Posted on 07/06/2005 6:44:00 PM PDT by Libloather
Size doesn’t count at the World Dwarf Games
PARIS: Aside from the pursuit of gold medals competitors at the World Dwarf Games being held in France this week wanted to be treated as serious athletes, and not pitied because of their height.
The fourth edition of the championships at Rambouillet, south of Paris, has drawn together 135 dwarves measuring between 80cm and 1.40m with the largest delegation coming from Britain. Other countries represented are the United States, Belgium, Denmark, New Zealand, Spain, Morocco, Kosovo, and hosts France.
Arthur Dean, president of the International Dwarf Athletics Federation, believes these championships send a strong message to a world too often ready to pity or even ridicule little people. “Sport offers us a chance to prove that we can do something for ourselves in a society where some think that because we’re small what’s in our brain is also small.”
“The first editions of the Games were held in the United States, England and Canada – countries where the integration of people of a small size is more developed than in France,” said the competition’s director general Alain Dajean. “The aim is not to incite pity but to put the spotlight on our sports,” he added.
Jean-Marcel Guillas. the head of the French delegation, believes a lack of confidence can often deter dwarves taking part in sport. “Sport is one of the best ways of integration but a lot of dwarves hold back because they’re used to watching tall athletes and they don’t feel comfortable.”
Bullying and gratuitous insults is something the young Ben Bromley-Coolidge knows all too well. This angel-faced 15-year-old American basketball fan has made the journey from his home in San Fransisco to compete at Rambouillet.
Stung by the memory of certain jibes Ben’s mother Emily hails her son’s passion for sport which she says has enbabled him “to learn how to win and to lose while all the time gaining confidence in himself, especially with the girls!” Like many other parents the Bromleys are members of “Little People of America”, the organisation which provides advice and support to families with dwarves. “France Nano Sports” plays a smilar role in France and counts among its 40 members Patricia Marquis, the first French athlete to qualify under the new category F40 reserved for dwarves at last year’s Paralympics in Athens.
“I’m proud to have competed at the Olympic Games,” said Patricia. “We have the same demands on us in terms of the level of training and anti-doping controls, which is normal. “The only thing I regret is the lack of media coverage,” she added. afp
I've been sayin' that for years...
Is dwarf-tossing one of the sports?
Ready to ping the usual suspects to this short story?
Is the Olympic torch a bic lighter??? (ducking...running for cover)
Good for these guys and gals. For all of the crap they put up with in their lives, it's good to see some of them strive to be the best that they can be.
Is anyone listening?
A little competition never hurt anyone.
You tossed the idea out there. Ping away!
Reminds me of the real honest-to-God TV reality circus show: "The Littlest Groom".
Remember the premise: one dwarf bachelor squires around about 8 dwarf bachelorettes and gets to pick one at the end.
I think the meanest thing I ever saw on TV was when the producers decided to "spice up" the show by bringing in a normal sized blonde model and let her join the competition.
Guess who the "littlest groom" got the hots for (to the sniffling of the rejected female dwarfs (dwarves?)(dwarrow?))
It was grotesque.
Please tell me, somebody, that I am not the only human being who saw this sick little show.
I would prefer not to believe that I have the sort of imagination that would have imagined that...
...
Yeah. We know what caught your attention.
Beats me. Time for these folks to reach celebrity status...
I'll say! I don't care who you are, that's a lot of weight.
Finally an Olympics where the French can excel.
I am one of the few people who can claim to have been personally cussed out by Baron Bic (of pen and lighter fame).
And now the rest of the story.
In June of 1978 I was an Officer Candidate at OCS Newport, RI. We were about two weeks away from graduation when the LT commanding Echo company (I was a Lima) found out that I was a sailor and had over ten years experience on the foredeck crewing and racing with my father. He asked me if I would like to crew for him on Sunday afternoon for the race and even got me relieved of duty for several hours.
We had just rounded the windward mark and set the spinnaker when I faced aft to see the 12-meter yacht Intrepid (of America's Cup fame) cross under our stern less than 15 feet away with Baron Bic cussing at us in French. I don't remember exactly what the Baron said but it wasn't nice. I replied with a loud "Et tu aussi. Vous bâtard."
The Baron was taken aback and then was gone. The LT asked what the Baron had said. I said that the Baron had questioned our parentage and that I had affirmed the Baron's in no uncertain terms. We finished 3rd but it got me a beer when we got back to the dock.
Il n'y a pas d'honte être français. Il y a seulement l'honte dans rester de français.
(There is no shame in being French. There is only shame in staying French.)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
I'm a little shy about doing that. Not to give short shrift to this, but maybe wee are overdoing it.
That light went out a long time ago - no?
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