(…) Popow’s travels have led him to believe that countries that do well at the Paralympics usually do well with the inclusivity of the disabled back at home. Germany finished a disappointing 11th in the 2024 Paralympics medals table. Popow believes he has a clue why.
“Grassroot sports in Germany are not improving the way they need to improve,” he told DW. Federal government research in 2022 suggested more than half of disabled people in Germany avoided sports. Part of the reason could be that 90% of all playing fields and gymnasiums were not barrier-free. Meanwhile, insurance companies often do not cover medical devices for sports.
"I feel the government and insurers can save a lot of money if they realize paying for disabled sports is better than the bill from a pharmacy. Sports is the best medicine.
“I do running clinics, and I see activity all over the world. The Netherlands is doing a great job. It is the size of the German state of North Rhine Westfalia, and it is more successful than our whole country.” The Netherlands was 4th in the 2024 Paralympics medal table. (…)
Turns out physical therapy is more popular when you’re not throwing a ball at a beige wall in a doctors office. At face value that’s intuitive, but a lot of people don’t have the lived experience and perspective to have had to consider it. When you phrase it that way it’s obvious though.
The reason I wanted to share this article is the hidden message. Imho they use the Paralympics as a lead to make people realise that we need more inclusion and changing the structures will benefit a lot more people than just a few ‘professional’ athletes. At least I hope people can relate that playing sports is not only good for a person’s physical health but also for their mental health. Getting out, meeting regular people and having sonething positive to look forward to is important.