History and sports. Reference. Paralympic Games. Sports related to visual impairment These are different speeds

I recently wrote about the history of the Paralympic Games, and now I have collected several interesting facts regarding this event. I hope it turned out interesting and useful.

1. Torch relay
The Olympic flame is traditionally lit in Olympia, Greece, and then the relay begins, during which the flame is carried to the capital city of the Olympic Games. The Paralympic flame has slightly different traditions: the route starts not from Olympia, but from any city, at the discretion of the organizers of the Games. The path of the fire to the capital of the Olympics is shorter. Thus, the 2014 Paralympic torch relay lasted 10 days, from February 26 to March 7, during which time the torch was carried by 1,699 citizens of Russia and foreign countries, including more than 35% of people with disabilities, and 4,000 volunteers also took part in the relay. The fire swept through 46 cities in different regions of Russia. And in addition, for the first time, one of the stages of the Paralympic torch relay took place in the British city of Stoke Mandeville in Buckinghamshire - in the same city in which the Stoke Mandeville Games, the prototype of the Paralympic Games, were first held. From this year onwards, the Paralympic flame will always travel to Stoke Mandeville.

2. Format expansion
Initially, only wheelchair users took part in the Stoke Mandeville Games. The first Games in 1948 were called the Stoke Mandeville Wheelchair Games, and British war veterans took part in them. In 1952, Dutch athletes came to the Games, and the status of the competition changed to international. In 1976, for the first time, not only wheelchair users, but also athletes with other categories of disabilities participated in the Winter Paralympic Games in Ornskoldsvik (Sweden), and in summer games AH-1976 in Toronto already involved 1,600 athletes from 40 countries: blind and visually impaired, paraplegics, athletes with amputated limbs, with spinal cord injuries and other types of physical impairments.

3. Association
At first, the Olympics and Paralympics were held in different cities. They built their own there sports objects for each Games. For example, in 1988 Winter Olympics took place in Calgary (Canada), and the Paralympics took place in Innsbruck (Austria). But the 1988 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games were held at the same venues for the first time. It was in Seoul (Republic of Korea). The agreement that the Paralympic Games take place in the same year, in the same country and at the same venues as the Olympic Games was signed by the IOC and the IPC in 2001, and it has only been officially applied since the summer of 2012, although in practice this is so it happened before.

4. Biathlon with special features
Paralympic athletes compete in 20 summer disciplines and five winter disciplines - alpine skiing, sledge hockey, cross-country skiing, biathlon and wheelchair curling. There are practically no fundamental differences in the rules of the games for Paralympic athletes, but their specific features, of course, are present...
For example, in Paralympic biathlon the distance to the target has been reduced - 10 meters instead of 50 in traditional biathlon. In this case, athletes with visual impairments shoot from special rifles with an optronic system (electroacoustic glasses), which is activated during aiming. The closer to the center of the target the sight is, the louder the sound signal is heard by the athlete, and he focuses on it to make an accurate shot.

5. "Guides"
Visually impaired or blind biathletes and skiers do not perform alone: ​​they are accompanied on the route by a guide, or “guide”, who points the way and gives hints about the features of the route (turns, ascents, descents). As a rule, the guide is also an athlete, only he is sighted. To transmit commands, a microphone and speaker attached to the belt of the guide accompanying the Paralympian can be used. Guides are considered part of the team, they receive medals together with Paralympic athletes, and rise to the podium together.

6. Wheelchair curling
This sport appeared at the Paralympic Games quite recently, the first competitions were held in 2006, during the Games in Turin. The features are as follows: firstly, the teams are not divided into male and female, each team has representatives of the fair and stronger sex at the same time. Secondly, there is no athlete who rubs the ice with a brush in front of the stone. Athletes move the stone with special sticks, which, with the help of a plastic tip, can cling to the handle of the stone. Finally, wheelchair curling has a different stone throwing technique that is more complex. Paralympic curlers throw the stone either with their hands or with a device called an extender, which is attached to the handle of the stone.

7. Parasnowboard
Parasnowboarding, or adaptive snowboarding, is now actively developing throughout the world. In Sochi, for the first time in the history of the Paralympic Games, we are seeing performances by para-snowboarders; they are taking place as part of the alpine skiing competition. Two sets of medals are awarded, and only in the standing category, although in general parasnowboarders compete in three categories - standing (STA), sitting (SIT) and visually impaired (VI) athletes. The International Paralympic Committee, by the way, has already stated that parasnowboarding will be available at the next Winter Games in 2018 it may be separated from the alpine skiing program, and then competitions in it will be held as an independent sport.

8. Sports without borders
I never tire of repeating that Paralympic competitions are just as spectacular as Olympic competitions, and they are much stronger emotionally. Athletes demonstrate an incredible will to win and to live... And the results of Paralympic athletes are often close to those shown by ordinary athletes! And history knows examples when Paralympians performed at traditional Olympics and became winners! The first such example is an American athlete of German origin, gymnast George Eyser, who participated in the Games in the pre-Paralympic time - in 1904, when the Summer Games were held. Olympic Games in St. Louis. The gymnast performed on par with everyone else, despite the fact that instead of one leg he had a wooden prosthesis. Not only that - George won 6 medals (3 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze) in one day!!!
And in 2008, South African swimmer Natalie du Toit took part in the Summer Olympics in Beijing. She was left disabled after a car accident in 2001, but within three years she was competing at the Paralympic Games. In 2008, she competed with both Paralympians and regular athletes. professional athletes, and in the second event took 16th place out of 25 in the 10 km open water swim. And at the 2008 Paralympics, Nathalie du Toit won five gold medals.
There are no words. Amazing strong people.

9. Youth of soul and body
As is known, in professional sports Mostly young people participate, older Olympic athletes - a rather rare phenomenon. But many Paralympic athletes are much older than those who participate in regular Olympics. There are objective reasons for this. People come to regular sports from childhood, but many become Paralympians after they become disabled, as part of medical rehabilitation, after accidents, or participation in military conflicts... Not all disabled people have the opportunity to play sports, and many are afraid to start, because it really requires incredible strength of character. I didn't find anything about age restrictions for Paralympians. The main thing is fortitude.

10. Sledge hockey
Sledge hockey is played by athletes with lower body disabilities; a special sled was created for the game, with two runners, and the puck can slide under them. Teams of six players (including a goalkeeper) each play three periods of 15 minutes each. Only they have not one stick, but two: with one the athlete pushes off, and the second is the stick for driving the puck.
By the way, Russian sledge hockey players are performing at the Paralympics for the first time and are doing just fine! So, on March 13, our Paralympians more than convincingly

The Paralympic Winter Games start in Pyeongchang on March 9. Before they begin, "SE" tells the story of one of those who considers himself an athlete, and not a disabled person.

I never saw him walking. When he was born, he was already in a wheelchair. However, he is my uncle Valery Ryzhkov- instilled in me a love for sports. When I was very little, he often left for training camps or competitions, and when he returned home, he trained every day. Sometimes he took me with him. He talked about great athletes, taught him to play chess, gave football balls, brought the read issues of Sport Express. My uncle never liked to talk about himself. Nevertheless, on the eve of the Paralympic Games in Pyeongchang, I finally asked to talk to him.

SPINE FRACTURE

- We never talked about how you got into trouble...

Spring, 10th grade. Let's go to nature. We took the tape recorder, but the batteries were dead. We decided to recharge using electricity. I climbed onto a high-voltage pole and received an electric shock. I woke up - that’s it, my legs don’t move.

- Were there options for you not to climb the pole?

I was the most athletic, it was immediately clear that I should do it.

- You understood that this was dangerous, right?

Yes. But we thought that we would put a wire on it and everything would be fine.

His grandmother, his mother, said that in fact there was an agreement with the guys - if he failed, they would catch him. However, when my uncle was electrocuted and he flew down, everyone ran away.

After the incident, panic began. Having regained consciousness, Valery did not feel his legs. He asked: “Where are they?” And his comrades raised them, showing them to him. If you have a spinal injury, this should never be done. Further - worse. They tried to fit him into the cradle of a motorcycle to take him to the hospital.

Nobody understood how serious it was. They thought he was just hurt. If not for this, perhaps the spinal cord would not have been damaged. And so he was completely gouged. Although there would have been consequences in any case. This is a spinal fracture...

ARAB MILLIONAIRE, OFFICERS - IN SUCH A SITUATION EVERYONE IS EQUAL

- What were the first days like after the incident?

It was a weekend - the May holidays. Because of this, the necessary doctor was not available for the first four days. I just lay there and waited. Then a neurosurgeon arrived from Orenburg (everything happened in the village of Kulagino, and Ryzhkov was lying in Novosergievka - this is just over 100 km from the regional center. - Note IN AND.). Operated. It was assumed that the operation would be very long, but when he cut it open he saw the condition spinal cord, and realized that he couldn’t help.

- You then went to Moscow.

Only in two years. But there they told me that after the operation I would have to recover for a very long time, and the chances of a positive result were rather zero. We decided to abandon it, and probably rightly so. How many of them were made for the guys - as everyone had, it remained so. If there is a fracture of the spine, and even with a rupture of the brain, nothing can be done. And now it is like that. Only before they “cut” everyone, but now they practically don’t do operations. There is no point.

- At what point did you realize that you would have to spend your whole life in a wheelchair?

In Moscow. I saw that in the same hospital there were Arab millionaires, our officers, occupying high positions. Many were injured before me, but they had no improvement. Why am I better? I realized that I would no longer walk.

- This was hard?

It was normal. By that time, I had spent two years in this situation. And if all this time I was striving and studying, then at that moment I realized: it was useless. When a person realizes that he will no longer walk, he looks for ways to continue living in such conditions, and begins to adapt to a slightly different life.

- Did you give up?

No, there are people who have found themselves in worse situations.

REVOLUTION OF CONSCIOUSNESS

- Did your trip to Crimea, to Saki change your view?

Yes. My father and I went there and saw a lot of people using wheelchairs. Some are already 30 years old. This gave a big boost. When I first stayed in Yasny (spinal center in the Orenburg region. - Note IN AND.), everyone there hoped that after some time they would walk again. And in Saki people lived quietly in wheelchairs; for them it was the norm.

- Are there many who hope to the last?

Some people hope all their lives. They constantly go to rehabilitation, visit grandmothers and healers, but the result is almost always the same.

- Is Saki the most accessible city for disabled people in the USSR?

Yes. There is not only a city with conditions for wheelchair users, but also an adapted sanatorium named after Burdenko. People came there from all over the Union. And the Yakuts, and the Balts, and the Uzbeks. Everyone was treated. The sanatorium is right on the shore of the healing lake.

- Is that where you first learned about wheelchair sports?

I heard about this back in Moscow. The guys read in some newspaper that even disabled people can play sports, some competitions are held. And in Saki I saw everything with my own eyes. The guys were racing in wheelchairs and doing physical exercise. The first USSR Spartakiad for disabled people was held there; people competed in household wheelchairs. Only the Baltic states had racing ones. They are close to Scandinavia, this kind of progress reached them much faster.

- How did you feel when you watched the first competition?

And I not only watched, but also participated. And he won immediately. My friend Gennady Butov from Tomsk and I constantly went to the sea, to the disabled beach. And this is 12 km one way. Thanks to such preparation, everyone there was demolished.

- How old were you then?

27-28. Then they stopped giving me tickets to the south. They said: enough, you don’t have to travel alone. In 1985 I went on my own. Lived in an apartment, trained. We gathered with the guys for a city day and organized races. Then we talked, everyone wanted to move forward.

THEY WERE NOT TAKEN TO LILLEHAMMER-94 BECAUSE THERE WERE NO PASSPORT

In 1991, Valery was invited to Moscow. One person from each region was invited to a master class given by the Swedes. They taught how to move correctly in active wheelchairs and how to climb stairs. And then, having been there, they had to pass on knowledge locally. In Moscow, Ryzhkov came across a photograph of a sports stroller. Upon arrival home, in Kulagino, he and his father drew up drawings based on it - and assembled a similar one themselves.

- I still don’t understand how you managed to do this.

There are hands, gathered. I bought two sports wheels; we made the front one ourselves.

- How?

They put it from a baby stroller. From that moment another life began. In 1992, he went to Moscow to a sports festival and took fourth place. It turned out that compared to the factory ones, my stroller is very heavy. Upon arrival home, they began to assemble another one and improved the previous one.

- Your first Russian championship?

1994 in Volgograd. I won three or four distances. But this is already on a different stroller - with the help of the Orenburg sports committee, they bought it in St. Petersburg.

- How was your training in Kulagino in winter?

Before lunch I was spinning the exercise machine that my father and I had assembled. Then I skied. I compiled a program - at some times I did volumes, at others I did speed. The more I met with the guys, the more I learned and analyzed.

- How much did you do during training?

In spring, about 20-30 km per session. When I was preparing for marathons - 50-60 km.

- In 1994, you participated in the first World Wheelchair Athletics Championships in Berlin.

Or it could have flown by. In 1993 he participated in the Russian Winter Ski Championships. He performed well and was a candidate for Lillehammer 94. But I didn’t have a passport, and I wasn’t accepted into the team. I returned home and immediately took up this issue. By summer the document was ready. And when he won several distances in Volgograd, he showed his passport to his superiors - there could be no more excuses.

- How did you perform in Berlin?

At 100m I was 12th or 13th.

- What surprised you in Europe?

Just one thing - I didn’t think that there were so many disabled people all over the world who go in for sports.

ATLANTA GAMES AND WHEELS FOR $2000

- The Paralympic Games in Atlanta are the most bright event in a sports career?

Certainly. I prepared with all my might. He regularly went to training camps in Moscow, trained at the Krylatskoye cycling track in a group with Irina Gromova. I approached the start in good shape. The regional sports committee bought me an American sports stroller.

- Darling?

Very. Around 2000 dollars. At that time, only four riders were taken to the Russian team, two were from Omsk, Sergei Shilov from Moscow and me. I went to both the opening and closing. Such a show! It was great. I performed at my level and was, like, tenth.

- Did foreigners have better strollers?

The strollers themselves are insignificant. But the wheels were very different. They already had carbon ones.

- Are these different speeds?

The appearance of such wheels was a turning point in wheelchair sports. Now everyone has them.

- And then you couldn’t afford them?

Where there! They cost about $2,000. Like a stroller.

- Could you have performed better in the USA?

They showed what they were ready for. Our sport was at the stage of development then, you couldn’t jump over your head. Upon arrival, we began to train even more. We looked at the foreigners - they were more ready. Not only do they have carbon wheels, but they themselves are stronger. The Muscovites bought the same wheels for themselves. But I never got around to it...

Did you try to qualify for Nagano-98?

No. After 1993, I did not go to the Russian winter championships. It's a bit heavy. That’s how it is with summer races - you go on your own, take a sports stroller with you, you can put a bag in it. Somehow you get there. And in winter it’s hard to carry a whole bean alone. Although it turned out well in skiing. If only logistics were simpler. If I were on the team...

- Didn’t the same Gromova call you?

She called, but I refused.

- Why?

So the pension is 70 rubles. You can’t live on this money in Moscow. She had Shilov then. When I refused, she called Misha Terentyeva(currently a State Duma deputy. - Note IN AND.) from Krasnoyarsk. We agreed that I would study on my own and come to training camps in the summer. That's how it worked out.

20 THOUSAND RUBLES - THE BIGGEST PRIZE

- Next big starts after Atlanta?

In 1998 he competed at the marathon in Kosice and the World Championships in Birmingham. In England I reached the 100m final. We were well prepared then. We came fourth in the 4x100 m relay. However, I did not participate.

- Why? You were number one, weren't you?

The team leader decided so. There were five of us riders, and I was the odd one out.

- Could you qualify for Sydney?

Could. But at the Russian Championships in Tula I was second, third or fourth everywhere. Then another wound opened... In general, they didn’t take it. After that I didn’t study seriously anymore. I was just preparing for marathons.

- Was it possible to make money there?

Yes a little.

- Were there any prizes at the Russian Championship?

Once at the championship I won five distances. On the rest he was in prizes. So they gave me one certificate in which all the results were written down: I won at these distances, at these I was second, and at those I was third. Medals appeared in the late 90s. Then sometimes they started giving us dishes and teapots. There were no monetary incentives. Only at marathons.

- I remember there was a story in Omsk, when they promised a car, but after your victory everyone outplayed it.

Not really. “Oka” was exhibited there and there were immediately conditions that if Omsk wins, it will go to him. I won. They gave me some kind of cash prize. And no more cars were exhibited.

- The biggest prize money in your career?

In Omsk once there were 20 thousand rubles for a victory.

DOPING AND SCAM

- Was there doping in the 90s?

There wasn't even any talk about it back then. Probably because there was no prize money. For the first time in my life I heard about doping before Atlanta. On the eve of departure Lev Seleznev told us: “Make sure you don’t take any pills. I’ll rip everyone’s heads off!”

- The Paralympians missed Rio, and are going to Pyeongchang with a very limited team.

It's a shame about all this. Very! People work so hard, but they can’t prove themselves. I especially feel sorry for the young people.

- How much is your pension now?

11-13 thousand. It's hard to live on this. Four thousand just for utilities you have to pay. So what remains? Need to work.

For his sporting achievements in 1999, the administration of the Orenburg region gave Valery an apartment. However, something unexpected happened. Soon he got married. I thought it was for love. But it turned out to be a cold-blooded swindler who, having learned about the upcoming gift in the form of an apartment, calculated everything. As soon as the wedding took place and documents for living space were received, she filed for divorce. Taking into account the fact that she had a daughter, by court decision two or three apartments were given to them.

THE MAIN THING IS NOT VICTORY, BUT ADAPTATION TO ORDINARY LIFE

- When did you start coaching?

- How did you recruit to the group?

I called everyone myself. Knew someone. And those whom I knew knew someone else. We made commercials that were shown on TV.

- Was it on a voluntary basis?

Yes, I wanted people to study. Then the city sports committee proposed creating an official group.

- Do I understand correctly that some of those who responded to the offer almost left the house for the first time?

This is true. Some have been confined to four walls for years. For some it is difficult to go outside psychologically, for many it is purely physical. So you live high up - and that’s it, where do you go? If only you managed to change with someone on the first floor. Now it’s better - they’re making elevators and ramps. This didn't happen before. As soon as a person got home from the hospital, he sat there.

- When did you learn to walk up steps?

In 1991, when the Swedes held a master class. Now the first thing we teach in the group is to adapt to the city, overcome steps and curbs.

- Is it difficult to drive a car with just your hands?

This is me even before I learned to climb stairs. I attached the levers to the pedals - and nothing complicated.

- How many people are in your group?

25. Of these, 10-12 are wheelchair users. The rest are cerebral palsy. Different types of sports: Athletics, streetball and table tennis. In general, conditions in the city are much better, and much more attention is paid to people with disabilities. There are many places where ramps are made.

- Would you like someone from your group to reach the level of the Paralympic Games?

In order for someone to reach the World Championship, you need to take two or three people and work with them individually. There are those who want to. Some have great prospects. Let's see. In any case, the most important thing is that they all fully adapt to life, exercise and attract others.

In Kulagino, in my uncle’s room, there was a picture - a heron almost swallowed a frog, but it, sticking out of its beak, squeezed its neck with its paws. And the signature: never give up. Ryzhkov never gives up. Doesn't complain. He does everything himself - from fixing watches to mowing the grass. He does not expect outside help from anyone, but he himself is always ready to come to the rescue of everyone. For me and dozens of other people, he is a hero and a living example. He not only copes with all life’s difficulties himself, but also makes life easier for other people who find themselves in wheelchair, instills confidence in them and reawakens interest in life.

Once I was with him at a competition. He and other guys loaded bags and strollers into the gazelle. A coach from Omsk said a phrase that I remembered for the rest of my life: “Faster, faster, guys! We are not disabled. We are athletes!”

Real athletes.

Valery RYZHKOV
Born April 18, 1961
14-time Russian champion
Participant of the Paralympic Games in Atlanta 1996
1998 World Championships 100m finalist in Birmingham
Repeated winner of the International Moscow and Omsk Marathons
Excellent student physical culture and sports
Winner of the All-Russian competition among trainers "New Generation" (2007)
Torchbearer of the relay race olympic flame in Orenburg (2013)

What is behind the suspension of the Russian Paralympic team from the Games in Rio de Janeiro

The ban on the participation of Russian Paralympians in the Olympics in Brazil sounded like a bolt from the blue: after the IOC de facto allowed the majority of the Olympic team in Rio, such a harsh attitude towards disabled athletes seemed at least illogical. Of course, there is still time before the Paralympics - it will begin in September, so there is a chance to challenge such a decision of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). But what is behind it? “Ogonyok” asked Mikhail Terentyev, member of the Council of Athletes of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), chairman of the All-Russian Society of Disabled Persons, State Duma deputy and winner of six Paralympic Games, about this.

— Mikhail Borisovich, what kind of doping can we talk about when they talk about Paralympic athletes - people who are sometimes forced to constantly take medications?

— Disabled people involved in sports highest achievements, are not frail people. Disability is not a disease, but a condition of the body. So Olympic and Paralympic sports differ only in the rules for classifying athletes. For Paralympians, this means that wheelchair users must compete with wheelchair users, and blind people with blind people. But the doping requirements for both Olympians and Paralympians are the same. As well as permission for the therapeutic use of drugs, this is possible only on the recommendation of a doctor in cases where it is vitally necessary for the athlete’s health. The procedure for informing WADA about an athlete taking medications is also the same.

— Are the lists of prohibited drugs also the same?

— Yes, the list is general, and it is approved by WADA, and control is carried out by the International Paralympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee. National committees, including the Russian one (RKR), are deprived of the right to interfere in the process.

— So the Russian Paralympians were accused of using doping, not drugs?

- Nothing like this! The accusation does not relate to the use of doping by Paralympic athletes, but to the fact that Russia has a state program that is aimed at the use of prohibited methods and drugs. The West suspects that at the state level all these violations are hidden from other countries. If we were talking specifically about doping, athletes would be disqualified individually based on doping tests. But the Olympic athletes or the entire Russian Paralympic team were suspended not because of a positive doping test result, but because, according to WADA, the RCC cannot function normally under the current conditions.

— Why was the entire Paralympic team suspended?

“That’s why the IPC’s decision came as such a shock to us!” How, based on information from the same report, were two such different decisions made? Absurd!

- But is there at least some logic here?

— The IOC and IPC are guided by the following consideration... Since sports are structurally managed by sports federations, which submit applications for the Games, in the Olympic system the decision was left to these same federations. Paralympians have a different system: there are several summer Olympic events sports directly administered by the IPC (e.g. athletics, shooting, swimming, powerlifting). Therefore, the decision to remove the Russians had to be made by the IPC, and they could not remove themselves, as the IOC did. And there could only be one solution for the entire team. It was adopted on the basis of data from the report of Richard McLaren (independent WADA expert.— "ABOUT"), where they were talking, I repeat, about the alleged creation of a state system for the use of doping.

— Were there any precedents in history? Olympic movement?

— There was no suspension of the national team due to doping, but there were political accusations against states, for example, of violating human rights. Just like there were suspensions of national teams by Nazi Germany and South Africa during the apartheid regime. Therefore, the newly created anti-doping commission headed by Vitaly Smirnov proposed that the Russian anti-doping agency be coordinated not by the Ministry of Sports, but by the Ministry of Health. This should break the imaginary “vertical” of the supposedly existing doping corruption system in the imagination of foreigners.

- And what conclusion was drawn from what happened?

— WADA needs serious reform. This is not my thought, but that of IOC President Thomas Bach. Since the compliance organization anti-doping rules, must provide all information clearly and concisely at once. What's the reality? WADA first announces the accusation, and then presents the documents piece by piece. It seems like a reputable organization, but it behaves like a card sharper. Until July 18, there were no claims by the IPC against the PKR. All this time there was active correspondence. Immediately after November last year, the RPC issued an explanation regarding the track and field athletes, notifying the IPC that Paralympians train separately from Olympians. At the same time they asked the IPC if there were any complaints, and there were none. And WADA answered a similar question with the same answer. And suddenly - a report on July 18 with 35 doping tests. We asked to provide at least the names of the sports where there are violators, and better yet their names - silence in response. A week later they sent the list and immediately showed up themselves: they say, we began to figure out, of these 35 people, 20 are not your athletes. Okay, we agreed and asked again to send data only on our athletes. Sent. Let's look: on the list there is, for example, an athlete whose doping test, according to WADA, was changed at the Olympics in Sochi. We find out: this athlete was not in Sochi. Further on the list is “freestyle wrestling”... We turn to WADA for clarification: what kind of sport is this? Because he is not among the Paralympic athletes. But WADA, apparently, did not even look at the official website of the IOC to find out... And on August 3, the IPC reported that WADA had either 10 or 19 more violators. We wanted to look at the surnames. We waited and looked: someone had been disqualified for a long time, someone was using drugs for therapeutic purposes, which was announced in a timely manner, and some of the names of non-existent “heroes”, there are no such athletes. I am for tough decisions to be made only on the basis of verified data.

— Can the decision of the IPC be appealed?

— Such work is already underway. The RKR and the IPC decided to speed up the procedure and file a claim not with a special commission, but with international sports arbitration. It will meet on August 21.

— What role did the desire to eliminate medal competitors play in making the decision to suspend Russian Paralympians?

- I cannot answer this question, because the answer will be from the category of speculation. But you can draw your own conclusions if you analyze the number of medals received by our Paralympic team in Sochi and London, and ask how Great Britain itself ended up in third place there... Of course, Phil Craven (president of the IPC.— "ABOUT") will not tell you that he was guided by similar motives when making his decision. But there is a point that can indirectly confirm your guess... Several years ago, the program of the Summer Games was analyzed, and the criteria were determined on the basis of which sports were selected for the Games in Rio. Thus, football for people with cerebral palsy in Brazil will be held in last time. It has already been excluded from the program of the Tokyo 2020 Games due to the fact that there were few teams. It’s probably a coincidence, but for 15 years now, medals in this sport have been alternately received by the Russian and Ukrainian teams. There is a type of competition when amputees put the shot put... Our Alexey Ashapatov has been in the lead more than once, and in Rio this discipline is excluded - there are few athletes. It is difficult to prove anything because the IPC has its own arguments - they advocate for Paralympic sports to be more competitive.

We know that 50 percent of the Anti-Doping Agency is funded by the IOC, and the other half comes from some independent sources. But what are these sources and how much do they influence decision making?

— Will suspended Paralympic athletes sue?

— First, let's wait for the verdict sports arbitration, let's read his wording. If the verdict is negative, of course, they will file. The athletes prepared, they spent effort, money, and time. But first we need to understand the facts. And then with WADA to understand how independently they make decisions. We know that 50 percent of the Anti-Doping Agency is funded by the IOC, and the other half comes from some independent sources. But what are these sources and how much do they influence decision making? I personally have not heard of the IPC funding WADA.

— Are the Paralympic Games really experiencing their heyday now?

— Yes, and, in my opinion, this happens to a large extent due to the enormous social role of the Games. They change society. Looking at how Paralympic athletes perform, people understand that if disabled people have such potential in sports, then it can be in all areas of life. The games are watched by 3 billion people. And this affects everyone who is in the stadiums and in front of the screens: first of all, on other disabled people sitting at home and afraid to leave it. Not to mention the fact that only those states that can create an “accessible environment” in the cities where they are held are allowed to receive a bid to host the Paralympic Games. Local disabled people also benefit from this, not only athletes and participants in the Games.

— Russian Olympians are booed in Rio. Should Paralympians be subjected to such stress?

— I agree that such an attitude is stressful for any athlete. Of course, this is not the case in Russia, but in Rio there is a different information space, where all events are presented differently. It's no wonder viewers react this way. But it would be right, perhaps, only for officials to refuse a trip to Rio. For the 268 members of our Paralympic team, who prepared for 4 years, went through a tough selection (there were twice as many applicants), participated in the World and European Championships, this would be a failure. How can you deprive them of the fight they deserve?

Interviewed by Svetlana Sukhova

Business card

Sports character

Mikhail Terentyev, a native of Krasnoyarsk (1970), has been involved in Nordic combined since 1984; in 1986, at a competition in the city of Kirov, he received a spinal injury, after which he moves only in a wheelchair. Graduated from the Faculty of Economics of Krasnoyarsk University, and in 2009 from the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (international relations). Since 1993, began active training By ski racing And athletics among the disabled. Participant of the Paralympics in Lillehammer (1994), Nagano (1998), Sydney (2000), Salt Lake City (2002), Athens (2004) and Turin (2006). Paralympic champion in cross-country skiing, winner of 4 silver medals in cross-country skiing and 2 bronze medals in biathlon among wheelchair athletes (world champion in this sport). In 2006-2008 - acting President of the Federation of Physical Education and Sports for Disabled People of Russia with musculoskeletal disorders, 2006-2014 - Secretary General of the Russian Paralympic Committee, since 2014 - member of the Council of Athletes of the International Paralympic Committee, since 2014 - Chairman of the All-Russian Society of Disabled Persons, Deputy of the State Duma of the 5th and 6th convocations.