MINISTÈRE DES AFFAIRES ÉTRANGÈRES
No. 41 – november 2012
Cutting-edge technology in the world of disabled sport
The unprecedented interest in the London Paralympics has drawn attention to the futuristic
equipment that enabled the athletes to achieve such amazing performances. High-precision tools
have been designed jointly by athletes, researchers and experienced technicians.
With full stands and high television ratings, the London 2012 Paralympic Games picked up the baton
from the Olympic Games in remarkable fashion. The performances of the champions, which had never
been so strong or spectacular, were covered widely in the media.
Part of the reason for the attraction of the spectacle was the
significant development in the equipment used. High
technology and cutting-edge materials, in particular, have
enabled prosthetic limbs to become incredibly flexible and
strong. Running blades for amputees made the headlines in
the media. Nicknamed “Blade Runner”, South Africa’s Oscar
Pistorius, an international symbol of disabled athletes, beat
the 400 m world record. He was beaten in the 200 m by
Brazilian Alan Oliveira, also fitted with revolutionary
prostheses. One event had far-reaching repercussions: Oscar
Pistorius also participated in the 400 metres at the Olympic Games, a first in Olympic history.
Where do the technological advances that are transforming these athletes into futuristic-looking
superheroes come from? Finnish firm Össur and German company Otto Bock are the main suppliers of
athletes’ running blades. Having said that, the key element in a prosthesis is the quality of the fit, the
element that allows it to adapt perfectly to the part of the body concerned. In this field, athletes in
France have excellent makers of orthopaedic devices, who
work in partnership with the top specialist research
laboratories. Patrick Ducros, a prosthetics designer from
Montpellier, for example, designed the prosthesis of Orianne
Lopez, a finalist in the 100 metres in the last Games, in
collaboration with the company Re-Flexion Composites and
the university of technology, the Ecole des Mines d’Alès.
Sponsored by Electricité de France, the world’s number one
electricity producer, Marie-Amélie Le Fur has become an
athletics icon. She is equipped by the Proteor company, as are table tennis player Stéphane Molliens,
surfer Eric Dargent and mountain-biking champion Stéphane Büchler. Proteor has a worldwide
reputation and runs agencies in China, Morocco and Canada.
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Other equipment enjoyed justified recognition at the Paralympic
Games. The Handifix system for fencers in wheelchairs is
undoubtedly as sophisticated as it gets and has really changed the
practice of the sport. It is the result of a close collaboration between
athletes, engineers and manufacturers. Made from carbon fibre and
aluminium, it is certainly both more rigid and lighter than the
attachment systems used in the past, improving both safety and
speed. It has been adopted by a great many teams worldwide.
Other materials are not, or not as yet, in the Paralympic Games but
are now proving essential in the practice of high-level sport. If the
swimmer Philippe Croizon is a star, it is also thanks to his prosthetic
limbs with fins. A quadruple amputee, he has just linked the five continents symbolically by
swimming across four straits! The design and development of his asymmetric flippers benefited from a
broad-based partnership between many players in the sports and academic worlds.
In sailing, the French yacht Néo 495 from the Coques en Stock shipyard has already been adopted by
several European crews and has entered the fray for the next Games. The technical features of the
Néo 495 make it excellent for beginners, novice sailors and sailing competitions for disabled and ablebodied sailors.
According to the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE), disabled sport
in France, all disciplines and categories combined, numbered over 25,000 participants in 2011. If we
add the practice of adaptive sport, the numbers rise to nearly 70,000. The economic and financial
challenges of equipping these athletes are considerable. In fact, a personalised wheelchair, such as a
sit-ski, costs between 1,800 and 3,000 euros and the cost of a prosthesis specially adapted to an athlete
is between 3,800 and 4,600 euros.
The remarkable performances of these athletes are of course related to the emergence of this futuristic
equipment, but the human dimension is still the decisive factor. It is the courage and determination of
these men and women that enables them to surpass themselves and achieve such feats. In the world of
disabled sport, the achievements of athletes, as Philippe Croizon says, “show that nothing is
impossible and that the Paralympic champions deserve recognition as the gods of the stadium of the
Olympic Games”.
Sylvie Thomas
Website:
www.handisport.org
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