There are two para-athletic events that always amaze me. In writing I want to avoid sounding patronizing or making paraathletics sound like a freak show. The first event is the T12 long jump
Oksana Zubkovska won the Paralympic title with a jump of 5.78m. He stands up at the start of the run, composes himself and runs full speed down the runway before flying and tumbling into the sand to land more than five meters away. Oh, there’s a little detail I forgot to mention. Oksana is completely blind. Imagine the courage it takes to launch yourself without seeing where you’re going; talk about flying in the dark. Someone lines him up and tells him when it’s safe to go. A coach or assistant usually stands behind the sandpit and yells so he can direct himself toward the sound. That helps. But it still takes courage to do it. It could be bad. I remember once seeing a blind long jumper lose direction, veer to the side, and literally take the judge out without jumping as he sat in his chair.
These show the process. Yes, Oksana can jump five meters because she trains a lot and practices a lot like any long jumper. But there is also an admirable determination and courage not required of a sighted long jumper.
Ezra Fritch Won the T63 high jump in Paris with a jump of 1.94. Someone once wrote: “You don’t have to ask why the one-legged man decided to try the high jump. we should just be glad he did.” The T63 high jump is probably the most influential event in the Para Athletics program. The definition of T63 is as follows.Athletes with single knee or above knee amputations compete with prostheses where minimal damage criteria for lower limb amputations are met.” But that competition also includes T42 “Athletes with one or more disorders affecting hip and/or knee function in one or both limbs and with activity limitations in throws, jumps and running compete without prostheses/prostheses that are compared to at least an athlete. one below the knee or above amputation. This class also includes athletes that allow for comparison with bilateral above-knee amputations.”
Former world champion Sam Crewe once explained it to me »There are four or five different styles of jumping because it’s so versatile and each has its own challenges and problems. So everyone adapts to what they are good at and works on what they struggle with. What appealed to me was that I know that if something doesn’t work, I can always change it. And I think people are just fascinated by amputee high jumping, seeing running blades in action or people just jumping but effectively jumping above most people’s heads. It just applies to everyone as an inspiration.”
Silver medalist Kumar is excited. “The foot high jump is the best experience to do or watch. If you haven’t seen it, you should watch it. For a man to jump nearly two meters on one leg despises the human body, yet we only have a few people watching us, just our own people. I think people need to be educated more, and if they call themselves educated, they need to learn more.” Explaining his story, he said: “I started training when I was seven years old and I have been high jumping for 15 years. I started in boarding school. At school, sports and education went hand in hand. If you weren’t good at both, you dropped out. I also played cricket and table tennis. At boarding school you play a lot of sports, you’re a jack of all trades and you could be a master of one.”
While Crewe covered four or five different styles of jumping, Kumar only used one; “I’ve never tried it without my blade because I wasn’t trained that way. I have always trained with two-legged athletes. I’m on the varsity track team and I’m coached like any of those athletes. It works for me, so I’ve never thought about changing it, but if it doesn’t work for me, I’ll take another path.” Kumar agreed. “When you start with one style, you tend to stick with it because that’s how you start to erase your fears. We all have certain limitations and have to do what our bodies allow.”
I would love to speak with each athlete at the event to understand more about this amazing discipline. It is a compelling spectacle, an event of great skill and raw courage. That’s the essence of para-athletics.
https://x.com/i/status/1831410510082011436 couple HJ
Para LJ, three paintings by Zhou and Asila Mirzayorova (Uzbekistan)
