So You Think the Olympics Ended in August? Think Again!

by Pam Connell | More from this Blogger

23 Sep 2008 01:56 AM

Why would I be writing about another Olympic role model with adoption ties a month after the Olympic Games ended? Well, in reality the Games ended just this past week.

From September 6-13, the Paralympic Games took place in Beijing. The world's second-largest sporting event--elite competitions for athletes with physical or visual disabilities--draws the best disabled athletes from all over the world. The "para" in Paralympics is for "parallel", on a par with, rather than paraplegic as some people assume. The Paralympic Games are held in the same year and at the same location as the Olympic Games. Cities and countries must bid to host both events-a package deal.

The Paralympic Games, for persons with physical disabilities, are not to be confused with the Special Olympics, which is for people with cognitive disabilities or mental retardation. They are run by two separate organizations. The Special Olympics stresses participation over competition and each participant receives a medal. In the Paralympics athletes and teams compete for gold, silver and bronze medals and nations vie for the most medals won in total, just as in the Olympic Games.

Two hundred athletes represented the United States in eighteen sports in the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing. The familiar venues we saw in the August Olympic Games-the Birds' Nest Stadium, the Water Cube--were in full use again.

One Paralympic Games athlete, Jessica Tatiana Long, came to the U.S. in a special-needs international adoption when she was 13 months old. Tatiana was born in Irkutsk, Russia, and lived in an orphanage for her first year. She was born missing several bones in both her legs, including the fibula, ankle, and heel bones. Her best chance to walk more normally was with prosthetic legs. Accordingly, both of her legs were amputated when she was 18 months old, five months after she arrived in her new home as Jessica Tatiana Long.

Long tried several sports, including ice skating, rock climbing, basketball, and gymnastics. Gymnastics was Jessica's initial love, but her parents and doctors became concerned about the stress on her knees and prostheses. So they introduced Jessica to swimming, a sport in which she holds numerous U.S. records and several world records.

The Beijing Games are not Jessica's first. Just over ten years after the amputations, when she was twelve years old, Jessica became the youngest competitor in the Paralympic Games in Athens 2004, winning three gold medals.

Jessica, now sixteen, has always been homeschooled. To read some of our Homeschool Blogger Andrea's profiles of other homeschooled Olympians, click here or here.

Please see these related blogs:

Another Athlete Role Model with an Adoption Story

U.S. Runner Says Support of his Adopted Country and Family is "As Good as Gold"

Past Olympians Continue to be Role Models with Adoption Stories

Learn more about Pam Connell

Pam Connell is a mother of three by both birth and adoption. She has worked in education, child care, social services, ministry and journalism.

View Full Profile | More from this Blogger

Michele Cheplic (37349) 30 Sep 2008 03:06 AM

The Paralympic Games don't get nearly the coverage they deserve. I covered the Paralympic Games when I was reporting in Atlanta (following the 1996 Games) and the amount of coverage it gets is a blip on the screen (if that) compared to the actual Olympics. Really is sad, b/c most of the stories are at least if not more inspirational.