Paralympian
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˌpæ.ɹəˈlɪm.pɪ.ən/
ipa: /ˌpæ.ɹəˈlɪm.pi.ən/
ipa: /ˌpɛ-/
Forms: form: Paralympians
Etymology: From Paralympic + -ian (suffix with the sense ‘having a certain profession’ forming nouns, or with the sense ‘from, like, or related to’ forming adjectives). Paralympic is a blend of paraplegic + Olympic; the Paralympic Games were originally organized for persons with paraplegia from spinal injuries, but are now participated in by sportspersons with all kinds of disabilities.
Senses: examples: text: DICK MADURO … Paralympian
ref: 1960 September 19, Amaldo Cortesi, “Paralympic Games open at Rome Olympics site”, in St. Petersburg Times, volume 77, number 57, St. Petersburg, Fla.: The Times Publishing Co., →OCLC, section C (Sports), image caption, page 4-C, column 3:
text: 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.
ref: 1964 September 30, Jim Murray, “Better half”, in Nick B[oddie] Williams, editor, Los Angeles Times, volume LXXXIII, number 291, Los Angeles, Calif.: Times Mirror Company, →OCLC, part III (Sports), page 1, columns 1–2:
text: 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.
ref: 1994 August 11, LeRoy T. Walker, “Prepared Statement of Dr. LeRoy T. Walker”, in Oversight of Activities of the Olympic Committee: Hearing before the Subcommittee on Consumer of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, United States Senate, One Hundred Third Congress, Second Session […] (S. Hrg. 103-724), Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, →ISBN, page 17:
text: 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.
ref: 1997 spring, Sandra Perlmutter, “Message from the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports”, in Linda K. Bunker, editor, Physical Activity & Sport in the Lives of Girls: Physical & Mental Health Dimensions from an Interdisciplinary Approach: Executive Summary: The President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports: Report […], Washington, D.C.: President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, →OCLC, page 5:
text: 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.
ref: 2003 December, Susan Greenwald, “Victories by and for the Disabled”, in Michael J. Bandler, editor, U.S. Society & Values: Electronic Journal of the U.S. Department of State: Sports in America, volume 8, number 2, Washington, D.C.: Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State, →OCLC, page 20, column 2:
text: 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.
ref: 2014, James Mastro, Christopher Ahrens, Nathan Statton, “Paralympians are Inspirations for All”, in Thomas Riggs & Company, editor, Are Athletes Good Role Models? (At Issue), Farmington Hills, Minn.: Greenhaven Press, Gale, Cengage Learning, →ISBN, page 55:
text: 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.
ref: 2018, Linda K. Fuller, “Gendered Implications of Olympic and the Paralympic Events”, in Female Olympian and Paralympian Events: Analyses, Backgrounds, and Timelines, Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, Springer International Publishing, →DOI, →ISBN, page 15:
text: […] [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.
ref: 2019, Mike Kent, Rachel Robertson, Katie Ellis, Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, “Looking to the Future for Critical Disability Studies”, in Katie Ellis, Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, Mike Kent, Rachel Robertson, editors, Interdisciplinary Approaches to Disability: Looking towards the Future (Interdisciplinary Disability Studies), volume 2, Abingdon, Oxfordshire; New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN:
text: 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.
ref: 2019, Josh Pauls, “From Humble Beginnings”, in Lessons Learned: My Journey to the Podium, Victoria, B.C.: FriesenPress, →ISBN, page 103:
topics: hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: One who competes in the Paralympic Games.
Hypernyms: para-athlete
Coordinate terms: Deaflympian
Olympian
Special Olympian
Related terms: Paralympiad
Paralympic Games
Paralympics