Olympics, amateur athletes, disability and getting OUT THERE

Judging from my people I have talked to and some misconceptions, I want to talk a moment about the Olympics.

The Olympics is an event of amateurs.

Now that may shock or anger some people but it is the truth. The Olympics was never recreated over 100 years ago as anything other than a place where amateur athletes, people who practice in the early morning, or after work, gather to strive for the love of their sport and individual best. Of course, the Olympics was originally stated that women shouldn’t be involved and though unsaid, likely that non-white shouldn’t show up either. This was for the “boys” of Yale and Oxford, McGill, Cambridge, Harvard and some of the best of Europe and Australia would meet; kind of like the regattas, that “sports” spirit.

Now of course with some countries giving money for medals, some of that has disappeared but I can assure you that most of the world’s countries including Canada are not lavishing money on athletes (you are lucky if they are paying your airfare!). Nor will these athletes be ending training when Olympics finish, but rather going on to another competition, a world cup or another amateur event in a few weeks. When I fenced or trained with some of the women who are at the Olympics, they did not receive money for winning tournament X or even the nationals. Yes, eventually they would get a “Card” which would give them about 40% of the money needed to make the tournaments they needed to just in Canada (know what a round trip to Regina costs?). In my salle, The three time National Champion, winner of the Pan-Am Games and winner or bronze medalist of the Commonwealth games (which only happen once every few years, much like the Student games), was not only going to university but also working part time at the clothing store The Gap – and doing 4+ hours of training a day. That is considered being an Amateur. When you are paid a salary like pro (like “professional”) hockey, basketball, baseball, soccer/football, American football or even boxing or triathlons you are a professional. So when the boxer from Zimbabwe shows up at the Olympics, there will NOT be Mike Tyson facing him (I say he because women still can’t box at the Olympics). That determines the arenas you compete in; are you going pro or not? (For some sports like fencing or archery we only WISH there was a professional circuit like the golfers have!).

So, while this is a highly televised and publicized and in many ways overly nationalized competition, it is still the same small group of archers or fencers or badminton singles players. And yeah, it sucks to get knocked out at the Olympics but they will be facing each other again in next month’s European Cup. And while commentators may present it all as a do or die, a single event people train for, for “elite” amateur athletes, it is another competition on the schedule and yeah, you train at other events FOR going to the Olympics (or the Pan Am games), but now, if you want to be back in four years, you and your coach are focusing on the next tournament. Now I never made it to that level, but it was my three year goal. When I went into the wheelchair I was already qualified for the next Nationals. I was planning to go to the Canadian Westerns, to add to my Canadian points, and then do the North America Cup series in Group II this time and see if I could get in the top 32, and then do Group I the following year (for US points – the two countries won’t accept each other’s points).

I’m not saying that to say, “I could have been there!” Haha, I wanted to be 25th in Canada and maybe 35th or so in the US, that was my goal. To get up in the top 12, to compete for team spots, that’s for people younger than me (like 17 year olds), I just loved the sport and wanted to be up where I could face and fence the best, the people better than me, to learn and to push my limits. But at the same time, when a person with a disability in the US (ANY disability: from autism to quadriplegics) are three times more likely to be sedentary than the population, and when the majority of people with disabilities engage in no physical activity at all, I am concerned. I am worried that people with disabilities think that it is the Olympics, or Paralympics or nothing. Or that there isn’t anything they can do.

I was not watching Olympics tonight because I was too busy BEING an amateur athlete to watch other amateur athletes. I was up at Badminton, and I only managed to fall over going for a birdie once tonight (and one save when I was going over). It is recorded that females with disabilities have even less opportunity than males with disabilities, at the Paralympic games females only comprise 25% of the athletes. But then not a lot of women are drawn to wheelchair rugby. At the winter Paralympics that falls to 20%. Now, I am not saying, “Go for the Paralympics!” but it does reflect a trend, and yeah, for a lot of us, getting out of bed IS our sport. I am not boxing anymore, and I don’t think I can call myself a wheelchair boxer, though I might give it one more try, but I am already trying to find a way to join the disability swim team. Janet the coach says, “We haven’t worked out the problem of how you are going to swim with oxygen!”

I said, “See, that is the distance I swim, one length, and the OXYGEN is the incentive, if I make it to the other side, I get the oxygen, otherwise I pass out in the water!”

She laughed and said she would “think about that.”

Look, I know a lot of people are unable to do physical activity and others have no desire to, and I don’t make judgements in my mind one way or another. But if someone WANTS to do an activity, from belly dancing, to a swim class, to wheelchair judo or BADMINTON (sorry, couldn’t help that!), then I want them to be able to do that. And I want them to understand that there are not two classifications, there is amateur athlete. It is just the level of commitment, and that is a personal choice (some of us like to spend extra time kissing Linda).

Anyway, talking about getting out and about, Cheryl came over and we went to Mount Doug park to have a picnic. Which was nice, to see trees and hear the sounds of birds (a heron flew by), rather than….roofers!

And for those who don’t understand when I say I turn green, here is a picture, not as green as when I went to the hospital or passed out in the doctors office but an idea of what my hands turn into (from mottled purple to GREEN) when they get hot, try to sweat and that doesn’t happen.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy watching the Olympics and I hope that you also realize that wheeling down to the grocery store IS a form of activity, and for those of us where the route seems harder and harder, an athletic activity. I am flipping through the fall calendar for local activities, whether it be painting or better yet, belly dancing, I am getting out of here and doing something. Yeah, I’m weaker, I’m in more pain, but until breathing becomes my main athletic activity, I am getting OUT THERE. I will keep you all updated.