23. Pringle beat his personal best by more than three seconds with a time of 55.34 and was so delighted with his performance that he leapt across the finish line like someone who had just won the lottery.
“I thought I was going to come last,” he said afterwards.
In the 1 500m the 18-year-old Standard Eight pupil from Cape Town got so involved in his own race plan that he forgot to check on the other runners and when he reached the bell he was more than 60m behind. He finally woke up with 300m to go when he was trailing in seventh place. but Pringle’s kick is phenomenal and by the time he entered the home straight he was fourth and only 20m behind.
Just like Hezekial Sepeng a few weeks earlier, had the race been 10m longer he would have won, but he had to settle for silver.
Last Friday he was leaving nothing to chance in his favourite event and led from the gun to the tape in a new world record of 2:06.78. His victory lap was something to behold as he first went up to the television camera and blew a kiss and then toured the stadium bowing to the crowd. “I expected to win the 800m because I broke the world record in training a few weeks before I came to Atlanta, but my medal in the 400m was a complete surprise,” said Pringle.
He is just one of the many stars in the South African Paralympic team who should now start getting the kind of recognition and support from the public that they deserve.