Life's Not Fair...or Maybe it's just the Paralympics that aren't?

Okay.
I know that some of you may not be watching the Paralympics like I am.


Hey, today is wheelchair curling and I LOVE curling...
on legs, on wheels, any curling is great to me!

Click this link to check out Paralympic News from Sichi, Russia

But seriously.

I was watching the Paralympics from yesterday....
Yes, I DVR'd them since they are only broadcast LIVE from RUSSIA...

which translates to O-dark-thirty here in the U S of A.

So, as I watched I noticed something...

well, 2 things actually...

that bothered me.

First, and don't get me wrong - I think ALL PARALYMPIC ATHLETES ARE AWESOME!

But, there are 3 categories for the skiing events.
Standing, sitting and visually impaired.

Me, if I had restricted or impaired vision I would not be hurtling to certain death on some sticks...
But I digress...

What bothers me is that the standing class has skiers with either an upper or lower limb issue.
In some cases there is one of each impaired or missing.
Now, doesn't it make sense that the person travelling on 2 legs is going to have a better time down the mountain than the one only using ONE LEG AND ONE SKI???

I mean, really, Super G on one leg at 70 miles an hour???
Can you say TOTALLY AWESOME?

So, my problem is that those athletes are given handicaps...
think golf--- sort of---
in an attempt to even out the field so to speak.

But really, if they can use 2 legs- whether they are real legs or prosthetic...
Why don't they have them run a separate race?

That brings me to the second issue I have...
this is with the sitting skiers.
Well, not the skiers themselves, but again that handicap.

Of course, those with a lower back injury or amputations below the knee will have better abdominal muscles and therefore better arm and core body strength to propel themselves, manage turns, etc.

Why can't there be a more specialized category based on injury level.

Some how it does not seem fair that a person streaking down the side of a mountain on one leg on a
 Super G course should be in the same race as the person doing it on 2 skis with 2 legs.

I'm just saying...

As an avid sports-person I understand that the competition is just that...a competition.
And that for many of the athletes the competition isn't against another athlete necessarily...
but rather against themselves...
to make a better time...
to succeed at a new sport...
maybe even to just finish the event...

This is hard for me...
I guess I wouldn't make a very good Paralympic Athlete...
or parent of one...
or spouse of one...
or friend of one...

Oh, HECK!
They probably wouldn't even let me stand on the sidelines and cheer...

For that matter, BratChild and SIX don't like me to do that...
(but I do it anyway...)

I guess I'll just have to accept that some things will never be fair...
well, not to me that is.