In any sporting event, the safety of the participants and fairness of the competition have to be taken into consideration, especially for the Paralympics. To prevent injuries, the rules and methods of all sports must be revised and refined to suit the special needs of the participants.

People whose legs are partially or fully disabled can still participate in track and field events, marathons, basketball, tennis and ping-pong, for wheelchairs can be used in all of these sports. For volleyball, the players can simply sit on the floor. People with cerebral palsy hold bike races using specially designed three-wheel vehicles. For the visually impaired, a new form of ping-pong was designed; the players roll the ball back and forth across the table, the ball rolling under the net instead of bouncing over. Inside the ball are two steel marbles that allow the players to locate the rolling ball by listening.

Participants Classified According to Physical Capabilities: To insure fairness, contestants are classified into different groups so that they compete with others of similar physical capabilities. Wu Er-mo notes that at present in Taiwan, contestants are grouped according to obvious physical attributes; people with one leg compete with each other, each person using one crutch; people who require two crutches compete together, people who do not use crutches, likewise. However, for international competitions there is a different set of classification standards that assigns numerical values to such attributes as how many muscles a person can use, the strength of their muscles, lung capacity, and so on. Under the international rules for wheelchair basketball, for example, the physical capabilities of the five players on the court for each team at any time are added up to get an aggregate figure. This figure cannot surpass the standard set for their class. Teams mix and match their own players, but the aggregate figure for the five players on the court cannot surpass the standard figure designated for their class.

Equipment, also, requires extensive consideration. Fang Fu-sheng, who won second prize in last year's wheelchair marathon, commented, "After the race, I discovered that the participants from other countries were not in any pain, while the R.O.C.'s participants had all rubbed their hands raw. Why is that?"

The reason is that the contestants from other countries used wheelchairs made adjustable to fit their body sizes; this makes it much easier and more comfortable to turn the wheels. The Taiwan team had ordered several titanium-alloy racing wheelchairs from Japan, but these unfortunately were all one standard size and could not be adjusted to fit each person's body size. This affects performance and is harder on the hands.

Sports wheelchairs are used in basketball, pingpong and other sports; the sports wheelchair is quite different from the racing chairs used in marathons.

"Don't underestimate the international Paralympics; just from the equipment used and the classification system, you can see it is a very scientific sport," says Wu Er-mo.

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Racing wheelchairs made of space-age alloys have only three wheels and low wind resistance, but there are no brakes other than one's own two hands. (photo by Huang Lili)

While it is more arduous to go forth on crutches, one can still go the distance with dignity and have fun doing it.

"Sports bring out confidence and laughter," says counsellor Huang Chin-tsuan.