Paralympics: Past and Present
Throughout history, sporting activities have provided people with entertainment. But sports have also changed society’s values. The introduction of the Paralympic Games, for athletes with physical disabilities has contributed at a global level to changing peoples’ stereotypes about individuals who have disabilities. With talented competitors from many countries, the Paralympics is a world renowned, respected and advanced sporting event. It is governed by the International Paralympic Committee and takes place every four years following the Olympic Games.

The first Summer Paralympic Games took place in Rome, Italy in 1960. More than 400 athletes from 23 countries participated. Prior to the initiation of the Paralympic games in Rome, less formal competitions took place in the 1950s involving World War veterans who had acquired spinal cord injuries. At the Paralympics Games in Beijing in 2008, 20 sports will be included.

Getting to Know Gilberto Alavéz
There are many powerful and tenacious athletes who have made history in the Paralympic Games. One of these people is Gilberto Alavéz. Born in Oaxaca, Mexico, Gilberto is the son of Cecilia López and Gilberto Alavéz. He has six brothers and sisters, Juan Carlos, Aarón, Saulo, Ruth, Freddy and Griselda. Gilberto is married to Flor Martínez, with whom he has two sons, Giovanni, 17 and Joshua, 5.

One of the things Gilberto most enjoys about competitive sports is learning about different cultures and sharing experiences with athletes from other countries. Mexican Olympian track star Ana Gabriela Guevara is an athlete he admires.

Gilberto began to practice track when he was 35 years old. Even though he resides and trains in Los Ángeles, California, Gilberto is an active member of the Oaxaca state association of athletes who use wheelchairs.

In the Paralympic Games in Sydney, Australia in 2000, Gilberto won the silver medal in the 800-meter race. His best times are 2:10:00 (800 meters), :57:07 (400 meters) and :12:32 (100 meters). 

Gilberto also has shown his abilities in the Paralympics in Athens in 2004, where he earned fourth place. In recent years he has won multiple medals in the world games for track and field for athletes with disabilities. Gilberto represented Mexico in competitions in Spain, France, Italy, United States and Panamá. Currently he is training for the 2008 Paralympic Games that will take place in Beijing, China. His objective is to get to the final for the chance at a medal.

In His Own Words
When asked about his experience getting into sports as a disabled athlete Gilberto said, “In my personal story I’ve had happy moments but I’ve also experienced some very cruel chapters. But I am one of those people who embrace the challenge to overcome adversity. Maybe it is because my life was never easy. When I came to this country the only work I could find to support my family was in the Los Angeles City department of sanitation.”

Gilberto continued, “I was the assistant to a trash collector. I was very responsible and worked hard at this job. One day while we were on the route, I ducked underneath the truck to pick up some bags of garbage while it was stopped. The driver of the vehicle did not realize that I was still underneath and he started the truck in motion, running over me.”

“After months of hospitalization in which the doctors and surgeons tried to save my extremity, they could not do anything and they had to amputate so that I wouldn’t die,” Gilberto said. “From that moment on everything changed for me. Today I am an athlete, something that I never dreamed of becoming until that point. I began doing sports as a form of physical therapy and now it has become something fundamental and important in my life.”

Gilberto attempts races in which he is required to meet the Olympic Committee’s established times and parameters to qualify. He doesn’t see this as an obstacle in the pursuit of his dream to win medals. Gilberto is convinced that there is no obstacle too great for a person will a strong will. According to Gilberto, “It will be difficult, but not impossible. It’s true that I don’t have legs, but I do have the drive to win.”

Words For Emerging Athletes
“Never lose faith in fighting for what you aspire to do or to be,” Gilberto says. “I was unhappy and bitter for many years but one day I woke up and I gave thanks for my life and all the beautiful things that fill it. I am grateful for the ability to overcome challenges, and to forget the ugly moments and things.” Gilberto continued, “The Chilean poet and musician Violeta Parra inspires me. In Parra’s song “Gracias a la vida” (Thanks to Life), she expresses thanks for her laughter and her heart and legs and other things. But it is important to consider the deeper meaning of the lyrics and consider it a song to humanity and not to one person or thing in particular.”

Thanks to Life

by Violeta Parra

Thanks to life, which has given me so much

It has given me two eyes, and when I open them

I clearly distinguish black from white

And in the high sky, its starry depths,

And from the crowds, the man that I love.

Thanks to life, which has given me so much

It has given me hearing, which in all its breadth

Day and night records crickets and canaries,

Hammers, turbines, barking, dark clouds,

And the tender voice of my beloved one.

Thanks to life, which has given me so much

It has given me sound and the alphabet

And with it the words to think and speak

Mother, friend, brother, and the light that brightens

The path of the soul of my loved one.

Thanks to life, which has given me so much

It has kept my tired feet walking

With them I walked through cities and puddles,

Beaches and deserts, mountains and plains

And your house, your street and your courtyard.

Thanks to life, which has given me so much

It gave me my heart, which shakes its frame

When I look at the fruit of the human brain

When I look at good ones so far from bad ones

When I look at the bottom of your light-color eyes.

Thanks to life, which has given me so much

It has given me laughter and it has given me tears

Thus I distinguish between joy and pain,

They are all elements of my song

and of your song, which is all one and the same.