At 10:08 p.m. local time, the Japanese Emperor Naruhito yesterday declared the Paralympics 2020 one year late in the Tokyo Olympic Stadium. By September 5, around 4,400 athletes from 170 countries in 22 sports will fight for a total of 539 sets of medals. Due to the numerous classifications, this is 200 more than at the Summer Olympics a month ago. The Paralympics also have a bonus when it comes to the audience. While the competitions under the sign of the five rings were still pure “ghost games” without spectators, more than 100,000 Japanese students will be able to attend the sports spectacle that begins today in Tokyo.
The Paralympics are actually a very educational example. That is also the motive of the organizers to open the doors to the sports facilities for children. The students should see and learn what disabled people can achieve, so the argument goes. Seiko Hashimoto, President of the Organizing Committee, defines the associated expectation as follows: “This is the second time that Tokyo is hosting the Paralympic Games. This time we have to change society.”
The “school experiment” does not meet with approval everywhere. A fifth corona wave is currently building up in Japan; the seven-day incidence in Tokyo has risen from 79 to 230 within one month.
Old hand Andreas Onea swims in the circle of favorites. Image: gepa
Onea swims with body and soul
In addition to Yvonne Marzinke, who was by choice Mondsee, who set the pace at night in the 3000 meter track race on the bike, Austria’s swimmers will be in the spotlight at the Paralympics prelude. Above all, Lower Austrian Andreas Onea has big plans for his fourth Paralympic start. “I will give everything in the water and leave my soul in the pool,” says the 29-year-old, who is one of the medal candidates on Thursday night over 100 meters chest. After merging classes, competition has increased for Onea, who lost his left arm in a car accident as a child. “I have to compete against people who have half an arm more than I do.” Paralympics debutant Andreas Ernhofer today has over 50 meters chest underdog chances. Also today table tennis ace Krisztian Gardos intervenes in the action. Like Onea, the Tyrolean won a bronze medal in Rio and is again a red-white-red bearer of hope in Tokyo.
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