Paralympic incident: swimmer cries after “immense humiliation”


Incident at the Paralympics
Swimmer cries after “immense humiliation”

The Paralympics also include classification – that is, the classification of the athletes in the various competition classes. For swimmer Josia Topf this will be a traumatic experience in Tokyo. That’s why he’s crying a week later.

For Josia Topf, the dream of successful Paralympics was shattered even before the start of the biggest sports festival for para-athletes. Because for the 18-year-old swimmer, who from birth has no arms, no knees and two legs of different lengths and usually moves in a wheelchair, a new classification was arranged before the Tokyo Games. At this he felt not only treated unfairly, but also humiliated. He was classified from the second to the third starting class and now has to compete against swimmers with significantly fewer impairments.

“It just sucks to be disabled. I’ve come to terms with it, so I can handle it to some extent,” said Topf in the “Sportschau” interview. The athlete finished fifth in the 50 meter freestyle – 2.43 seconds behind winner Diego López Díaz from Mexico. “But when someone comes along and claims that you are not doing the right thing or that you would act stupid and sabotage the whole process, then for a handicapped person it is not just a slap in the face, but an immense humiliation that cannot actually be expressed in words can be grasped. ” Even a week later, he was crying at the circumstances.

National coach Ute Schinkitz called for a far-reaching reform not only because of Topf. “The classification system was developed a long time ago. And it is very complicated because no handicap is the same. To do justice to that, we need an independent committee. It is no longer possible on a voluntary basis.” People would do a great job alongside their job if they can. But the system is reaching its limits, said Schinkitz.

Topf denounced the circumstances of his classification. Right from the start, Erlanger had the impression “that the examiners were not neutral towards me”. Your dealings with him were “not at all praiseworthy,” said Topf: “My foot was turned, I was reproached for not behaving properly and for not participating properly.” The aim of the classification is to determine how great the athletes’ limitations are due to their disabilities. There have also been cases of fraud in the history of the Paralympics.

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