From the Top of the Mountain,
All You See Is Possibility

Adaptive Sports

Like many people living on the East Coast, I found myself sleep deprived this past February. The late-night coverage and suspense of the XX Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy, kept me up past the usual bedtime hour. A few days after they ended, caught up on my rest, I found myself yearning for more.

Fortunately for me, and for approximately 4,000 disabled athletes, the opening ceremony of the IX Paralympic Winter Games in Torino, Italy, began March 10, kicking off a celebration of the sporting spirit that unites all athletes. For 10 days, the Paralympics returned to Italy, where in 1960, the Roman games marked the first time the Paralympics and the Olympic Games were held in the same location.

The first Paralympic winter games, held in Sweden in 1976, featured competitions in alpine and Nordic skiing for amputee and visually-impaired athletes. Competitors from across the world competed this year in ice sledge hockey (more commonly known as sled hockey in the USA), cross-country skiing, biathlon, alpine skiing, and the debut medal event, wheelchair curling. The alpine disciplines included downhill, slalom, giant slalom, and super-G. Paralympic alpine skiing competitor categories included those for amputees, blind/visually impaired, spinal cord injured/wheelchair, and cerebral palsy/brain injury/stroke.

The Paralympics highlights a community of athletes that had not received a significant amount of media coverage in the past. However, that is changing. This year, for example, the Academy Awards recognized a film on wheelchair rugby by nominating “Murderball” for best documentary. Inspired by the film, I began looking into adaptive sports programs. Luckily, an adaptive skiing program existed locally, and I had the opportunity to volunteer as an instructor. There, I heard, early on, “From the top of the mountain, all you see is possibility.” The opportunity to participate in this program opened my eyes. Hundreds of students, whose disabilities range from physical to cognitive, were introduced to the exhilarating freedom of snow sports. The rewards for the students as well as the instructors were profound.

Physiatrists, more than most physicians, recognize the importance of sports and recreation in the successful rehabilitation of individuals with disabilities. When faced with the reality of a disability, many experience depression and a loss of confidence. Sports offer the opportunity to achieve success in a very short time period, and to use this success to build self-confidence and focus on possibilities instead of dwelling on what they can no longer do.

AAPM&R maintains a directory of resources for athletes with disabilities who wish to participate in sports, and physiatrists (as well as members of the public) who would like to volunteer with those organizations. If you would like to volunteer with a disabled athlete organization, log on to the Directory of Athletes with Disabilities Organizations.

Gregory Moore, MD
University of Virginia
gm4h@virginia.edu