In this age of nearly miraculous discoveries and rapidly advancing technology, one of the most valuable contributions is that made by people with physical disabilities. New hardware and software has been developed that turns an old-fashioned, self-propelled wheelchair into a rocket ship by comparison - Men and women who may have spent their lives tragically confined to a chair that could only move as fast as it could be pushed by another have virtually gotten wings.

Scope for Disabled Athletes         

Since 1924 when Paris hosted the first International Athletics Competition for the Disabled, the scope of athletic events has grown dramatically. Due to the invention and development of mechanical aids that enable determined competitors to perform in track, basketball, tennis and many other sports, the Paralympic Games are as thrilling for both spectators and competitors as any of the traditional Olympic events - for many, even more so.

Tanni Grey-Thompson

Born Carys Davina Grey in Cardiff, Wales has been awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE); she is now retired from Paralympic competition but holds at least 30 world records in wheelchair racing and other sports events, plus eleven gold medals and more acclaim than most athletes with no disability at all. She has been confined to a wheelchair by a spinal disorder since childhood, but physical disability has not been able to slow her down.

Gary Hewson

Born in New South Wales, has had a resounding success as a wheelchair basketball star; he won the gold in 1996 at the Summer Paralympics, and was made a lifetime member of the Australian Men's National Wheelchair Basketball Team. Commenting about the thrill of playing in a wheelchair, he makes it sound more rousing than the usual approach on foot: “... lots of smashing and banging of chairs and people falling out, it is great fun.”

Jean Driscoll

Born in Wisconsin with spina bifida, started using a wheelchair at the age of 15, and after years of wheelchair sports including basketball and track, she entered the Paralympics and won a bronze, silver and a gold. Jean then proceeded to win the Boston Marathon a total of eight times, a record that no one else has even approached.

In 2003, Royal Caribbean International named her the godmother of their newest cruise ship, Mariner of the Seas, saying that, “She has shown by example that physical disabilities need not limit life experiences...” That statement is key to the remarkable evolution of physical aids for the physically disabled. There are countless other examples of men and women who employ these devices and perform athletic feats that continue to amaze and inspire people everywhere, disabled or not.