During the past week (from August 24 to September 5), Algeria experienced a state of heartbreak mixed with unprecedented feelings of jealousy for people with special needs, especially after the honorable results achieved by these people during the activities of the 16th Paralympic Games in Tokyo.
Algeria has 12 world medals so far, which puts it in the first place in Africa and the Arab world in terms of the number of medals, with 12 medals, and in the second place in the same classification after Tunisia, in terms of the quality of awards according to the official arrangement of the Paralympics.
These results were accompanied by stories of players who did not give in to difficulties and obstacles and even the look of mockery that surrounded them by some officials in the Algerian sport.
Everyone regretted the way people of high determination were dealt with, whether during preparations or before traveling and even when they returned to their homeland, bringing with them great victories.
This prompted the Minister of Youth and Sports, Abdel Razzaq Sibak, to comment, saying: “Shocked by the way the athletes participating in the Paralympic Games were received. What they did for Algeria in Tokyo.
Society has not yet understood them
The Algerian world champion in karate, Hamza Osmani, believes that the matter is due to the view of society as a whole for people with special needs.
The world champion Osmani told Sky News Arabia: “There is a look of contempt towards people with special needs, and this explains the lack of attention of officials to them and considering them second-class athletes, even though their effort is twice as much as healthy athletes do on the field.” .
Regarding this particular problem, Osmani said: “Notice well how we humans deal with people with special needs, our children do not play with them, we do not sit with them in cafes, we feel ashamed when accompanying them, all this negative view must change and the matter needs concerted efforts.”
Hamza regretted the way sports laws in Algeria deal with the rights of people with special needs, and said: “Why is the grant for healthy athletes twice as much as the grant for people with special needs?”
Inspirational success stories.
One of the stories that shook the feelings of the Algerians was the story of the player Safia Jalal, who was among the first to break records in Tokyo.
The husband of the world champion explained that Safia is a mother of four children, and her eagerness to take care of her family and take care of them did not prevent her from continuing sports and achieving excellence in a difficult field amid complex conditions with limited capabilities.
Kamal Belamri said: “The preparations were not for a month or two. She has been preparing for this date for more than five years, amid great troubles.”
It seems that the results achieved by the Algerian champions will prompt a change in many of those mentalities that have been contemptuous of people with special needs, which was embodied in a number of parliamentarians directing written questions to the Minister of Youth and Sports.
“The reception was insulting to our semi-Olympic champions, and we demand to know the urgent measures that must be taken to restore respect for people of determination and special needs, in order to avoid a repetition of the scenario in the independent,” said parliamentarian Ezz El-Din Khaloufi.
Historic results
Algeria’s results in the Paralympic Games were very honorable by all standards (28th place in the world (4 gold, 4 silver and 4 bronze), where the player Iskandar Jamil Othmani won a gold medal in the 400m race and broke the world record with 46.70 seconds.
Safia Jalal won a gold medal in the shot put and broke the world record by 11.29 metres.
Sports coach Amin Mohamed Tamari confirms that this victory carries with him a story of real heroes. He told Sky News Arabia: “Each of them has a different story. We expected a good result, but not to the point of breaking the world record.”
Amin stressed that what people with special needs have achieved is no less important than the achievements of healthy people, and they must be given the full opportunity to live, provide conditions for them and overcome difficulties.
“Unfortunately, there is a lack of interest in them and this is a lesson for all of us,” said the Algerian sports coach.
What is interesting is that in the story of Algeria with the Paralympics this year, it comes after a great setback that the Algerian delegation knew in the Tokyo Olympics, weeks ago and in the same place, where the delegation returned to that competition with nostalgia, which prompted them to blame the Ministry of Youth and Sports and accuse it of negligence And not to provide health conditions for them during training periods.
September 5, 2021 pledgetimes.com
