As girls and women of all stripes of ability around the world are encouraged to become involved in sport, and as nearly all nations submit Paralympian females, it is hoped that support for fellow athletes—emotionally as well as economically, is part of that process.

Should we be inspired by Paralympian achievement? Commentator Frances Ryan recently counselled Guardian readers to be careful to think through their reactions to disabled "superhuman" athletes and academic poster boys like Professor Stephen Hawking. Treat people with disabilities just like everyone else, is the argument.

There was a real fear that not all Paralympians would be able to attend the games because the Paralympian athletes' travel grants were paid 3 weeks' late.

Funds sought for ‘Paralympian’ trip [article title] […] At present, however, the Long Beach resident has more than records on his mind, mainly getting a representative U.S. team to the 1964 "paralympics" to be held in Tokyo Nov. 8–12. [Frank] Vecera is on a fund-raising drive for the six California athletes selected to perform on this year's team. The tab for transporting the six to Tokyo is $3,900.

So they disqualified [Jody] Cundy on the spot. And it must be said, [Alfonso] Cabello's coaches covered themselves in little glory by registering their own protest that Cundy should not be allowed a restart. True Paralympian spirit, eh, senors?

Offering paralympian dreams to young amputees [article title]

Just as with the Olympic Games, Paralympian ones continue to change.

These are the "Paralympians," the wheelchair athletes of the world, whose own Olympics will be held in Tokyo immediately after the regular Olympiad. […] I spoke to two young Paralympians from the Long Beach area the other day, Frank Vecera and Bill Johnson. "I am only half here," Frank Vecera confided. He smiled when he said it.

Our athletes, Olympians and Paralympians, joined together in April to represent the 1994 U.S. Olympic Team in a visit to President [Bill] Clinton at the White House.

In the summer of 1996, our nation cheered the performance and achievements of the U.S. women Olympians and Paralympians. The images of strong, active women were inspiring, a long way from the days when females were relegated to "lady-like" sports and young girls were left on the sidelines while their brothers played.

Marla [Runyan] has been legally blind for more than 20 years. Marla ran the 1500-meter race at the Sydney Summer Olympics in 2000 to finish eighth, while becoming the first Paralympian to compete in the Olympics.

James Mastro is a seven-time paralympian who has earned ten medals in four different sports and is a professor in the department of professional and physical education at Bemidji State University in Bemidji, Minnesota.

Many authors caution us against overusing terms like “amazing” relative to Paralympians’ achievements, and all scholars encourage us to treat them respectfully in linguistic terms that get rid of labels ranging from “supercrips” to “exotics.” […] Many such Paralympians simply want to be known as sportspeople, their various activities known as sport, if adaptive.

[…] [Tatiane] Hilgemberg [Figueiredo] shows how the media began to use more sports-related terms in describing paralympians but notes also the continued persistence of the medical model and supercrip stereotypes within the coverage.

Through all the challenges Paralympians face, the number of athletes at each Games continue to grow in both winter and summer sports due, in part, to additional media coverage in many countries and more programs developing throughout the world. Even with mountains in their way, Paralympians still find a way to succeed.

Paralympian

Meaning

Noun

Adj

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