Conference presentation
Paralympic sporting equipment: Performance enhancement or necessary for performance?
USC Research Conference, 2013 (Sunshine Coast, Australia, 01-Jul-2013–05-Jul-2013)
University of the Sunshine Coast
2013
Abstract
Highly active people with a disability, Paralympians, often depend on assistive devices to replace their lost function and to enable activities of daily living, including the ability to participate in competitive sport. Paralympic sports evolved from medical rehabilitation programs in the 1950s. The objective of a rehabilitation program is to regain a level of function for the client; for an athlete, the highest expression of this return to function is to compete at an elite level in the Paralympic Games. In the endeavour to go higher, faster and longer, athletes have found that standard sport equipment can inhibit their sporting performance. The aim of this research was to review the role of technology in Paralympic Sport and keynote-present these findings at the VISTA conference. A systematic review of the peer-reviewed literature and personal observations of technological developments at the Athens (2004), Beijing (2008) and London (2012) Paralympic Games were conducted. Standard assistive devices can inhibit the Paralympians' abilities to perform the strenuous activities of their sports. Although many Paralympic sports only require technology similar to their Olympic counterparts, several unique technological modifications have been made in prosthetic and wheelchair devices. Technology must match the individual requirements of the athlete and the sport in order for Paralympians to optimize their technique within their level of residual function. Within the 'Performance enhancement or essential for performance?' debate, any potential increase in mechanical performance from an assistive device must be considered together with the compensatory consequences of disability within the athlete. In the best interest of the athlete, and to avoid potential legal problems and unwarranted issues for sporting administrators and participants, the role of technology needs to be openly debated and final recommendations made well before the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Details
- Title
- Paralympic sporting equipment: Performance enhancement or necessary for performance?
- Authors
- Brendan J Burkett (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering
- Conference details
- USC Research Conference, 2013 (Sunshine Coast, Australia, 01-Jul-2013–05-Jul-2013)
- Publisher
- University of the Sunshine Coast
- Date published
- 2013
- Copyright note
- Copyright © 2013 the author. Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder.
- Organisation Unit
- University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Health - Sports & Exercise Science
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99448929302621
- Output Type
- Conference presentation
Metrics
73 File views/ downloads
814 Record Views