As you may have noticed over the past few weeks, the Olympics were everywhere! NBC broadcasted or livestreamed nearly every sport and event of the Olympic Games (making it the topic of nearly every conversation I've had in this time span). Despite several setbacks (Ryan Lochte...), Rio de Janeiro is coming back strong with the 2016 Paralympic Games on September 7th. Thousands of athletes will compete in 22 different adaptive sports ranging from wheelchair to blind sports! NBC will only be showing five sports live including Track and Field, Swimming, Wheelchair Basketball, Sitting Volleyball and Wheelchair Rugby. Although this isn't constant coverage, it is a huge step forward for the Paralympic Movement in the U.S.
Here's your quick guide to these five amazing sports!
Track and Field (also known as Athletics) is one of the most well known Paralympic events when the now-infamous Oscar Pistorius burst on to the mainstream in the Olympic Games as a double amputee. The most interesting part of Paralympic Athletics is how many categories fall under one event. There are categories for blind, intellectually disabled and physically disabled with different classes of each within each race. Races range from 100 meters to marathon along side several field events.
What to watch for? Blind track with visually-impaired athletes running with a normal-sighted guide perfectly in sync around a track while giving cues to the runner (and Usain Bolt may appear as a guide for Brazilian sprinter Terezinha Guilhermina!).
Swimming is an interesting Paralympic sport because it is the perfect example of proving people wrong. Swimming is something that even superior athletes cannot do (not saying I'm a superior athlete, but I cannot swim!). Seeing people faced with unthinkable challenges dive into a pool missing an arm or a leg or battling Cerebral Palsy just blows my mind.
What to watch for? The beginning of every race. Athletes are allowed to start either off the diving board, off the edge, or in the water; however they can get themselves going the quickest they can. In the Olympics, all of the swimmers dive in as this is the quickest way, but when faced with certain challenges, an in-water start may be their most competitive option.
Wheelchair Basketball is one of the easiest adaptive sport to follow in the Paralympic Games. With only one major difference (players must pass, shoot or dribble after every two wheel pushes) it is easy to make the transition from watching Dwyane Wade lead Team USA (to three consecutive gold medals) to the Paralympic teams from USA and Canada battle in wheelchairs.
What to watch for? Team USA have won the most medals in Wheelchair Basketball in both Women's and Men's in the past (7 and 12 respectively), but came away with only a bronze on the Men's side in 2012. Can they rebound (pun intended) and match their Olympic counterparts with some gold?
Sitting Volleyball is one of the most radically different adaptive sports represented. While the sport has the same goals as its able bodied counterpart, court and net are smaller and sitting on the ground changes the game completely.
What to watch for? These chants from Team Japan in 2008...
Really hoping we see some awesome chants again this year on live TV!
Wheelchair Rugby is WITHOUT A DOUBT the most violent and aggressive Paralympic sport represented here. While it is not exactly rugby or any sport specifically (its a combination of the hitting and scoring of rugby with the game play of team handball!), the wheelchairs colliding and bodies falling out sometimes more than equals the aggressive nature of rugby or football.
(I've written an article in the past detailing how cool this sport is!)
What to watch for? Unrivaled intensity. Pushing through pain and endurance is one thing, but physically colliding with someone else while putting 110% into scoring a try (that's what they call it when they score) makes it even more intense and amazing. With a fast pace, the game can change in seconds too!
These are the only five sports that will be shown on NBC's family of networks, however eight others will be livestreamed on Daily Motion including Power Lifting and Table Tennis. All other sports will have highlights featured on the Paralympic websites as well.
Check out the broadcast schedule to tune in!
