ABSTRACT

The cultural environment surrounding Paralympic sport has been rapidly transformed over the past twenty years. This transformation is a result of the Paralympic Games shifting from an athlete-centred event to one in which the desire for corporate financial backing has increasingly been the target. A shift in the philosophy of the organisation responsible for the quadrennial sporting festival, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), has meant that concerns for the athletes are often articulated only through innovations in sport science and medical provisions. Whether these are the general sport science ideologies designed to facilitate appropriate structuring of the sport or, more specifically, the clinical environment where pain and injury are treated, they both play important roles in discussions regarding elite sporting participants who are impaired. This chapter will focus upon athletes with impairments who have been involved in the Paralympic Games. For the purpose of this chapter, impairment will be defined as a physical abnormality such as the loss of a limb or lack of use of the legs that might distinguish one class of competitors from another. Disability, on the other hand, is the social impact impairment has upon the individual.