"We defeated everyone among the disabled"

Before the beginning of the XI Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi, 100 days remain.

The 2014 Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi will be the first paralympiad in the history of Russia. The fact is that the summer Paralympic Games have been held since 1960, and the practice according to which the Paralympiads are held at the same sports facilities as the Olympic Games was fixed by the agreement between the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (MPC) only in 2001. Thus, in 1980, when the Summer Olympiad took place in Moscow, the Paralympic Games took place in the Dutch city of Arnem.

The founder of sports, where people with disabilities can participate, is considered an English neurosurgeon Ludwig Guttman

The founder of sports, where people with disabilities can participate, is considered an English neurosurgeon Ludwig Guttman, who introduced sports into the process of rehabilitation of patients with damage to the spinal cord and proved in practice that sports for such people restores mental balance, allows us to return to a full -fledged life and strengthens the physical force necessary to control with wheelchair. In 1944, Guttman founded a medical center for the treatment of damage to the spinal cord in the Stock-Mandeville (Great Britain) hospital, and later it became the founder of the international stock-Manda-Mandeville games, in which people with damage to the musculoskeletal system participated. These games have become a prototype of paralympic.

The first Winter Paralympic Games were held in 1976 in the Swedish town of Ornskoldsvik. And in 1989, the first General Assembly of International Sports Organizations of the Disabled took place in Düsseldorf (Germany). On September 21, 1989, the MPC was established - an international non -profit organization, which leads the Paralympic movement around the world.

The USSR national team first took part in the Winter Paralympic Games in 1984 - in the Austrian Innsbruck. On the account of that team there were only two bronze medals won by the skier Olga Grigoryeva. However, over time, the Russian Paralympic team is more successful. Say, in Vancouver in 2010, the Russian team took second place in the overall standings, winning 12 gold, 16 silver and 10 bronze awards. The winner of the German national team, respectively, is 13, 5 and 6 medals, respectively, so the Russian paralympians won 38 medals in total, which became the highest indicator and the subject of universal pride among Russian leaders, especially against the backdrop of a failure of the Russian national team at winter games in the same Vancouver.

The recognized heroes of those games were the Canadian skier of Lauren Walststronoft and the German skier and biathlete Veren Bentelel, who were able to win all five types of the program in which they performed. The most titled of the Russians at the Paralympics in Vancouver was Irek Zaripov, who won four gold and one silver in skiing and biathlon. Three gold medals in the asset of Kirill Mikhailov, two - at Anna Burmistrova and Sergey Shilov. Irek Zaripov and Kirill Mikhailov were awarded the orders "For Merit to the Fatherland" of the IV degree, Honored Masters of Sports of Russia, Anna Burmistrova, Lyubov Vasilieva, Maria Iovleva and Sergey Shilov - Orders of Honor.

XI Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi will be held from March 7 to 16, 2014. They will take part in 1350 athletes and team members from 45 countries. Competitions in Sochi will be held in five winter sports: skiing, biathlon, skiing, trace-Hockey and Kerling in strollers. In these five sports, 72 sets of awards will be played.

There are fears that even if all plans are implemented in Sochi, after the Games, the Olympic capital will remain in Russia "Potemkinsky village"

The official position of the Paralympic Committee of Russia is as follows: winter games in Sochi make it possible to use the leading world experience in integrating people with disabilities into the full life of Russian society. For games in Sochi, this means, in particular, that all infrastructure facilities located in the "hospitality zones" should be available to disabled people and low -mobility groups. The Organizing Committee of Sochi 2014, among other things, is engaged in the creation of a new infrastructure, which should take into account the standards of a barrier -free environment . In theory, this should turn Sochi into a city, fully adapted for people with disabilities. Indeed, back in 2010, the organizing committee developed the “Self -Balterier Environment” concept, which received the approval of all leading All -Russian organizations of the disabled. This year, an innovative "accessibility map" was presented, which marked the main objects to help people with disabilities in Russia. The card provides information about objects that help create a barrier -free environment on the ground, such as ramps, handrails and non -slip surfaces. Thanks to the map, it is believed that disabled people of the country without difficulties can find access points and join paralympic sports.

Of course, other traditions are strong in Russia - for example, "Potemkin villages." There are concerns that even if all these plans are realized in Sochi, after the Games, the Olympic capital will remain in Russia just such a “Potemkin village”. Indeed, now the urban environment in Russia mainly for the disabled looks hostile, which the media, including Radio Liberty have repeatedly written. And it is unlikely that the Olympic window dressing will become the impetus for the spasmodic solution to this complex social problem.

But from the point of view of the sports, the Russian team is considered the undoubted leader and contender for victory in the team standings of the Paralympics in Sochi. Which, of course, does not cancel all the problems in the country associated with the living conditions of people with disabilities.

And in conclusion, we invite readers to listen to musical - and very stinging! - "Olympic opinion" of the singer and composer Alexander Gradsky. The theme of the Paralympics in this song is reflected very capacious:

"But that's what is funny and even insulting:

We defeated everyone among the disabled.

In Russia, the more you are mutilated,

The more successful and even careless ...

Without legs, we run all the legless faster,

Without hands, we shoot all the armless more precisely ... "