The Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games They consist of 23 sports, the same number as in the last edition of Rio 2016, but two modalities have changed. Badminton and taekwondo will be released in the Japanese capital, and football 7 and sailing will be dropped.
The discipline that will gather the most athletes and that will distribute the most medals is Athletics, exactly 1,100 athletes they will try to get the 167 golds to be delivered. The Tokyo Olympic Stadium will host all the tests that make up this modality and that are: track race, jumps, throws and marathon. To ensure equality in the competition, each one is divided into several subtests depending on the degree of disability. In this way, for example in the 100 meters there will be 30 Paralympic champions.
The novelties of Tokyo 2020
The badminton It is one of the sports that will debut in this edition. At the Yoyogi National Stadium they will participate 90 athletes divided into 14 categories: seven male, six female and one mixed. Within these, there will be six classes, in four of them they will play standing up and in the other two in a wheelchair.
The taekwondo It is the other modality that is released, in it athletes with disabilities in the upper extremities will participate. There will be three male categories and another three female based on weight, all within a single disability class, K-44. The fights consist of three rounds of two minutes, which will be extended one more in case of a tie.
Taekwondo combat adapted Pan American Games EFE CDA
Wheelchair disciplines
The Wheelchair Basketball has been at the Games since the first edition, in Roma 1960. However, women had to wait 8 years to compete in Paralympics, until Tel Aviv 1968. As in Olympic basketball, there are five players on the court. The difference is that in the Paralympic each one receives a score between 1 and 4.5, depending on their functional capacity, and the sum of those who are on the track cannot exceed 14. The Spanish selection Men was silver in Rio and will seek to revalidate that medal, or even improve it.
In the wheelchair rugby, the players also have a score between 0.5 and 3.5, not being able to add more than 8 points the four players who are on the field of play. In addition, it is played in mixed teams, and if there are any women in the field, add half a point more. The objective is to pass the ball through the test line, being able to use the chairs to block the opponent.
The tennis it is also played in a chair. It has six events: individual male and female, male and female doubles, and mixed quad modality, both singles and doubles. In quad, the players must have at least three limbs affected, while in the rest, the two lower limbs must be affected.
Regarding the table tennis, is one of the sports in Tokyo that has more athletes, about 300 will fight to get one of the 31 golds to be delivered in this discipline. Athletes with physical and intellectual disabilities will participate, the former being divided into two modalities: standing and in a wheelchair.
Another discipline that is disputed in wheelchair is fencing, was promoted by the forerunner of the Paralympic Games Sir Ludwig Guttman, and that is why it has been in these since the first edition. There are three modes depending on the weapon used: foil, saber and sword. In all of them, the participants must touch the rival but without moving the chair, which is fixed to the ground. The three will have two individual categories, both male and female, while for teams they will only compete in epee and foil. France, Italy or China they will try to continue occupying the podium at the Makuhari Messe Hall.
Wheelchair fencing final at the London 2012 Paralympic Games EFE TC SS CDA
Boccia and golbol, the two only Paralympic sports
The bowl it is one of only two sports that are only Paralympic. This has its origin in the Classical Greece, and is similar to petanque, consisting of throwing some balls (4 or 6) as close as possible to another white that was thrown in the first place. It has seven events: four individuals, two in pairs and one in teams, all of them being mixed. Depending on the class they are in, they can go from not needing help, to needing an assistant or a gutter to pitch. Asian countries are the ones that have reigned in recent years, mainly Thailand or China.
The goalball or goalball It is the other sport that has no correspondence in the Olympic Games. It is played at the Makuhari Messe Hall, and teams of three visually impaired players must shoot or roll the ball towards the goal located at the other end of the court scoring a goal. All of this is achieved through sound of the ball and with a mask, that ensures equality. In this case, there are both male and female categories.
Goalkeeper match at the 2018 Central American Paralympic Games EFE IVE
Regarding the cycling, there are two modes: in track or en route, which will be held at the Izu velodrome and the Fuji international circuit, respectively. Between the two, there will be 51 events: 34 road comprising race, time trial and team relays, and Track 17 with time trial, individual pursuit and team sprint. It is one of the most popular sports of all the Paralympic disciplines, and on the track Great Britain is the clear dominator, while on the road it is divided between Germany, Australia, the United States, or Spain and also the British in class C. There are 12 classes attending to disabilities.
At the Paralympic Games, there are three events of equestrian or dressage: Team, individual and individual freestyle, all of these are mixed. Within the last two, there are five categories based on the degree of disability, which also marks the degree of difficulty in the movements they perform. In total there are 78 places, including those of teams. Riders and horses will get into action at the Equestrian Park.
Swimming, the second discipline with the most participation
620 swimmers They will meet at the Tokyo Aquatic Center, being the second sport that gathers more athletes behind athletics. 150 golds They will be delivered to these athletes, including those with physical disabilities or cerebral palsy, differentiating according to grade or type. It is one of the modalities that has been permanently maintained since the first Paralympic Games in Rome 1960, and in which the Spanish makes history Teresa Perales with 27 medals.
The Nippon Budokan will be the scene of the fighting of judo, contested by judokas with partial or complete visual impairment. There will be seven male and six female categories, depending on the weight of the athletes.
Some sports increase tests and others disappear
These are the second Paralympic Games in which the canoeing sprint, but this time it will be with two types of boats. To the kayak test that was already held in Rio de Janeiro 2016, the ‘go canoe’, both in the distance of 200 meters. The canoe is longer than the kayak, and has a float located on the side to help balance. In addition, the paddle only has a paddle on one side, while in the kayak it has both. However, for the remo It will be its fourth edition and will have four different modalities: one female, one male and two mixed (double and four without a helmsman), all in 2000 meters.
On the other hand, after having two types of football in the previous edition: football 5 for the blind and Soccer 7 adapted for footballers with cerebral palsy, it will only be the first in Tokyo 2020. 8 will be the teams that will seek, following the sound of the ball and the voice of their guide, to become Paralympic champions. But for this, they must submit to Brazil, gold in all four editions in which this sport has been contested. There is only male category and the matches will be played at the Aomi Urban Sports Park.
Brazil – Iran Paralympic Games Rio 2016 EFE to the board of directors
The paralympic shooting will have 13 tests, 9 rifle and 4 pistol, among them there are male, female and mixed. Shooters can shoot from three different positions depending on their conditions, it can be standing, kneeling or face down.
In turn, the archery It has three modes: recurve bow, compound bow and W1, which result in nine tests. The difference between the first two is that the compounds have pulleys, telescopic sights and other aids to improve the shot. W1 is a category in which only athletes from that disability group participate.
Paralympic weightlifting returns to its start
The paralympic weightlifting It was included for the first time in a Games in the Japanese capital in 1964, since then it has been present in all editions. Athletes lift the weight while lying on their back on a bench. They will do it in 10 categories, from 49 kilos to more than 107 in men and from 41 kg to more than 86 in women. It will be at the Tokyo International Forum.
About paralympic triathlon, differs from the Olympian in distances, corresponding to the modality of sprint: 750 meters of swimming, 20km of cycling and 5km of running. In total, there will be 8 categories to ensure equality: four female and four male.
Finally, a female and a male team of volleyball seated Paralympic champions will be proclaimed. As its name suggests, it is played sitting down and they have to have a part of the body on the ground at all times when touching the ball.
Sitting Volleyball match at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games EFE jbu jma
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