Female athletes celebrated on International Day of Sport for Athletes with Intellectual Impairments

A series of female athletes are being celebrated online to mark the International Day of Sport for Athletes with Intellectual Impairments (IDSAII) on Thursday (20 September).

The theme for this year’s IDSAII is firmly rooted in the International Federation for Athletes with Intellectual Impairments (World Intellectual Impairment Sport) #WeAreSport campaign. It aims to encourage more female athletes to use social media.

By the end of September, 11 swimmers, track and field stars, tennis and table tennis #SportChampions will have taken part in seminars to give them the tools and knowledge to improve their digital presence. They have all been supported by administrators from within their World Intellectual Impairment Sport member organisations, ensuring the project can be spread to other athletes in the long term.

For one week starting on 20 September, World Intellectual Impairment Sport will publish athlete stories on inas.org and graphics featuring their social media handles to help build the following of the participants.

World Intellectual Impairment Sport has also published guides to setting-up and using social media in different languages on a dedicated section of its website for all athletes and members to access.

World Intellectual Impairment Sport Vice President Robyn Smith has been involved in the campaign as a firm advocate of women in sport.

“The athletes in #WeAreSport range from those just starting out to experienced Paralympians and world champions in a variety of sports,” Smith said. “But not all of them were getting the full potential from social media.

“We knew that we had to do something about the smaller numbers of women and girls with intellectual impairments taking up sport compared to boys and men. Social media seemed like a good place to start as it is accessible to billions of people around the world.

“We had a great response from the athletes and administrators involved. Many went away and immediately started using the ideas they had heard to set-up accounts on platforms they had not previously used, or posting different kinds of content to grow their fanbase.

“We have been delighted with the response and plan to grow the reach of #WeAreSport into the future, including at the World Intellectual Impairment Sport Global Games which Australia will host in Brisbane in 2019.

“This is just one part of our role in developing Paralympic and non-Paralympic sports, adding to our international competition calendar and work on athlete eligibility.”

One of the athletes to participate was US swimmer and Paralympian Leslie Cichocki.

Cichocki said she liked the fact that the sessions were a way of “getting more women involved in sports and having their voices and experiences heard.”

Egyptian swimmer Rahma Khaled also took the aim of #WeAreSport firmly to heart: “I feel more confident, because I saw a new world and [I want] to help other people to become champions,” she said.

Stefanie Pitchian from the Singapore Disability Sports Council is helping swimmer Danielle Moi Yang Ting with her social media. Pitchian said that as a result of the campaign she feels more confident in supporting Moi Yang Ting online.

“She comes to me with different post ideas and she shares with me on how it would be engaging her followers,” Pitchian said.

Since the first wave of #SportChampions were announced in March on International Women’s Day, a further three athletes and three administrators have joined. That brings the total to 11 athletes from 10 countries.

#WeAreSport #SportChampions

Athlete	Eligibility group	Country	Age	Sport	Career highlights
Danielle Moi Yang Ting   Instagram: @daniellemoimoi	II1/S14	Singapore	19	Swimming	2017 Asian Youth Para Games medallist (silver 100m butterfly, bronze 100m backstroke, 200m freestyle)
Jade Lucy   Instagram: @jadelucy_g Facebook:  @jadelucy-swimmer Twitter: @jadelucy_lucy	II1/S14	Australia	21	Swimming	World Intellectual Impairment Sport Global Games champion (100m, 400m, 800m, freestyle) and World Intellectual Impairment Sport world champion (200m, 400m and 1,500m freestyle)
Poleth Mendes   Instagram and Facebook: @polethmendesec	II1/F20	Ecuador	22	Athletics	Paralympian and silver medallist in shot put F20 at the 2017 World Para Athletics Championships
Yang Hee Seo	II1/class 11	South Korea	31	Table tennis	2014 Asian Para Games (bronze women’s singles)
Caitlyn Sharp   Instagram: @caytlynsharpathlete Facebook: @CaytlynSharpTF20Athlete Twitter: @caytlynsharpat1	II1/T/F20	Australia	15	Athletics	World Intellectual Impairment Sport world champion (high jump)
Wong Pui Kei	II1/class 11	Hong Kong	20	Table tennis	2017 World Intellectual Impairment Sport World Table Tennis Championships (silver women’s doubles, bronze women’s singles, gold women’s team, gold junior doubles, gold junior team, silver junior singles)
New: Rahma Khaled   Instagram: @rahmakhaled453 Facebook: @shampionrahma Twitter: @Rahmakhaled10	II2	Egypt	22	Swimming	National and international medallist
New: Gloria Agblemagnon   Instagram: @gloriaagblemagnon	II1/F20	France	20	Track and field	World Intellectual Impairment Sport hammer and discus world champion, Global Games champion hammer
New: Lizaba Deepak	II2	India	23	Swimming	National champion
New: Lily Mills	II1	Great Britain	18	Tennis	National champion
New: Leslie Cichocki   Instagram: @swimprincess88 Facebook: @swimstarleslie Twitter: @Paralympswimmer	II1/S14	USA	29	Swimming	First athlete from the USA to compete in swimming at the Paralympics

 

#WeAreSport is supported by the Agitos Foundation, the development arm of the International Paralympic Committee, through their 2017 Grant Support Programme.