IPC chairman wants expanded Paralympic movement

PRESIDENT OF the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Andrew Parsons says he wants to expand the opportunities and possibilities for Paralympic athletes with disabilities in Jamaica.

The Jamaica Paralympic Committee (JPA) is a member of the IPC. Visiting Jamaica for the first time, Parsons met with Minister of Sports Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange, stakeholders, and athletes late last week.

“Paralympic sport here in Jamaica has been successful, specifically in the sport of athletics. One of the things that we want to do is to expand. There are already so many areas here in archery, even surfing, cycling, some others and wheelchair basketball is coming back. We understand the natural inclination of Jamaica to go to para-athletics, given the success of the able-bodied athletics in the last 20 to 30 years,” Parsons told The Gleaner.

Continuing, he added, “Not every athlete with disability is suited to para-athletics, and they have the right to also choose what they want to do. Of course, we are talking about athletes, and also medals, gold and silver.”

Redefine success

President of the Jamaica Paralympic Association, Christopher Samuda said, while the JPA will continue to draft in each parish in regards to the number of athletes, more work needs to be done to increase the number of particular paralympic sports.

“What we are trying to do now is to redefine success. Our success is having 15 to 20 sports at the Paralympic Games, competing and competing competitively, rather than just one or two sports. We have achieved but what we want to do is to increase the number in the particular sports in which we have now found talent.

“On the international scene, we’re not dominating in any of the sports yet, but we have our archers who are ranked now. We have surfers who are ranked, never in the history have we had surfers in the Paralympic movement, and we don’t even have surfers in the Olympic movement as we speak,” added Samuda.

Samuda noted that the movement has achieved a measure of success by diversifying the talent, pointing to achievements like a bronze medal at the Paralympic Games in judo in 2019.

“We have expanded the menu of sports. We have had talent in those sports who have realised the achievements on the regional stage. We have a lot of work to do in terms of that. It is similar for the Olympics, track and field has dominated for many years.”

“There is development where the young talent is now coming to the fore. We have two badminton players and we never had that before. They have gone overseas to camps and will be competing now at the Parapan-Am games.” Samuda added.

Meanwhile, Antoine Francis, an archery para-athlete, said the expansion in sports can motivate athletes.

“It is always good to have more people involved. Not just for the art of sport but for the community that needs that kind of motivation to do what is needed,” Francis said.

“You find that a lot of us, whether we are born a certain way or accident of some sort, we need that mental motivation to push forward. I believe, through sports, we can compete and contribute to society in that aspect,” added Francis, who is excited that there are para-athletes in Jamaica attempting badminton and surfing.

After just seven months in the sport, Francis represented Jamaica at the Caribbean Development Championships (CDC), finishing third in the doubles beginner’s competition for compound archery.

He believes expanding the number of sports will require the intervention of a number of organisations.

“It’s an all-of-us effort to get the [different] sport out there. It’s a lot and it takes more than just one organisation to do it. It takes us, as persons with disabilities, [along with] persons who are able-bodied to push the message forward,” Francis said.