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Different Athletes, Different Needs blog #10

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  April 13, 2026 Jessica Bentley  Dr. Sowers Different Athletes, Different Needs The Paralympic Games are one of the world's most respected sporting events that celebrate the most elite competitions among athletes who have physical and sensory impairments. There are strong reasons for keeping the Paralympics and Special Olympics separate from each other. The separation is critical to help maintain restrictions on athletes with intellectual disabilities in the Paralympic platform. The Paralympics were designed around a very specific classification system that helps group athletes by the impact of their impairment on specific high-performance sports. The goal of this is to ensure that competition is fair and a winner is determined by skill and training, not by the difference of their impairment. Physical and visual impairments and other disabilities, such as spinal cord injuries, limb loss, or visual impairment, are the ways that athletes are measured. These are the ways you can...
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The power of Track

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April 6, 2026 Jessica Bentley  Dr. Sowers The power of Track Participating in all kinds of sports can offer an individual powerful advantages which can impact physical health and mental well being. A track athlete can benefit physically by building cardiovascular health, muscle strength, endurance, and gaining coordination.  Running, sprinting, field events, and wheelchair racing strengthens the heart and lungs while promoting overall fitness in the body. According to the CDC regular physical activity reduces the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Track is a very versatile sport because it is very easily adapted to different levels of people's ability levels. Track is an inclusive and accessible sport.  Track can also provide an individual with mental growth and development as well as provide physical activity. It can help reduce stress, depression, and anxiety by releasing endorphins that will improve mood and energy levels. In additio...
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Fair Play or Political Stand?

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March 30, 2026 Jessica Bentley  Dr. Sowers Fair Play or Political Stand? The decision to ban Russia and Belarus from the 2026 Paralympic Games in Milano Cortino has sparked an ongoing debate about the fairness, politics, and the core values of sports. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has justified this exclusion in response to geopolitical actions. This response argues that such measures are necessary to uphold the integrity and values of the Paralympic movement. Does this decision truly align with the values of the Paralympic Games?  The IPC tries to promote principles like inclusion, equality, and respect. By banning an entire nation's team, critics argue that the organization is contradicting t heir own mission. Paralympic athletes have trained for years, and even their entire life, for this under very difficult circumstances. The athletes are being punished for actions that are out of their control. When looking at things from this perspective, the ban of these...
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Leveling the Playing Field

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March 22, 2026 Jessica Bentley  Dr. Sowers Leveling the Playing Field Classification in the para sports world plays a key role in the Paralympic movement. This is designed to help make sure that athletes compete on an even playing field. This is not like able-bodied sports, where categories like age or weight often determine the groups that you compete in. Para sport classification seeks to minimize the impact of impairment on athletic performance so that sporting excellence and not the severity of disability decides outcomes ( https://www.paralympic.org/classification ).  The center of the system that helps para athletes is the athlete evaluation process. This process asks and answers three very important questions:1. Does the athlete have an eligible impairment? 2. Does that impairment meet the minimum impact required for the sport? 3. What sport class best reflects the functional limitations affecting performance? The order...
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