Paralympian

English
WOTD – 25 August 2021

Etymology
Australian Paralympian Neil Fuller competing in the 1996 Summer Paralympics in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

From Paralympic +‎ -ian (suffix with the sense ‘having a certain profession’ forming nouns, or with the sense ‘from, like, or related to’ forming adjectives).[1] Paralympic is a blend of paraplegic +‎ Olympic; the Paralympic Games were originally organized for persons with paraplegia from spinal injuries, but are now participated in by sportspersons with all kinds of disabilities.[2]

Pronunciation
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌpæ.ɹəˈlɪm.pɪ.ən/
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˌpæ.ɹəˈlɪm.pi.ən/, /ˌpɛ-/
  • Audio (GA)(file)
  • Hyphenation: Pa‧ra‧lymp‧i‧an

Noun

Paralympian (plural Paralympians)

  1. (sports) One who competes in the Paralympic Games. [from mid 20th c.]
    • 1960 September 19, Amaldo Cortesi, “Paralympic Games open at Rome Olympics site”, in St. Petersburg Times, volume 77, number 57, St. Petersburg, Fla.: The Times Publishing Co., →OCLC, section C (Sports), image caption, page 4-C, column 3:
      DICK MADURO … Paralympian
    • 1964 September 30, Jim Murray, “Better half”, in Nick B[oddie] Williams, editor, Los Angeles Times, volume LXXXIII, number 291, Los Angeles, Calif.: Times Mirror Company, →OCLC, part III (Sports), page 1, columns 1–2:
      These are the "Paralympians," the wheelchair athletes of the world, whose own Olympics will be held in Tokyo immediately after the regular Olympiad. […] I spoke to two young Paralympians from the Long Beach area the other day, Frank Vecera and Bill Johnson. "I am only half here," Frank Vecera confided. He smiled when he said it.
    • 1994 August 11, LeRoy T. Walker, “Prepared Statement of Dr. LeRoy T. Walker”, in Oversight of Activities of the Olympic Committee: Hearing before the Subcommittee on Consumer of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, United States Senate, One Hundred Third Congress, Second Session […] (S. Hrg. 103-724), Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, →ISBN, page 17:
      Our athletes, Olympians and Paralympians, joined together in April to represent the 1994 U.S. Olympic Team in a visit to President [Bill] Clinton at the White House.
    • 1997 spring, Sandra Perlmutter, “Message from the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports”, in Linda K. Bunker, editor, Physical Activity & Sport in the Lives of Girls: Physical & Mental Health Dimensions from an Interdisciplinary Approach: Executive Summary: The President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports: Report […], Washington, D.C.: President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, →OCLC, page 5:
      In the summer of 1996, our nation cheered the performance and achievements of the U.S. women Olympians and Paralympians. The images of strong, active women were inspiring, a long way from the days when females were relegated to "lady-like" sports and young girls were left on the sidelines while their brothers played.
    • 2003 December, Susan Greenwald, “Victories by and for the Disabled”, in Michael J. Bandler, editor, U.S. Society & Values: Electronic Journal of the U.S. Department of State: Sports in America, volume 8, number 2, Washington, D.C.: Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State, →OCLC, page 20, column 2:
      Marla [Runyan] has been legally blind for more than 20 years. Marla ran the 1500-meter race at the Sydney Summer Olympics in 2000 to finish eighth, while becoming the first Paralympian to compete in the Olympics.
    • 2014, James Mastro, Christopher Ahrens, Nathan Statton, “Paralympians are Inspirations for All”, in Thomas Riggs & Company, editor, Are Athletes Good Role Models? (At Issue), Farmington Hills, Minn.: Greenhaven Press, Gale, Cengage Learning, →ISBN, page 55:
      James Mastro is a seven-time paralympian who has earned ten medals in four different sports and is a professor in the department of professional and physical education at Bemidji State University in Bemidji, Minnesota.
    • 2018, Linda K. Fuller, “Gendered Implications of Olympic and the Paralympic Events”, in Female Olympian and Paralympian Events: Analyses, Backgrounds, and Timelines, Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, Springer International Publishing, →DOI, →ISBN, page 15:
      Many authors caution us against overusing terms like “amazing” relative to Paralympians’ achievements, and all scholars encourage us to treat them respectfully in linguistic terms that get rid of labels ranging from “supercrips” to “exotics.” […] Many such Paralympians simply want to be known as sportspeople, their various activities known as sport, if adaptive.
    • 2019, Mike Kent, Rachel Robertson, Katie Ellis, Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, “Looking to the Future for Critical Disability Studies”, in Katie Ellis, Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, Mike Kent, Rachel Robertson, editors, Interdisciplinary Approaches to Disability: Looking towards the Future (Interdisciplinary Disability Studies), volume 2, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN:
      […] [Tatiane] Hilgemberg [Figueiredo] shows how the media began to use more sports-related terms in describing paralympians but notes also the continued persistence of the medical model and supercrip stereotypes within the coverage.
    • 2019, Josh Pauls, “From Humble Beginnings”, in Lessons Learned: My Journey to the Podium, Victoria, B.C.: FriesenPress, →ISBN, page 103:
      Through all the challenges Paralympians face, the number of athletes at each Games continue to grow in both winter and summer sports due, in part, to additional media coverage in many countries and more programs developing throughout the world. Even with mountains in their way, Paralympians still find a way to succeed.

Hypernyms

Coordinate terms

Translations

Adjective

Paralympian (comparative more Paralympian, superlative most Paralympian) (sports)

  1. Of or pertaining to a Paralympian (“one who competes in the Paralympic Games”).
    • 2014, Linda K. Fuller, “Gendered Implications of Olympic and the Paralympic Events”, in Female Olympian and Paralympian Events: Analyses, Backgrounds, and Timelines, Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, Springer International Publishing, published 2018, →DOI, →ISBN, page 15:
      As girls and women of all stripes of ability around the world are encouraged to become involved in sport, and as nearly all nations submit Paralympian females, it is hoped that support for fellow athletes—emotionally as well as economically, is part of that process.
    • 2016 September 15, Tom Shakespeare, “Disabled People Don’t Want to Be Your Inspiration, but If They Are It’s No Surprise”, in The Conversation‎, Parkville, Melbourne, Vic.: The Conversation Media Group, archived from the original on 3 November 2020:
      Should we be inspired by Paralympian achievement? Commentator Frances Ryan recently counselled Guardian readers to be careful to think through their reactions to disabled "superhuman" athletes and academic poster boys like Professor Stephen Hawking. Treat people with disabilities just like everyone else, is the argument.
    • 2019, Clare O’Donoghue, “Discourses/4. Brazil: Accessing the Rights of Children with Disabilities: Attitudes towards and Challenges for SEND in Brazil”, in Federico Farini, Angela Scollan, editors, Children’s Self-determination in the Context of Early Childhood Education and Services: Discourses, Policies and Practices (International Perspectives on Early Childhood Education and Development; 25), Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature, →DOI, →ISBN, →ISSN, part II (Discourses), page 193:
      There was a real fear that not all Paralympians would be able to attend the games because the Paralympian athletes' travel grants were paid 3 weeks' late.
  2. Of or pertaining to the Paralympic Games; Paralympic.
    • 1964 August 20, “Funds sought for ‘Paralympian’ trip”, in Nick B[oddie] Williams, editor, Los Angeles Times, volume LXXXIII, number 250, Los Angeles, Calif.: Times Mirror Company, →OCLC, part III (Sports), page 8, columns 2–3:
      Funds sought for ‘Paralympian’ trip [article title] […] At present, however, the Long Beach resident has more than records on his mind, mainly getting a representative U.S. team to the 1964 "paralympics" to be held in Tokyo Nov. 8–12. [Frank] Vecera is on a fund-raising drive for the six California athletes selected to perform on this year's team. The tab for transporting the six to Tokyo is $3,900.
    • 2012 August 31, Mike Walters, “Why the commissionaires’ handling of Jody Cundy has been a disgrace to the Paralympics”, in Daily Mirror‎, London: Reach plc, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 8 May 2017:
      So they disqualified [Jody] Cundy on the spot. And it must be said, [Alfonso] Cabello's coaches covered themselves in little glory by registering their own protest that Cundy should not be allowed a restart. True Paralympian spirit, eh, senors?
    • 2017 October 18, “Offering paralympian dreams to young amputees”, in Khmer Times‎, Phnom Penh, Cambodia: Virtus Media, →OCLC:
      Offering paralympian dreams to young amputees [article title]
    • 2018, Linda K. Fuller, “Gendered Implications of Olympic and the Paralympic Events”, in Female Olympian and Paralympian Events: Analyses, Backgrounds, and Timelines, Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, Springer International Publishing, →DOI, →ISBN, page 15:
      Just as with the Olympic Games, Paralympian ones continue to change.

Translations
of or pertaining to the Paralympics — see Paralympic

References
  1. “Paralympian, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2018; “Paralympian, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  2. “Paralympic, adj. and n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2019; “Paralympic, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading
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