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Subscribe to RSSLONDON -- A battlefield explosion sends troops flying, a speeding car flips over on a highway, a "Murderball" player is knocked right out of his wheelchair, all set to a fierce Public Enemy soundtrack.
"Forget everything you thought you knew about strength. Forget everything you thought you knew about humans. It's time to do battle. Meet the Superhumans."
That’s how British TV viewers are being introduced to this year’s Paralympic athletes by Channel 4, which is broadcasting the London 2012 Games. Its campaign is giving Superbowl ads a run for their money, going viral with more than 500,000 views on YouTube alone.
The hard-hitting ad is designed to jolt the public into a state of awareness and awe of what many of these disabled athletes have had to deal with just to stay alive, let alone compete at an elite level. It highlights that the competitors have overcome disabilities and disasters most of us cannot begin to imagine or will ever have to face. And that was before they became world-class competitors.
Transforming the despair of being paralyzed in battle into determination, Iraq War veteran Scott Winkler sets his sights on a medal at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
More coverage of the London Paralympics from Britain's ITV News
The campaign also aims to combat the impression that the Paralympics is essentially the "Olympics-lite." Among the sports the ad focuses on is wheelchair rugby -- which is so violent that it's been dubbed "Murderball." The sheer amount of full-force contact between players requires welders to be put on standby on the sideline to repair damaged wheelchairs.
Some of the hottest tickets at the London Paralympics are for wheelchair rugby. The sport is so violent and fierce, that it has been dubbed "Murderball". ITN's Lewis Vaughan Jones met Team Great Britain's inspirational captain.
The International Wheelchair Rugby Federation has championed the "Meet the Superhumans" campaign and comments posted on its Vimeo page illustrate the ad's power. "Now that's what I'm talking about, 'Thank you for letting me be myself.' Public Enemy never sounded better," one fan wrote. "It's a great soundtrack for our ... lives whether we're Olympians or not."
Channel 4
This ad campaign for Channel 4's Paralympic coverage has captured the imagination of many people in Britain.
The event was founded 1948 to help rehabilitate injured British veterans returning from the Second World War, though many Americans remain unaware that it exists. (There's also a tendency to confuse it with the Special Olympics, which is unrelated. Paralympic athletes compete despite impairments including amputations, blindness, cerebral palsy and mobility disabilities.) However, there are signs that 2012 will be its breakout year.
Retired U.S. Marine Angela Madsen once lived out of a locker at Disneyland. But the 52-year-old paraplegic turned her life around and has rowed across the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. She's now competing for Team USA at the Paralympic Games in London. Madsen told her story to NBC's Jamieson Lesko.
London-bound veterans push Paralympics back to battlefield roots
The success of the London 2012 Olympic Games has sparked a spike in public interest in Britain. Ticket sales have wildly exceeded expectations, with organizers saying 2.3 million tickets have already been sold, which is more than any other Paralympic Games in history. There's a high demand for the 200,000 remaining tickets, which will be made available in batches online.
Soccer superstar David Beckham is serving as an ambassador to the Games and Prince William and Kate Middleton are expected to attend Wednesday night's Opening Ceremony.
Ahead of the London Paralympics, L.A. Galaxy midfielder David Beckham spent a day learning blind football from Team Great Britain.
Team USA features 20 military veterans and active duty service members, including some wounded at war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Among them is U.S. Army 82nd Airborne paratrooper Centra "Ce-Ce" Mazyck, who was paralyzed when her parachute got tangled with another in 2003. Doctors said she'd never walk again but Maczyk refused to listen. And she has proved them wrong.
"I wasn't hearing it. In my heart, in my soul, I knew I could walk," Mazyck told NBC News. "To this day, I am walking."
Centra "Ce-Ce" Mazyck, who was paralyzed during a parachute jump with the 82 Airborne in November 2003, will compete in the javelin at the London Paralympics. "This is my second chance," she tells NBC News' Jamieson Lesko.
The South Carolina-based mother of one is now engaged to be married but admits shes also deeply "in love" with her javelin.
'Very fortunate'
U.S. Navy Lt. Bradley Snyder was blinded by a bomb while rushing to the aid of two fellow soldiers in Afghanistan.
His training regimen had him swimming 4,000 yards a day at his local pool in Baltimore. He is due to compete on the one-year anniversary of his injury.
Lt. Brad Snyder lost his sight in an IED explosion in Afghanistan last year. The Navy officer will once again represent the U.S., this time at the London 2012 Paralympics in September.
"I knew I was very fortunate to be in that hospital bed and not in a coffin in the ground," Snyder said. "I'm going to show people that I'm not going to let this beat me. I'm not going to let blindness build a brick wall around me. I am going to find a way forward."
From darkness to gold: Blinded Navy swimmer set to race at Paralympics
South African double amputee and sprinter Oscar Pistorius, who has been nicknamed the "Blade Runner," will compete in the Paralympics after making history by running in the 400-meter event at the Olympics.
Pistorius is likely to face tough competition from Team USA, including a 25-year-old rocket scientist Jerome Singleton and the 22-year-old Blake Leeper.
Pistorius, a double amputee born without fibulas in his legs, has trained hard to participate in the Olympics despite having to wear prosthetic legs. NBC's Mary Carillo reports.
Pistorius, a four-time Paralympic gold medealist, will carry the flag for South Africa at Wednesday's Opening Ceremony. Coldplay will perform at the Closing Ceremony on September 9.
"I believe these Games are going to change peoples' mindsets about disabilities," Pistorius told Reuters. "In the last two to three years I've seen a shift. For many years people have shunned disability, but I don't have anything in life I'm not able to do. I don't think of my disability, I think of my ability."
Sixteen countries are competing for the first time. Among them, Haiti will make its debut with two athletes competing in track and field.
This is the story of two paralympians from Haiti - a nation which is competing in the games for the first time. It's a country where disability is stigmatized and those who are disabled are shunned. ITV's Lewis Vaughan Jones reports on two pioneers who want to overcome prejudice and fill their nation with pride.
British broadcaster Channel 4 will show 150 hours of programming and about 350 hours more online and across three temporary on-demand channel.
The International Paralympic Committee predicts that, adding together viewers on each of the 11 days of competition, the total audience figure for the London Paralympics will reach 4 billion.
It said that four years ago in Beijing, a total overall audience of around 3.8 billion in 80 countries watched the 2008 Paralympics - including a total of 1.4 billion viewings in China across 11 days, 670 million in Japan and 439 million in Germany. Calculating figures in that way means individual viewers are counted several times.
More coverage of the London Paralympics from NBC News
The daughter of the founder of the Paralympics told NBC News that the record-breaking ticket sales and interest in the London event would have made her father "immensely proud."
Of all the events that will be showcased in the Paralympics, few are as intriguing as blind soccer. ITN's Lewis Vaughan Jones met Team Great Britain captain David Clarke who explained how it works.
Eva Loeffler said Ludwig "Poppa" Guttmann – a neurologist who pioneered the rehabilitation of paralyzed Second World War service members at a hospital near London – would have been "extremely pleased" at how the Games had captured the public imagination.
The 79-year-old said it was "very appropriate, in a way" that so many veterans from the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts were taking part in this year's event. "Helping the military wounded was where it all began, after all," she said.
London 2012: Who were the real winners, losers?
Guttman, who fled Germany in 1933 after being persecuted by Hitler's Nazi regime, challenged medical orthodoxy at Stoke Mandeville hospital, north–west of London, by encouraging patients to play sports rather than accept their paralysis.
Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images
The Agitos symbol of the Parlaympics has replaced the Olympic rings on London's iconic Tower Bridge.
When London hosted the Summer Olympics in 1948, he created the Stoke Mandeville Games involving just 16 competitors. In the years that followed, he built his competition into the parallel Paralympic Games.
This year's event will feature 4,200 athletes from 166 teams competing in 20 sports.
Although Guttman died in 1980, Loeffler has continued his work, becoming a key figure in disabled sport – and has accepted an honorary role as mayor of the Paralympic Athletes' Village at the Olympic Park in East London.
'Second-class citizens': Wheelchair user's fury at Paralympics over seating
Lt. Brad Snyder, blinded by an IED explosion in Afghanistan, is now training for the London 2012 Paralympics.
One of Guttman's dreams was that disabled athletes would ultimately compete alongside their able-bodied counterparts – a wish that came true last month with Pistorius' historic participation at the Olympics.
"He would have regarded that as a great moment, I'm sure," Loeffler said.
How to watch the Paralympics from the U.S.
- The International Paralympic Committee will live stream more than 780 hours of events.
- NBC Sports Network will air one-hour highlight shows on September 4, 5, 6, and 11. All NBC and NBC Sports Network Paralympic highlight shows and specials will re-air on Universal Sports Network and www.UniversalSports.com.
Check your local listings for channel info. - NBC will broadcast a 90-minute special from 2-3:30 p.m. ET on September 16.
- The United States Olympic Committee has created a YouTube channel dedicated to the Games.
- The U.S. Paralympic Team will also provide in-depth coverage of Team USA on its website.
Fahim Rahimi, is Afghanistan's only competitor at the Paralympics. He lost his leg in a land mine accident when he was just 12, but tonight the powerlifter is carrying the Afghan flag into the Olympic stadium. Jonathan Rugman, Britain's Channel 4 news reports.
More London 2012 coverage from NBC News:
- Olympic medalists beginning to rake in gold
- From javelins to light fixtures: Olympic sell-off begins
- Restaurateur claims Games cost her business $140k
- Brazilians party in London as focus shifts to Rio 2016
- Will Olympics drive UK's couch potatoes to extinction?
- Olympic jokers: Queen has 'a laugh,' empires compete
- Who'll win gold for partying? Olympians let hair down
Follow World News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook
NBC News' Alastair Jamieson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Leave a Comment:
A person who uses his own arms and legs to compete but takes steroids is a cheater, but a person with mechanical limbs that outperform flesh and blood ones is NOT?
Give it a try and see if you really believe that.
That was bad, bad, leroy brown!
baddest man in the whole damn town even...
Badder than old King Kong
And also a total douche.
LOLs. You fail at "Don't forget the Lyrics," but win at life. I salute you good sir :)
{meaner than a junkyard dog}
I partially agree with the OP's sentiment about the olympic games (although it doesn't really apply to paraolympics).
In this year's olympic games, they allowed one runner with the "blade" prosthetic to compete. I get that equipment must be used for certain sports...in biking everyone gets a bike and helmet, in swimming everyone wears goggles and a suit, in the pole valut everyone gets a big stick, but in running, not everyone got to use prostheses. Only one competitor did. To me that is completely unfair to compete with others in a standardized event (whether or not it gave him a true advantage, he was still using equipment that other runners did not get to use). I find that goes against the spirit of the olympic games.
Also, I fully agree with DrowningGrover :)
*Salutes*
First of all, Pistorias was tested and tested and the Olympic committee determined that his blades have him absolutely no unfair advantages. HIS body was truly a test during the competitions.
Second of all, the other mechanical adaptations that people with disabilities use do not put them on par or above able-bodied competitors. They help them function, but they do not make the people super-humans. To label them as super-humans is journalistic sensationalism and is VERY misleading!
Edits: "....that his blades GAVE him absolutely no unfair advantages."
And: "...HIS body was truly AT test...."
(I have a few sticking keys on my computer. :( )
MmmMmmBeer, you might actually qualify for the Special Olympics with that post there. You do realize that Pistorius didnt even qualify for the finals in his solo race? Some advantage he had right?
Also, his blades are hard on his 'stumps' (dont have a better word sorry) and after tough sessions of running can cause them to bleed. Again, quite an advantage huh?
leroy you are so BEYOND clueless that your stupid, ignorant question isn't even worth answering. Get a clue, because you obviously have no idea what you're talking about. People CHOOSE to take steroids. If someone loses their leg in battle it's not a CHOICE but a circumstance. Boy, you really have no heart, soul or brain do you?
I foresee a future in which prostheses eventually surpass our natural abilities with ease, at which time a new competition, the "Super Olympics," will replace our current Paralympics. Cyborgs- they're coming.
All of those olympians who were "disadvantaged" by not having the blade runner "equipment" could have their legs removed and replaced with them and then see if they have an "advantage"!
yeah, I see a conflict here as well, however, the normal guy is trying to get an edge over others who do not take enhancement stuff such as drugs or blood and he basically deceives while these other people are in a class of their own as they are all disabled. It has to do with being ethical and law abiding versus being a cheat. If all cyclists had taken drugs or transfusions, Armstrong would not have a problem right now. I guess he felt entitled since he was a cancer survivor. He felt he had a guarantee to have a special advantage.....I think he still does. It does not work that way.
DC, that's just the thing, if these blade limbs get better and better and amputees continue to compete with whole-body humans, athletes actually WILL amputate their limbs if it is the only way to the olympic gold and the millions that come along with it. People with mechanical limbs should not be competing with normally propelled humans, period. How can anyone think otherwise?
How absurd. These people cannot compete with undamaged humans, and I for one would never waste my time watching them. Whatever their personal accomplishments might be in overcoming tragic circumstances, they are still cripples and, in my opinion, not entertaining in the least. To try to sell them as "superhuman" is ridiculous.
Foxy, it's probably not a stretch to say you are very hard to please, much less entertain? Borrowing from the immortal words of a great entertainer himself, Mr. T, "Pity the fool that marries you".
I don't think so... it just seems so weird to have a crippled sports show and call it the Paralympics and call them superhuman. It's creepy. To me. I know they have overcome adversity and all, but I would never watch the show. Blind soccer!? Ludicrous. And they claimed that 3.8 billion watched their show in 2008. I seriously doubt it.
Granted. Typical rhetorical overreach by NBC. 3.8 billion is half the world's population. I doubt that as well.
Foxy-SEAL, just so that I understand, are you calling the coverage of the Paralympic Games a "show"? Did you refer to the televised coverage of the 2012 Olympic Games as a "show" also? The coverage isn't going to appeal to everybody, certainly not to people who describe these Games as "a crippled sports show". That's fine, the Games will go on without your viewership.
This is for Foxy. Try competing with world class athletes and beating most of them in field events, as I did when I was stationed in Europe. The only difference is this was before I knew I was also qualified as a paralympician.
@Foxy. Aww, they're not entertaining enough for you, you poor thing? Then DON'T WATCH. In one comment you've managed to convey that you are a person who has obvious problems with expanding your very limited mental boundaries and expressing empathy to anyone unlike yourself. These are people whose personal circumstances have forced them to grow in unfathomable ways because they had no other option. I sincerely pity you because you have a choice to grow as a human being and clearly, you've chosen to be nothing but a shallow, self-absorbed, spoiled brat. Ugh.
foxyseal- then you don't begin to grasp what these games are all about. Put yourself in their place: If you were blind or had no use of your legs would you feel 'creepy' about yourself then? If so, then you would have given up on yourself: These people haven't because they have extraordinary spirit and courage they aren't obligated to entertain anyone.
Foxy, don't blame the athletes because the media tries to call them super-human. They didn't come up with that label themselves. What they are are people who strive to compete, maximize their abilities, and pursue their passions -- just like any other Olympian. Due to their disabilities they compete with one another. I admire them and enjoy watching their competitions. Would you prefer that they curl up in a ball and not pursue athletic excellence because YOU have issues? HA HA HA HA HA
Foxy, you are the only cripple I know of. You are crippled emotionally and intellectually. These people are WHOLE human beings compared to you. I don't feel any pity for them because they have strength, courage and determination. I do feel pity for you because you in no way resemble humanity. Pathetic.
@Foxy-Seal who stated:
I suppose you consider yourself an "undamaged human." Did it cross your mind that limbs (arms, legs, etc...) are just part of the body - what drives a human is it's brain - call it IQ, call it street smarts, common sense, heart, determination, the soul, etc...
I just read this:
Please don't tell me that you can "out do" Stephen Hawking...let's just say in math or physics...... so keep putting others down Foxy - it's not a clever (foxy) thing you do, but rather inhumane.
http://www.france24.com/en/20120829-uk-london-olympics-physicist-stephen-hawking-paralympics-opening-ceremony
Please do not take my "brain" statement as a person who needs a high IQ... I listed the various ways that people consider a "brain" - heart and determination are what I think sets the bar...it's not winning, it's what you put into it AND the joy you get from your hard work.
Foxy, it's pretty obvious by the number of replies to your comment that you aren't going to win any debate on your opinion here...But you should realise that televising the Paralympics, or even the Olympics isn't why these athletes are competing. They don't give a sh!t about what you watch or don't watch. Saying that this is absurd and that these "cripples" aren't entertaining implies that you think this SHOW is for your entertainment. What's absurd here is how you view paralympians and people with disabilities. Why even read this article and comment???
Foxy, lets see you get out there & compete with those crippled "Murderball" players.
Someone is inflating their egos which is in fact unrealistic and patronizing. It is a good thing they can focus on that competition as they mix with lots of people in similar situation. They need our support but it does not have the appeal the regular games do, unless someone in your family competes.....it is really for supporters on a personal level. Good for them. I watched only the gymnastics during the Olympics so, I will not be watching these.
Alumette...The Paralympics is the second most watched sporting event on television so how can you say that "it is really for supporters on a personal level"?
Alumette - the Paralympics is being widely watched in Britain (very good audience figures for the UK), Europe, Australia, etc. Whether it would be watched/ popular in the US seems to be hypothetical as, from what I've read, there seems very little chance to view.
Foxy-Seal - I see you are of the same view as Stalin and also the post-Stalin Soviet Union: the 1980 Moscow Olympics had to have the Paralympics held in Holland because the Soviets thought that the 'cripples' shouldn't be seen either.
(There but for the Grace of God... surely?)
Wow! I'll watch every minute I can. These people are the heart and soul
of true humanity. Overcoming all obstacles and excelling in life. I can only
pray that the nitwits with ill-fated comments never have to endure the agony
that these fine specimens of human kind have endured. Hmmmm, Maybe a little
humility would humble the arrogant.
Go ahead and watch. I specifically said that whatever personal accomplishments they have made, I find the notion of watching them very uninteresting. I'm not arrogant, I want to watch sports competed at the highest level possible, by normal humans. Good for them that they can do whatever it is they are doing with one leg or in a wheelchair or whatever. I find it absurd to make a TV show out of it. I predict that the ratings will be very very low.
No, no you're pretty arrogant. Now go back and hang out with your normal humans. Whatever that means.
Foxy-seal: Then your comments are based on what? Your interest perhaps?
Define 'normal' for a human. None of us meet the same criteria physically and have strengths and weaknesses, unique and apart from others despite our outer 'normal' appearances.
Foxy is a troll, which isn't "normal" anyway.
The word "Superhumans," is NOT being used for EVERY ATHLETE but was coined by the The International Wheelchair Rugby Federation for IT'S campaign....
Let's try some basic reading comprehension - and try to survive - able-bodied people- in the Sport of Wheelchair Rugby... it makes an Ice Hockey fight or match look like a cat fight between two 5 year olds.
Foxy - your predictions on rating are just accurate as your other observations - the TV ratings have been very good....
Do you consider yourself a 'normal human'? Did I spot you at the 'normal human' Olympics?
If Olympic athletes are 'normal humans' to you and you didn't compete, does it follow that you consider yourself either sub-human or sub-normal. Perhaps a bit of both.
Isn't calling them "superhumans" doing the same thing people did to "special"?
I applaud what they're doing (no, I'm not watching), but I don't want to be that "super" myself.
Such an inspiring storry.
Whats the big news? These people are wimps compared to the say the Spartans and they did not need steroids.
Making super humans the old way, now that would be news. IT also would be severe child abuse by today's standards. Still, I think all these people are anything but hero's.
I think its fair to say you completely missed the entire point of the story. Spartans? steroids? WTF
Another hater- Steven hates people who are disabled and have overcome extraordinary odds because he looks down his nose in judgment of them.
And, obviously, you have NO clue what a hero is Steven, so your opinion means about as much as the gunk I saw in the gutter on my way to work this morning. It just needs to be scraped away and thrown in the trash.
tz-3189354 - obviously they need to create an olympics for total, blithering, blabbering idiots like steven...
and YOU!
The use of the term "superhuman" is patronizing and reeks of "oh, look at them, aren't they great, bless 'em!" Disabled athletes want the focus to be on their athletic achievements, not on how "special" they are.
Hater.
A "hater" of what?
Wow, a bunch of haters in this thread early this morning.
This commercial is awesome (especially love the Public enemy track), these people are awesome, and to those haters, step on the field/gym/track/pool with some of these folks and watch them kick your ass to Sunday....
{As an aside, sorry to bring politics into this, but leroybrown, Foxy-Seal, and Steven100, aren't you 3 supposed to be at the Republican National Convention? You'd fit right in...}
Your comment in parentheses made me snarf my coffee - I'm still shaking my head and laughing.
As for some of the other comments - may you never have to find yourself in their shoes (or lack there of) or their chair.
sorry about that. The check for your new monitor and keyboard is in the mail :)
DrowningGrover- hear hear!
DrowningGrover is whacking peepees right and left this morning like a good bailiff should.
(If you're under 50 you probably won't get it)
thank you sir. I am under 50, but I believe you're referencing cheech and chong. Could be wrong though :)
Cheech and Chong it is sir! You get a beer and a cookie.
I find it rather amusing to read posts like sonotFoxy's, Steven's, etc. It simply shows that bitter, pathetic, angry people can't hide who they are. They're truly ugly and sad little selves come out...even when it comes to something as inspiring and courageous as this. It's good to know you can spot the crud of society easily.
Thanks NBC for reminding the US public the paralympics opening ceremony is today.
Too bad though you made the US to be the only country in the world that doesn't broadcast the paralympics games. Not the opening ceremony, not the games, no nothing. Only 5 hours scheduled for long after the games have ended. That will be really interesting - a documentary about sport. Cheers for that!
Next time just don't bid to be the monopoly to own the rights in the US if you don't wish to deliver.
Exactly. This article was longer than the coverage NBC is providing these athletes. Pitiful. I recommend everyone, including the people posting above that Paralympians are damaged and uninteresting, to watch the documentary Murderball about wheelchair rugby. It's crazy intense and a lot of fun to watch.
Why is the "Blade" getting to play? Since he was in the Olympics for no-injured athletes, he should be banned from this one.
@leroy, foxy & steven (so far):
I college I lived with a student - super handsome by the way, who broke his neck diving into a lake. He was wheelchair bound, but managed to fully take care of his needs - things we take for granted. He lost his ability to sweat, so he could overheat easily, urinary tract problems would arise, etc. I was HONORED when he asked me (I'm able-bodied) to help him train for the para-Oylimpics... technically he was a quadriplegic, but he could move some of the muscles in his arms (do to his determination in physical therapy) - not so much his hands.
He needed me to ride my bicycle with him & help strap him into his racing bicycle - he could manage 99% of it, but since we were biking for miles (he used his arms) - he needed an able bodied person in case the wheelchair-bike rolled, he over-heated, (I carried water and first aid in a backpack for us)...etc... I tried to use a bike like that in the training room, I kept falling over - if I managed to keep my balance I was worn out in less than 10 minutes! FYI- I played several sports in college, so I was athletic.
Let me tell you - I got the workout of my life trying to keep with him on my bike! (trying - I was never in the lead) He did place for the para-Olympics then and even a decade later. Oh, and despite his finger lacking total coordination - he gave me the BEST back-rubs of my life (I'm a girl)....In training with him, I met many para-quad persons who were truly great athletes....they never asked for special recognition - yet you three seem to need to denigrate people whom you don't even know...
If you have never tried to roll in other people's places - you have no idea... para & quad athletes have more hurdles than regular athletes, so, I say that they are stronger, tougher and heroes!
For those of you questioning the "Superhuman" description, you many want to get out more, get over your ridiculous judgements and actually MEET some disabled people. These athletes are without a doubt superhuman. They have superhuman physical and mental strength, perseverance, determination, patience and courage. They work twice as hard as a typical athlete, not only training for their sport but spending countless hours of their lives in rehabilitation, PT, OT, medical appointments, the list goes on.
I spend every day with a 5 year old child who has Spastic Diplegia Cerebral Palsy and her average day would make most average people want to curl up in a ball and cry in pain, frustration, exhaustion and discouragement. And that is just an average day.
It never ceases to amaze me how easily people will judge what they don't understand at all. Their loss. I am so excited to watch the Paralympics with my child and see the smile on her face as she begins to realize her own potential. Bring it on.
I think these athletes have accomplished amazing things not just through their athletic training, but by surviving their injuries/disabilities in general. It is very easy to give into the "victim" mentality when something bad happens to you and live that way for the rest of your life, but these people have triumphed over their circumstances to a greater degree than most non-disabled people have.
That being said, I have two comments...first, the labeling of these people as "superhuman" is ridiculous and clearly a marketing ploy. I cant stand when a people group, whomever it may be, is described as being better than everyone else because they have triumphed over personal adversity. I'm sorry, but it is just as hard to manage a career, family, and life for the average person as it is for any olympic athlete (para or otherwise whom often have very little responsibility in life outside of training their body). And secondarily, I find it very interesting that Oscar Pistorius is able to compete in both Olympics...so does that mean that an able-bodied Michael Phelps should be able to compete in the swimming competition in the Paralympics like Pistorius did in the Olympics? I mean, they are "superhuman" and he is only human after all...
I would be willing to bed IWitnessed that if you were to try to "compete" with these people in their sports...that they would probably kick your ass. So yeah, superhuman is a good description. and you Sir are subhuman.
Wow, so I give credit where credit is due...to people who have overcome awesome obstacles and deserve praise...and simply point out how the "superhuman" tag is a marketing ploy (do your homework, check out promotional angles from carnivals back in the day...the "amazing" flexible woman, the "super-strong" dwarf ...and so on) and an oblivious moron steps up and is insulting. Sorry tz, but it's just another sales gimmick. Please, continue to take everything advertisers say at face value though, they depend on people like you to perpetrate their exaggerations to increase their revenue.
No, Iwitnessed I have actually "witnessed" people overcoming such difficulties and becoming better, stronger and more worthwhile people then people like you...who sit behind their computers... have probably never accomplished anything significant in their lives... putting down people who so obviously have.
Hahaha..well buddy if you are ignorant enough to believe that I am putting Paralympic athletes down, instead of pointing out the obviously lecherous and exploitative advertising angle (which has totally hooked you, I see, mission accomplished) then you apparently can't read, and in your own words are therefore "subhuman". Not to mention, who's the computer sitter who has responded to nearly half of the comments on here? That would be you. Maybe you should take a cue from these athletes and get some exercise, you know, make something of yourself? I mean as opposed to the bleeding heart, ignorant, uninformed, uneducated, whining moron that you have proven yourself to be in these comments.
Bleh..I'm done with you
Wow, Ce Ce you are something, lady. "Just get up!" Real words to live by. It is said, 'that for every door that closes, at least one new one will open". So true. Best of luck to you and all the Olympians!!
Ret. 1st Sgt.
Marketing ploy? Mr. L. Armstrong gets to keep his Nike contract worth millions? Despite the fact that his whole team said he doped....and he wouldn't give just one more sample?
Please tell me about the millions of dollars that a Special Olympic winner gets - for the shoes or whatever they wore? (oops, that's right they don't, as a matter of fact they are a non-profit which depends on people to fund them)
Please tell me 10 para-Olympians who will never have to work a day in their life because they are number one in their sport and everyone from a cereal company to a shoe company wants to endorse them... nope, you can't (a few companies do...but they pick people who are not para or quadriplegics, and the "marketing campaign is very short lived - )
I can give you 100 able bodied sports stars with endorsements- some with extensive law-breaking records....
Gee all the regular gimps are going to be jealous of the para-gimps.
But they won't be jealous of a mentally gimp person like yourself. They'll just feel pity for you like everyone else does. Truly pathetic that you feel the need to put other people down in order to get a chuckle or feel better about yourself.
@tj - you have to remember that mutatedspecies - has come up with so many kind things to say in his NV past, including this touching sentiment about the hiker who was killed by a grizzly bear this week:
mutatedspecies :
I actually think I may agree with you there MS, I just cannot muster up sympathy for you, wait.....nope can't find it in me today.
PS tj - nice posts, you've gotten a check from me for each... happily. Have a great day! (no sarc - sometimes it's hard to tell, but I "mean," Have a great day!) BK
(sorry, I meant tz) .... not tj, my "damaged" self needs to put her glasses on!
sounds like a snore-fest to me. id rather watch paint dry than wheel chair synchronized diving.
I"m sure you not watching won't be any loss. In fact I'm quite positive of it.
Very disappointed that NBC is not broadcasting this further - given the overwhelming interest in Oscar Pistorius alone I predict NBC steps up and makes a change and broadcasts this in full next time around. If you ask me, you made a major mistake this year NBC. Gather around your giant conference room table at 30 Rock stat and start thinking about the next Paralympic Games.
Watching them is mixed emotions, at the same time admiration for their tremendous courage at the same time a spooky feeling i can't describe to well because it all looks abit grotesque. Before the nasty judment comments come pouring in, I take my hat off to these athletes, and they really are athletes and i'll be watching them compete! But i'm just wondering is a guy without legs will bumb is way into the stadium to light the the big flame with his torch, or if it's a blind guy will he get lost?
You're pretty dumb, but it's probably not your fault.
"Guy without legs will bumb is way into the stadium"????
Doe Know
I suspect that if you actually watched some of the competitors, your spooky feeling would soon vanish because you would realize that these people actually are talented athletes. Soon you would be so impressed with their abilities that you would forget that they have disabilities, and you would wonder how you could ever had considered them to be grotesque. I doubt that this will actally happen though, because your preconceived misperceptions are probably so entrenched that you would rather continue to wallow in your grotesque state of ignorance.
Go Team USA!
Not disabled, paraplegics , or crippled where all you see is the wheel chair, but fellow human beings with physical disabilities. First and foremost athletes, only then with disabilities
Good for these people.The modern spin and hype are distasteful,tho
I agree.
This is pretty cool, we're well on our way towards the Bionic Man/Woman prophesied years ago/
Superhumans? When I see the word "superhuman" I expect humans that are at peak strength, speed, agility, stamina, etc.
Humans that are perfect specimens of our species.
All I see here are cripples and midgets.
False advertising.
*This post will come across as cold, mean, and controversial to some, but that is not its intent.
Look, I get that we are mired in the age of politically correct euphemisms, but this is ridiculous. In fact it's practically offensive in an ironic way. "Super" indicates the pinnacle of human ability and achievement. It is very specific in its intent. The strongest of the strong, the best of the best. The greatest. The utmost that our species has to offer. Showing people in wheelchairs next to a dwarf, a man with a carbon fiber leg, and various other people with obvious disfigurements isn't exactly the most tasteful depiction of this prefix, regardless of the obstacles they have overcome.