Well, most of us are used to watching the Olympics where everybody competes on an equal level with the same bodies. Paralympics athletes show to the world how much they can achieve despite the adversities life has put them in.
The Netflix Paralympics documentary will show you the life story of three athletes and many others as they open up about their physical conditions and how they fought them to be Real Heroes!
The documentary tells the tale of Matt Stutzman, Ellie Cole, and Bebe Vio, and this Wednesday people in 190 countries will be able to get inspiration from these especially able athletes, in case the lockdown has gotten your mood too low.
Matt, today is known as the Armless Archer was born without arms, and while growing up he just wanted to be like Michael Jordan. But of course, playing basketball was out of the question, he states, “There was no way I was going to be Michael Jordan. No way. I’m not tall enough right.” However, with enough courage and self-confidence, today Matt does what no one else in the world can do!
Ellie Cole fell victim to cancer at the tender age of 3 and had to get her right leg amputated, as part of her rehabilitation, she trained in swimming and surprisingly progressed far more quickly than her instructors expected. Since then there’s only been going forward. Today Ellie has 15 Paralympic medals to her name, including six gold, four silver, and five bronze. Also holding a Paralympic Games Record, Cole most recently won a silver medal in the Women’s 100m Backstroke (S9) and a bronze medal in the Women’s 100m Freestyle (S9) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.
Bebe Vio got meningitis as a kid, it was so severe that the doctors could only save her life and had to amputate her all four limps. Despite the misfortune, today she is the world’s most famous wheelchair fencer. Her real name is Beatrice Maria Adelaide Marzia Vio but is better known as Bebe Vio. She has won 2014 and 2016 European champion, 2015 and 2017 World champion, and 2016 Paralympic champion in the foil B category.
There are also small parts containing Tatyana McFadden, Jonnie Peacock, Jean-Baptiste Alaize, Cui Zhe, Ryley Batt and Ntando Mahlangu all of which deserve a film of their own! The documentary also focuses on other parts of the Paralympics, such as how they began, clips from the 2012 Paralympics, cameo appearances by Prince Harry and Duke of Sussex who stated, “The sport was incredible. What they saw was undoubtedly better than the Olympics itself.”
Andrew Parsons, the current president of the IPC, spoke in an interview, “It will change the attitude of whoever watches the movie. That’s for sure it is not a movie you can watch and it will not affect you in some way. If we have 1 million people watch the movie, we will have 1 million people that will have a different attitude toward persons with disabilities. If it’s 10 million, it will be 10 million. We do believe it can be a game-changer because the message is so strong.
Note: Primary source of news: washingtonpost.com
