it laughs in the face of societal views of disability

September 1, 2024 2:08 AM

“I’m not going to let anybody underestimate me,” said Adam, who has multiple sclerosis and is known for her ability to zoom down the court, her signature sleek ponytail flying out behind her. “The guys think they’re going to come and hit into me and knock me over, and I hit them right back and put them on their face and kind of roll away like it was nothing.” from They call it ‘murderball.’ Wheelchair rugby isn’t for the faint of heart [Washington Post; ungated]

Schedule & results

posted by chavenet (6 comments total)

I had to think of the 2005 documentary Murderball. It is a very rough sport, no doubt.
posted by nostrada at 2:54 AM on September 1 [9 favorites]

I was going to make a comment how I always appreciated how one of the most dangerous sports was the one where the participants couldn't really get their spines broken a second time, but then it struck me: how dangerous is murderball, exactly? So two minutes Googling led me to this study that suggested that murderball isn't actually all that dangerous - lots of minor injuries, but not a lot of major injuries that require serious rehabilitation. Murderball might be the most dangerous sport in the Paralympics, but I think BMX racing, the most dangerous sport in the Olympics, might be significantly more dangerous, based on poking around at some studies trying to get a sense of how dangerous BMX is. It's honestly not a lot to go on, but I suspect it feels more dangerous than BMX racing because it's full-contact against metal and a prejudical reflex that disabled people shouldn't be slamming into each other like that.
posted by Merus at 5:28 AM on September 1 [2 favorites]

I love murderball. This kind of balls to the wall sport is just fun!
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:09 AM on September 1 [1 favorite]

I remember in the doc that nostrada links a scene with the guys laughing about how family members (esp. of newly disabled murderballers) would get so nervous watching the hard hits, worried about their son/brother/whatever getting injured, whereas the 'ballers are like, "What's gonna happen, I'm gonna break my neck again? Oh no, I might not be able to walk even more? Pshaw!"
posted by Saxon Kane at 9:31 AM on September 1 [4 favorites]

I watched a game between the US and Japan the other day and it was great! They are WORKING out there.
posted by cooker girl at 11:03 AM on September 1 [1 favorite]

WaPo: meet goalball.

Goalball is unique to the Paralympics, and it’s a sport in which blind people (who are used to navigating the world through touch and sound) have an advantage over sighted people.
“A lot of people call it ‘the coolest sport you’ve never heard of,’” said Tre’Shaun Faison, 21, of Orange Park, Fla., who is a player on the U.S. men’s team.
Athletes use a ball with bells in it that jingle with movement. Taped-down string serve as tactile markers to help players feel for important boundaries such as the edge of the court, the goal or the halfway line.
While the athletes are blind or have low vision, they all wear a mask that obscures their vision completely to level the playing field.
posted by jenfullmoon at 8:31 AM on September 2 [3 favorites]