Tokyo Paralympic | The first Hong Kong-made Paralympic appraiser reveals the secret: explain Yu Cuiyi's loss to the secondary contestant

The Tokyo Paralympic Games officially ended today (5th). In fact, in addition to the active athletes, a group of behind-the-scenes heroes working silently behind the game can bring the Paralympics to a successful conclusion.

Registered physiotherapist Zhong Huiwen has served as a physiotherapist with the Hong Kong team for six consecutive years since 1996. However, he has a rare identity in the world. From 2014 to 2019, he was promoted to the chief appraisal of wheelchair fencing for the Paralympic Games. Officer, is also Hong Kong's first rank appraisal officer.

However, what exactly does a rank appraiser do?

Why did the "Queen of Seven Swords" Yu Cuiyi lose to the amputee Italian player Beatrice Vio?

Zhong Huiwen will share the secrets of the Paralympic Games below.

Related reading: Tokyo Paralympic | The Sixth Volunteer for the Company of Unknown Heroes

The grade appraiser judges the grade according to the athlete’s degree of disability

The level appraisal officer is a specially established position in the handicapped sports competition, with the purpose of enabling the handicapped athletes to compete fairly in the competition.

Therefore, their duty is to appraise the level of athletes based on their degree of disability, motor dysfunction, etc., and to classify athletes with similar levels of disability into competitions at the same level.

Zhong Huiwen took the T36 level where Su Huawei, the "wonder boy", as an example. T stands for field, 36 stands for the severity of cerebral palsy; as for the head 1 for visual impairment, the head 2 for dwarfism, the head 4 for amputation, and the word 5 The head is a wheelchair.

But he pointed out that each disability sport has its own distinguishing system. For example, wheelchair fencing is divided into 4 groups. The lower the number, the higher the degree of disability.

Zhong said frankly that the original intent of the level appraisal is for the victory of disabled athletes, regardless of the degree of disability. It only compares skills, talents, and training results. "But the problem is that even at the same level, there are high and low levels. Huh, if the lowest is the lowest. Keeping up with the highest hits, in fact, there is room to tell the truth. There is no way to be completely fair. We will try our best to do what we can." But he is well versed in the dilemma of the Paralympic Games, and if you are in every competition Too many levels, resulting in the birth of a large number of gold medalists, will reduce the representativeness of the Paralympics.

In fact, as many as 30 gold medals were awarded in the 100-meter race at this Paralympic Games.

"A lot of people will ask, I have a friend who has broken the cruciate ligament. Can my microphone participate in the handicapped competition? In fact, it is not possible." After physical examination, athletes are graded according to their medical history and physical condition.

If the athlete’s degree of disability is stable, such as amputation, dwarfing, etc., the judge will issue a "C" certificate, which means that they can participate in the Paralympics; otherwise, an "R" will be issued, which means the degree of disability is unstable.

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Yu Cuiyi lost to Class B Italian player in team competition

In fact, Zhong Huiwen has set foot in the work of a grade appraiser since 1996, and asked whether he will encounter special circumstances over the years that make it difficult to appraise grades.

Zhong Huiwen mentioned Italy's Beatrice Vio.

When Vio was 11 years old, he suffered from severe meningitis. Several parts of his body were infected with bacteria, and his limbs were amputated to save his life.

According to his analysis, although Vio has amputation and almost no balance in a wheelchair, her technique is exceptionally superb, and her illness does not affect the strength of her waist, so it is far better than athletes with the same degree of disability, and can even leapfrog the challenge. This ability is so hard to beat Yu Cuiyi at the same time."

Therefore, in terms of the degree of disability, Vio should be in the group with the highest degree of disability. Due to its special circumstances, it is still promoted to level B.

"Because his illness affects his performance, it's so embarrassing. There is no way to block everything on our roadblock. Later, I will put it in a game with friends who are weak in the waist."

Take this Paralympic Games as an example. In the wheelchair fencing team competition, each team needs to send two A-level and one B-level players to participate. The B-level swordsman will face the team due to severe physical disabilities. When an A-level swordsman is at a disadvantage, it is inevitable.

However, when Vio faced the Hong Kong team in the group stage, he defeated the "Seven Golden Swords Queen" Yu Cuiyi 5-2 in a goal-keeping battle.

The level appraiser has a great responsibility: even a few wrong decisions are not allowed

Because of the degree of disability it is difficult to accurately determine the level, more athletes try to fish in troubled waters to lower their level, and even able-bodied athletes pretend to be disabled for the competition.

For example, in the 2020 Sydney Paralympic Games, a Spanish men’s basketball team with mental disabilities defeated Russia’s hottest team in the final 87-63. It was later revealed as the biggest scam in the history of the Paralympic Games. A team of 12 players only scored 2. People are mentally handicapped.

"Actually, it’s hard work! Many friends (athletes) uh you!" Zhong Huiwen revealed that during his tenure as a grade appraiser, because many countries refused to accept appeals after the game, they had to re-examine the grades of athletes frequently, which was unavoidable. A lot of pressure.

He confessed that the level appraisal officer is only voluntary work, but involves legal responsibilities, so the responsibility is heavy and thankless work.

"Frankly speaking, a gold medal is very valuable, and it affects the future of many people, so people are very nervous. Because the family bonus can be so powerful, it is commercialized, and even a few wrong decisions are not allowed. So we are under a lot of pressure. , Zhong Yao is a volunteer!"

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