【研究ノート】パラスポーツにおける 用具の意味の転換とパラドックス

抄録

As many Paralympic sports become more widespread and more competitive, there have been subtle changes in the meaning or function of the equipment used in the sports.

For example, the use of eyeshades in goalball equalizes the level of visibility and thus the degree of disability, ensuring fairness in competition. The equipment here does not complement physical ability, but rather is a means of creating a new sport by artificially creating a disability.

In wheelchair basketball, the wheelchair functions to complement physical ability, but it is also a means of creating a new sport in which able-bodied people can participate through using the wheelchair. In other words, the equipment is not a symbol of disability, but a symbol of disabled and able-bodied people enjoying sports together.

In addition, the success of some athletes has shown that prostheses for competitive sports can go beyond complementing physical abilities, and can be a means of demonstrating abilities beyond those of able-bodied athletes. In these cases, the question of how to evaluate the relationship between the effectiveness of the equipment and the athlete's own physical abilities has arisen, with new questions about the significance of equipment used by disabled people.

Thus, with the development of para sports, equipment that was originally used to complement the physical abilities of people with disabilities and that was a symbol of disability, has changed in terms of its meaning and function, creating a kind of paradox.