The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) posted outstanding Paralympic highlights of 2017. View top 50 moments in the Paralympic Movement 

For instance, Moment 48 is the Growth of Female Para-Sport:

According to the IPC, "2017 saw the first women’s Para ice hockeytraining camp held, as well as a wheelchair basketballcamp for women in Asia and Oceania...The training camp held in October in Chuncheon, South Korea, brought together 30 athletes and coaches from around the world, not just to work on skills but also find ways to increase the number of women playing the sport. Participants came from Armenia, Australia, Canada, Croatia, Finland, France, Great Britain, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the USA...

Erica Mitchell, captain of the USA women’s Para ice hockey team, said: “In 2007, I had tried out to the men’s USA team and find out I could not play at that level because I was a female. We had nowhere to go so we ended up making a women’s USA team...This is definitely one of the best camps I’ve ever been to, and it is definitely going to put us in the right direction.”

Source: www.paralympic.org

Funding cuts affect Rio 2016 Paralympic Games

As the Summer 2016 Games come to a close tomorrow, we look forward to welcoming elite athletes with disabilities to the 2016 Paralympics beginning on September 7, 2016. Unfortunately, funding cuts will affect the Paralympic Games.  

Advance tickets sales failed to reach projection.  The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) made a difficult decision to close media centers, reduce Games workforce and transport services.  Deorodo Olympic Park will be closed and dismantled. 

Source: foundtheworld.com

"Never before in the 56-year history of the Paralympic Games have we faced circumstances like this," IPC President Philip Craven said. "Since becoming aware of the full scale of the problem, we have focused all of our efforts on finding solutions to the problems." Budget cuts will affect every team and their supporters. 

In response, Rio mayor Eduardo Paes pledged additional funding and will solicit corporate sponsorship in support of the Games. Travel grants to teams from 165 countries are overdue and may affect athletes timely arrival for training before competition. 

IPC is considering additional support to countries struggling to pay travel costs.  Craven said. "The IPC is working with them to find solutions and ensure their participation here in Rio." 

Source: www.theatlantic.com

Story source: AP Wire and Rob Harris at WacoTrib.com

Paralympic Team Travel Grants Held Up

Source: Around the Rings

Smaller state paralympic committees depend on travel grants to participate in Summer Paralympic Games. The Rio 2016 Organizing Committee has delayed payments of travel grants, but anticipates issuing funds by the end of August. 
A Brazilian judge issued an injunction blocking further use of funds for 2016 Summer Games until the Rio Organizing Committee cooperates by sharing budget and expenditures of public funds. 

Craig Spence, identified as a spokesperson for the International Paralympic Committee, stated “[The] extra funds are critical to the success of the Games.”  “This is a rapidly evolving situation and we are working every hour we can to not only source additional funding but look at how we can make further cost savings within the budget available.”

Source: www.channel4.com

In a related story, organizers report that only 12 percent of Paralympic tickets have been purchased. Rio's Mayor Eduardo Paes pledged to purchase 500,000 with public funds for distribution. 

Rio Communications Director Mario Andrada reportedly told journalists that ticket sales will increase after the Olympic Games end on Sunday.  
“We made these concerns public several ways during the journey,” Andrada said. “We understand the rhythm of sales has picked up, and the end of the Games tends to help a lot in the selling of tickets for Paralympics. That’s what we’re working on.”

United Nations Office on Sport for Development and Peace

En route to Brazil during the spring, the Olympic torch for the 2016 Summer Games stopped in Geneva.  The spirit of the Summer Games was touted at the United Nations Office during a special "Celebrating the Olympic Spirit" Program. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) awarded the Olympic Cup to the U.N., recognizing its continuing efforts to promote peace and sustainable development through friendly sport.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon commented, "I sincerely thank you for this powerful recognition of the talented, dedicated and selfless women and men of our Organization...I thank all the United Nations bodies that are leveraging the power of sport. We are collaborating with athletes to inspire children. We are making the Games more green. We are joining forces to use this massive, global celebration of the human spirit as a reminder of our common humanity." (Source: https://www.un.org/sport/)

[Photo: www.un.org/sport/]

Within the U.N., its Office on Sport for Development and Peace (UNOSDP) promotes exchange of ideas, information and new partnerships to enhance education, health, development and peace. Youth may participate in Leadership Camps, learning to work on social and development projects benefiting their communities.

UNOSDP partnership examples include 1) strengthening access for girls to sport and promoting women's rights through the Tajikistan National Taekwondo Federation supported by U.N. Women, and 2) increasing disability sport and physical activity in Haiti through a partnership with BlazeSports, a non-governmental organization.  Other organizations working with the UNOSDP include International Paralympic Committee, International Judo Federation,  Gwangju Universiade 2015 Organizing Committee, International Volleyball Federation, Union of European Football Associations, SportAccord, Peace and Sport and Korean Air.

We look forward to recognition of sport and development projects by the UNOSDP during the Rio2016 Summer Games! 

Advances in prosthetic technology increase opportunities for sport

Today, athletes with physical disabilities compete in many sports, from track and field, to basketball, hockey, swimming and more. The International Paralympic Committee classifies para-athletes in categories for competition based on their impairment.  One eligible impairment type is limb deficiency due to total or partial absence of bones or joints as a consequence of trauma (e.g. car accident), illness (e.g. bone cancer) or congenital limb deficiency (e.g. dysmelia). (Source: https://www.paralympic.org/classification)

Prosthetics and orthotics are special equipment used by some para-athletes to successfully contend. 
"The technology in the last five years is leaps and bounds ahead of where it was the previous 15 years," says John Spillar, market manager for sports prosthetics in North America for Ottobock. "We're making more and more custom devices for people who want to climb mountains, for people who want to play specific sports. You'll never be able to replace the limb, but we can get things like ground reaction force, the spring in the feet, things like that, and now we have athletes who are using these devices to beat world records." (Source: espn.go.com)

(Photo: helix.northwestern.edu)

Dr. Todd Kuiken pioneered targeted muscle reinnervation (TMR) at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. Amputated nerves are redirected from the endpoint of injury to another muscle group. Electrodes receive the nerve impulse from the central nervous system and signal movement of the prosthetic limb. With training, an individual learns to think about and control movement of the advanced prosthetic. (Source: How Stuff Works Science - How Prosthetic Limbs Work)

Emerging technologies show promise in customizing prosthetics to the user, learning patterns of muscle movement and load. The result is an adaptive device that increases efficiency and precision of motion. The increasing number of injured veterans is driving advances in bioengineering, restoring mobility and independence. The future promises "smart" prosthetics with a computer interface enabling quick adjustments to demand without loss of function.