Pictures shot during the Olympics in Salento, a sporting event that gave good space to Paralympic sports. During a special evening, where few people were in the stands, where the silence made more acutely resonate the voices of the players, who continued to play long after scheduled time, regardless of public or gratification. They were not interested in, they played for a bigger challenge, for themselves. They would continue for hours, even when the lights were turned off.
There are no words to describe the athletic, the energy, the power that these guys have in their eyes, heart and hands. I kept several days on photographing sporting events for work, but here I faced a very different show. It is perhaps the purest and most powerful shape of sport. An agonistic action that goes beyond the limits imposed by destiny. Paralympic basketball is one of the oldest paralympic games.
Historically this discipline was one of the first to be used by the English neurologist Ludwig Guttmann as rehabilitative therapy for veterans of the Second World War. There are no substantial differences in regulation with respect to the common basket; provided, however, are some particular infringements: It is not allowed to rise from the seat of the wheelchair (it is considered a technical foul), advancing with the ball without dribbling after two thrusts, to lift off the ground at the same time the two rear wheels while having the ball in hands. It is also considered intentional foul, punishable with 2 free throws and possession to the opposing team, to hold hands with the chair of the opponent. The wheelchair basketball is one of the few sports for disabled athletes that puts in the field people with different types of disabilities, and especially different physical potential.
© 2012 Marco Palladino – All rights reserved
