We have just had our Paralympic Games in the UK, which is an international sporting event, involving athletes with physical and other disabilities, which may include mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness and cerebral palsy.

There is a practice called reinforcement, which an athlete with spinal damage is capable of performing. Statistics indicate that 30% of wheelchair athletes are improving before games. They self-harm to help increase blood pressure and improve performance without feeling any pain. The way this is done would be to have the lower body exposed to painful stimuli such as a full bladder, breaking a toe, or sitting on sharp objects. Some would even go so far as to nail their testicles.

Boosting for a Paralympic athlete is the same as banned drugs or steroids for a non-disabled athlete.

Officials help self-injuring athletes by telling them how dangerous this booster can be to their health. Players would be required to take their blood pressure before the game and if it is off the ceiling then the punishment would be disqualification of that player from the game. But if they have a medical certificate explaining why their blood pressure is high, they are still allowed to compete.

But interestingly, since the Beijing Paralympic Games, no athlete has tested positive on the impulse test.

The risk from these booster practices is a stroke or heart attack due to high blood pressure, but since some other athletes can’t feel anything, they thought it was worth the risk. This is an extremely dangerous and risky trick, but for others, this is the cost of victory. They would do themselves a little harm in exchange for a moment of triumph that they will remember forever.

Currently, the number of Paralympic athletes who have gone through a program that teaches the dangers of momentum is increasing. The program covered all aspects of the athlete’s preparation. The athlete is fully aware that the Paralympic Games do not promote momentum in any way, shape or form that could cause a potential danger to the person.

With the amount of interest and investment for the Paralympic Games continuing to increase in other nations, it is believed that athletes would have the focus that can help improve their performance without increasing self-harm. In fact, these are positive signs not only for the Paralympic Games but also for Paralympic athletes.