Paralympic heroes born out of adversity

Kim Gyu-dae of South Korea celebrates his bronze medal in the men's T54 marathon at the Paralympic games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday. / AP-Yonhap

Archer Lee Ouk-soo

Wheelchair table tennis player Choi Il-sang

By Kang Hyun-kyung

Three-time Paralympic athlete Kim Gyu-dae, 32, was once a physically fit young man strong enough to be chosen as a member of the Navy's Special Forces Underwater Demolition Team.

In December 2004, less than a year after joining the military, he suffered a near-fatal crash-landing caused by an improperly folded parachute during skydiving training. He woke up in the hospital following surgery to find his lower body paralyzed.

Through the Paralympic games, Kim was reborn as a track racer. On Friday, he won a bronze medal in the T54 800-meter final. T54 is a disability sport classification in the track and jump events for athletes with disabilities. Those who have spinal cord injuries compete in a wheelchair in track events.

Although he finished fourth in the race after a fierce pursuit of his Chinese competitor, Kim was able to secure a bronze medal because the Tunisian player who finished third was eliminated for cheating.

He is a living example showing that heroes are born out of adversity.

Bang Gui-hee, a lecturer of Soongsil Cyber University and author of the "Heroes Who Overcame Hurdles" published in 1988, said Paralympic athletes are more inspiring than their respective Olympians because they face a harder challenge to win medals.

The book covers the origin and history of the Paralympic Games and athletes who rose to stardom thorough the multi-sport event.

"Disabled athletes are the people seeking to overcome the limits of the human body," said Bang. "For this reason, their stories are more powerful than those of athletes with no disabilities."

During a media interview on Sunday, Kim Sung-il, president of the Korea Paralympic Committee (KPC), expressed his deep gratitude particularly for the athletes who were disabled while in the military. "I feel sorry whenever I see those athletes. Remember those young men became disabled in their 20s while serving their duties in the military," the former Air Force chief of staff said. "As KPC president I thought it was my duty to help them find new life through the Paralympic Games."

He said his heart was pounding when track racer Kim and wheelchair table tennis player Choi Il-sang won a bronze and a gold medal, respectively. Choi, 41, was also disabled during a military training accident.

When bad things happened to them, Paralympic athletes didn't give up but rather became stronger.

Archer Lee Ouk-soo, 51, who won a bronze medal in the mixed compound semi-final, became a Paralympic medalist after overcoming severe injuries. Lee's lower body was paralyzed in 1986 after military training left injuries to his spinal cord. His disability, however, didn't stop him.

Kim Gyeong-su, a civil servant and a volunteer who helps blind marathoners finish their races, said few people know how hard it is for disabled people to finish the race because they can't put themselves in those disabled people's shoes.

"Imagine that you lose your vision and run a marathon," he said. "You have no idea what kinds of challenges are ahead of you and naturally feel fear growing inside. After running marathons with blind people, I realized that all disabled people who finish the race deserve respect from others."

Kim said athletes with disabilities are extraordinary because of the courage they muster to stand against daunting physical challenges.

Bang said the Rio Paralympic Games provides some lessons for Korea which will host the 2018 PyeongChang Paralympic Games immediately after the Olympics.

First, she said Koreans and PyeongChang organizers need to learn how to enjoy the Paralympic Games, instead of putting too much emphasis on the Korean team's medal standing.

"In general, winter sports are not popular here and we have few players who excel in those sports," she said. "So if we pay too much attention to how many medals the national team is going to win, the entire Paralympics is going to be dull and there may be nothing to celebrate."

Bang said there seems to be a gap between how Koreans in general view the Paralympics and the way people outside the country enjoy the games.

"All during the Rio Paralympic Games, we've seen many foreign athletes with severe disabilities. I saw a table tennis player who used her mouth in one game. I was touched by the athlete."

She encouraged the Winter Olympics organizers to consider hiring a symbolic figure to represent disabled people's rights to better promote the crucial multi-sports event internationally.

"Earlier I recommended the PyeongChang committee consider appointing an iconic disabled person as one of the four vice presidents so that he or she can oversee the committee's preparations for the Paralympic games," she said. "I regret that my voice was not heard."

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