wheelchairs at gymnastics

Whether you love him or hate him, Artie Abrams in Glee has brought a lot of public attention to manual wheelchair users trying to participate in the mainstream.

(I assume Sue Sylvester got some hate mail when she referred to wheelchair ramps at school as “lazy makers”.)

So … What is Wheelchair Sports Acrobatics?

In the U.K., it’s a competitive discipline sponsored by British Gymnastics.

… One competitor must be a wheelchair user and the other competitor can be a mainstream competitor or also have special needs themselves.

Special balances have been developed which allows wheelchair users to perform these disability routines however the competitors are still expected to complete the same number of balances and skills as the mainstream competitions. …

Disability Sport

Personally speaking, we had terrific experiences with wheelchair athletes conditioning alongside gymnast in our gym at the University of Saskatchewan. Rings, ropes and bars are ideal for upper body training. It’s a good opportunity.

Unfortunately … where I live, most gyms don’t even have wheelchair access.

related – national disabled gymnastic champion Vicky Perez needs wheelchair sponsorship