Weight Lifting & Para Triathlon
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Introduction
Weight Lifting & Para Triathlon are 2 sports that are both available for persons with various types of Mobility Impairments at the Paralympic Games. wide range of athletes with disabilities & degrees of disabilities. Both these sports are active & available in most provinces in South Africa for both Men & Women. Both sports offer great benefits, including improving health, self esteem encourage socializing & reduce anxiety & stress.
Weight Lifting
Weightlifting previously known as Power lifting, is open to all athletes from those with spinal cord injuries, to those with cerebral palsy, amputees (lower limb amputees only) as well as those who meet the minimal disability criteria.
It is the only individual strength sport where there is no contact with an opponent and has similarities with bench pressing. Its distinguishing characteristics are maximum strength and resilience, as well as observing opponents, techniques and tactics. Each individual fights for himself or herself within a team structure. "Help and be helped" is the motto. Measuring your strength, everyone competes against each other in ten weight classes, regardless of disability level.
Weight lifting is one of the few sports that not only promotes integration between the able-bodied and people with disabilities, it also opens up national and international competitions to both men and women.
Information and training courses for newcomers to the sport take place once a year and provide an opportunity for beginners to receive tips from top athletes. The national team has successfully taken part in the European/world championships and the Paralympics for many years.
Weightlifting for the Disabled falls under SASAPD (South African Sports Association for Physically Disabled) The focus of the organization is to develop and promote the sporting codes offered at Paralympics level for athletes with physical disabilities, visual impairment and blindness. This includes Weightlifting.
They offer pathways through their affiliations with international bodies towards Paralympics Games qualification for Weightlifting & a variety of sports. The sport is active in most provinces and it is convened by Moekie Grobelaar. She can be contacted by email: moekiegrob@mweb.co.za or you can visit the SASAPD website at www.sasapd.org.za
They work with & are an affiliate member of SASCOC as well as being associated members of a number of other national sporting federations.
Background:
Power lifting for athletes with a disability made its first appearance in 1964 at the second Paralympics Games in Tokyo. Only men with spinal injuries participated with slightly different rules than are used today. Later it changed from "Power lifting" to "Weightlifting" & now the competition is open to all athletes. Women competed in this sport for the first time in Sydney in 2000.
Para Triathlon
Handcycle (HC) is a competitive division open to athletes who are paraplegic, quadriplegic or double above-the-knee amputees, and race using a hand cranked cycle on the bike, and a racing chair for the run. Handcycle athletes must use a recumbent handcycle on the bike course and a racing wheelchair on the run course. Conduct and standards for handlers of HC athletes is governed by the International Triathlon Union Rules: https://www.triathlon.org/uploads/docs/itusport_competition-rules_november2015.pdf
