Larry Gerlach doesn’t know much about the Paralympics.
“I knew the Olympic scholars, but I was woefully ignorant about the Paralympics,” Gerlach said. A sports historian and U history professor, Gerlach is like many others.
Gerlach addressed the audience of 85 before Gudrun Doll-Tepper, one of the world’s foremost scholars on the Paralympic Games, spoke on the subject in the Gould Auditorium.
Doll-Tepper’s presentation outlined a brief history of the Winter Paralympics, while touching on its current state and future developments for the games.
“There has been a clear increase in the number of countries and participants competing in the Winter Paralympic Games since 1976,” Doll-Tepper said.
Doll-Tepper was instrumental in the 1990s for getting the Paralympics held at the same venue as the Winter Olympics, and since 1992, both events have been at the same site.
The Winter Paralympics date back to 1976, when they were held in Ornskoldsvik, Sweden.
In its inaugural year, 250 athletes from 15 nations competed, a number that rose to 950 athletes from 31 nations in 1992. At the 2002 Paralympic Games, the number of athletes eclipses 400, from about 40 nations.
Though the Paralympic Games have been at the same site as the Olympic Games since 1992, the 2002 Games are the first in history to have the same organizing committee.
In addition to her work in combining the Paralympics with the Olympics, Doll-Tepper has committed herself to exposing and educating people on the history and achievements of disabled athletes.
According to Doll-Tepper, interest has increased in the media and the public in the Paralympic Games.
“I think that the 2002 Paralympic Games will set new standards in terms of public interest and television broadcasting worldwide,” Doll Tepper said.
Despite the advances in technology, competitors, interest and support, Doll Tepper thinks there are still many changes that need to be made.
“I think there is a huge gap concerning sport opportunities in less developed and developing countries,” she said.
Doll-Tepper would also like to see the integration of new sports into the Paralympic program and she feels increased efforts are necessary to include disabled girls and women into sports “at all levels.”
Doll-Tepper is the current president of the International Council of Sport Science and Physical Education and a teacher at Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany.
“No one has contributed more to the field of adaptive physical activity than Dr. Doll Tepper, and the gains under her leadership [in the ICSSPE] have been tremendous,” said College of Health Dean John Dunn.