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As with every Olympics, the Paralympics are set to follow roughly two weeks after the end of the Rio 2016 Olympics from September 7 to September 18. Disabled athletes from all over the world gather to compete in 22 sports, which in turn are broken down into sport classes based on the level of the athletes' physical disability, determined by physicians. Many of the sports are based on variations of Olympic sports, with some adaptions. For example, new this year is the Paratriathlon event, composed of three components: 750m of swimming, 20km of cycling, and 5 km of running. Athletes can use a hand cycle or tandem bicycle, and wheelchairs are allowed in the running portion. But there are some events unique to the Paralympics!  Boccia ball is a game of strategy and dexterity based on the Italian game of the same name. Each player has six balls made of soft leather that are thrown toward a white ball (the "jack") with the goal of getting as many of your balls as close to the jack as possible while knocking your opponents' away. Each singles and pairs game is composed of four sets, while team games are composed of six sets. The sport has four categories for athletes based on their physical impairment.  Goalball is played exclusively by visually impaired athletes. Two teams of six players, with three players on the court at any given time, must throw a ball using a bowling motion past their opponents into a net to score. Players must wear eyeshades at all times, and remain on their hands and knees to defend their net. The court itself is the size of a volleyball court, and only the players and referees are allowed to make any noise during the game. String tape is used to help players orient themselves on the court. It looks a little ridiculous, but the matches can be pretty intense: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X492Z01-Gk8  And finally Wheelchair Rugby aka Murderball. While rugby exists in the Olympics, wheelchair rugby has become something else entirely. If you've ever wanted to see a guy get sent flying out of his wheelchair and not feel bad about not helping him, this is the sport for you. Two teams of at least four players compete over the course of four eight-minute periods, trying to drive the ball into their opponent's end. Players are assessed based on their functional ability and are placed into a category, with each category worth a number of points and the total points allowed on the floor for a team cannot exceed eight. Full contact and brutal at times, wheelchair rugby is a hell of a lot of fun to watch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYQx1W9axlY Where to Watch Needless to say the Paralympics don't receive the same kind of coverage the Olympics do, but that is changing. Here's a handy map to find out where you can catch the Paralympics when they're on: https://www.paralympic.org/watch-rio-2016 Dreylad fucked around with this message at 07:07 on Aug 8, 2016 |
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Aug 8, 2016 07:03
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 13:36 |
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I know this isn't the place for politics but it's worth mentioning that Russian Paralympic athletes will not be able to compete in the 2016 Paralympics. Also wheelchair fencing rules
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Aug 8, 2016 07:05
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gently caress yeah murderball
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Aug 8, 2016 12:31
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Guy I went to school with and I'm still FB friends with is swimming in the S7 classification (he has cerebral palsy). He's won six medals over three paralympics (2 gold) so here's hoping he adds to the tally. 
Fanatic fucked around with this message at 04:16 on Aug 11, 2016 |
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Aug 11, 2016 04:13
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IMO they should do wheelchair jousting. 2 people just charging at each other in wheelchairs and trying to knock the other off with a giant jousting pole.
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Aug 11, 2016 07:17
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Fanatic posted:Guy I went to school with and I'm still FB friends with is swimming in the S7 classification (he has cerebral palsy). He's won six medals over three paralympics (2 gold) so here's hoping he adds to the tally. drat that is rad as hell.
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Aug 11, 2016 11:51
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So is it time to get hype for these?
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Aug 22, 2016 03:50
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I'll be hyped if Maya Nakanishi is competing again. She made a nude calendar to raise money for training and travel just to compete in London and came in 8th in the long jump. Hope she stuck with it.
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Aug 22, 2016 06:23
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Things aren't looking great for the games as there have been significant cutbacks on olympic facilities already, and athletes are raising money to buy tickets to give them out for free to attract more spectators. This is after a number of small countries might have to withdraw because there was no funding left to bring them over to the games. The IPC has announced that funds will be available for them, however, so hopefully all athletes will be in attendance. In happier news, [url=https://www.paralympic.org/news/us-paralympics-announce-full-delegation-rio-2016the US athletes have qualified for all eight team sports at the parlaympics for the first time since 2004[/url] and is sporting a hefty roster of athletes, so well done America.
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Aug 24, 2016 21:42
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 13:36 |
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the 200m and 400m T44 running is pretty damned cool, once those blades get going the momentum is insane. Awesome that a Kiwi won both events, but I can't help but feel a bad for the other category that has to run in the same race. You had the 5 guys with 2 blades way out in front then there's 3 poor guys with one human leg/one blade miles behind but I guess due to lack of numbers they're in the same race and have no chance at a medal. Pistorius's 200m record was beaten. I still think it was a huge mistake to allow Pistorius to compete in the Olympics, they may have set a precedent that's difficult to go back on and those blades are only going to get better.
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Sep 16, 2016 13:27
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