Tracing the Evolution of the Paralympic Games

Last week, a month to the day after the Winter Olympics kicked off, the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Paralympic Games was held in Pyeongchang, South Korea. This marks the third decade that the Paralympics have directly followed their Olympic counterparts, using the same venues and holding competitions in some of the same events. Despite the elevated profile of Paralympic competitions, those games have not come close to matching the Olympics juggernaut, receiving a fraction of the broadcast coverage and relatively low-key play in the news media. Nevertheless, beyond the obvious displays of human excellence in the face of adversity, the Paralympics have become a significant proving ground for adaptive technologies and are as rife with geopolitical and military connections as their able-bodied counterparts....