The international Paralympics features many events.Swimming, track and volleyball are a few of the sports the Paralympics feature. Many would wonder how physically impaired people mights participate in sports that take quite a bit of action. After a video of Paralympic swimmers was shown to Ali Alkhafaji, who swam for Fordson High School when he was a senior said, “ Swimming is a very complicated sport, even for me and I am not physically impaired. These Paralympic swimmers are truly amazing and talented.” Many just like Ali are wondering the same thing, how do they do it?

Many people go to watch the Paralympics. People from all over the globe go to see their country’s athletes compete and hopefully bring home the gold. For swimming, some athletes swim with one arm, one leg, and sometimes no legs. Saja Sirat a local citizen from  the city of dearborn  said, “Throughout my whole life I tried to learn how to swim. Most of my family are amazing swimmers, but what’s even more amazing is the fact that people with physical disabilities are swimming with ease, something not everyone could do. Some of the athletes were not born disabled, and had previously learned to swim before the accident that disabled him/her.

This year the Paralympics will be held in Brazil this year. There will be 4,350 athletes participating in the summer Paralympics. Contestants from 176 countries will be down in Brazil on September 7th through the 18th. There are 226 women athletes, 264 men, and 36 mixed athletes. 23 sports will be included in this year’s competition. Aya Hamzah a student from Unis Middle school said, “ I would rather watch the Paralympics than the real olympics because it makes me happy to see people follow their dreams even though they have a disability.”

All in all the Paralympics is a very special time of year. Amazing athletes from 176 different countries will all compete against each other to try and bring home the gold. Many believe that the Paralympics is very important. One of the reasons being it gives a chance for people to see that their disability can’t control what they can and cannot do. Everyone deserves the chance to do what makes them happy.

Noor Sami