Five countries sent their athletes for the first time to the Tokyo Paralympics. Bhutan, Grenada, Maldives, Paraguay, St. Vincent, and the Grenadines are the five countries that will debut in this year’s Paralympics. Even the opening ceremony had a delegation of refugees, so overall, it will be a blasting event.
Video footage of #grenada of our opening ceremony at the #Paralympics! pic.twitter.com/q2LW2SHjzP
— Grenada Paralympic Committee (@paralympicsgrn) August 24, 2021
There Was Pomp, And Grandeur But No Spectators
There were wings and clowns, but no spectators were watching from the stands here like the Olympics, the Tokyo Paralympics. Instead, there was a team made up of refugees who led the ceremony to its initiation. They were marching with the flag of Afghanistan, and we all know the reason.
The organizers said that the Paralympics is not only a sports competition. It is also a way of drawing attention to the 15% of the global population suffering from impairments. The president of the International Paralympic Committee, Andrew Parsons, said:
“This is the only global event that puts people with disabilities at center stage and gives voice to persons with disabilities.”
It has been a little hard for the showrunners to draw attention to the event since it is just two weeks after the Olympics Closing Ceremony. But, since the Tokyo hospitals are currently burdened with persistently infected coronavirus patients, that’s also another reason why the event has not drawn much attention yet.
Bhutan’s first Paralympic delegation in Tokyo 2020 games. #Paralympics #bhutan wishing them all the best. Tashi Delek! pic.twitter.com/KjUbuEToY2
— Tenzin YW (བསྟན་འཛིན།) (@htnsl) August 24, 2021
The Recent Entries
Five countries made their debut in the Tokyo Paralympics this year. The countries are the c. Bhutan, Grenada, Maldives, Paraguay, and St. Vincent, and the Grenadines.
It made the International Paralympic Committee a total of 162 nations. However, a total of 21 countries also decided not to take any part in this year’s event. Now, it could be due to the lack of qualifiers from those nations, or it could be due to the travel restrictions of covid19 that these nations backed out from the game.
We congratulate the first two Paralympians of Maldives who will represent Maldives in the Tokyo2020 Paralympic Games. This would be the first time that Maldives take part in the Paralympic Games.#Tokyo2020 #Paralympics #MDV #TeamMaldives #ParaTeamMaldives #ParalympicsMDV pic.twitter.com/sc11BRWreb
— Maldives Paralympic Committee (@ParalympicMdv) August 5, 2021
Since the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan caused no athlete to participate in the event, their flag was held high during the opening ceremony. It was the team of refugees who entered the stadium first. They will also be taking part in the second game.
Team SVG crossing the stage at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
Carrying the flag is 36 year old Dexroy ‘Oney’ Creese. He will be competing in swimming. His Coach Rickeydene Alexander is waving a smaller version of the SVG flag behind.
🎥: Radio Grenadines (Facebook) pic.twitter.com/Eey6S6jf9P— Saint Vincent & the Grenadines (@VisitSVG) August 24, 2021
However, the number of participating nations in the Tokyo Paralympics is slightly less than the London Paralympics in 2012. But, it’s a little more than the Rio de Janeiro Paralympics in 2016.
Final Thoughts
Paralympics is the only global event that puts disabled people on the stage so that even their voices can be heard. This year’s Paralympics has two different sports of badminton, and taekwondo making it 22. We hope the event gets completed successfully, and we wish the athletes the very best of luck.
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