Arnie Boldt is a Canadian athlete whose specialty is the high jump. In 1988 he leaped over a bar that was almost 6 1/2-feet high--close to the Olympic record. Awesome, right? What's more impressive is that he made that jump with just one leg.
Boldt is one of thousands of top athletes who have competed in the Paralympic Games. The Paralympics, which began in 1960, are just like the Olympics (the name combines the words parallel and Olympics), except the athletes have a physical disability. The Games are held every four years, right after the Olympics. More than 3,500 athletes from 127 nations will meet in Atlanta for 10 days starting August 15.
The athletes will try for medals in 17 sports. Fourteen of those, like track and field and basketball, are Olympic sports. Others are only in the Paralympics. For example, blind athletes compete in goalball. The object is to throw a ball into a goal and to block incoming balls. The ball contains bells to guide the players.
Paralympians train hard and are as devoted to their sport as any Olympic athlete. U.S. swimmer Trischa Zorn, nearly blind since birth, has won 39 medals in the Games, more than anyone else! Zorn, 31, a teacher, hopes to compete again in Atlanta. "Swimming will always be a part of my life," she says.