Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Desporto Paralímpico em Portugal: da sua génese à atualidade

2013; Volume: 13; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.5628/rpcd.13.01.93

2182-0317

Ana Sousa, Rui Corredeira, Ana Luísa Pereira,

Physical Education and Gymnastics

The increasing visibility achieved by the Paralympic Games has increased the international interest of researchers.However, in Portugal the reflection of the theme is scarce.In this way, the purpose of this essay is to describe, understand and reflect upon the past, present and future of Portuguese Paralympic Sport.Taking into account the international context, we divide the Portuguese history of sport for people with disability in four phases.We also describe the main facts and events that marked each stage, highlighting the key initiatives observed in organizational, legal and financial level.The approach is completed with an analysis of data related to Portuguese representations in Paralympic Games.The analysis highlights the importance of reversing the negative trend of the results achieved by Portuguese athletes over the past years.Thus, it is fundamental to disclose the Paralympic sport; to increase the investment, allowing athletes to keep up with the high performances demonstrated at international level; to promote the approach to Portuguese Olympic sport; to enable the athletes' professionalization; and to work towards their inclusion in regular sport federations.Finally, it is emphasized the need to listen the athletes whom overcome themselves every day to understand this context in a deep way.