How technology lends a helping hand to amazing Paralympians

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ongoing Paris Paralympics 2024, winning a bronze. Devi's video clip, showcasing her precision by the use just her right foot, jaw support, and shoulder movement, went viral. Her moves were aptly summed up by Erik Solheim, Norway's environment minister, who wrote on X: "This is beyond possible! Sheetal Devi is poetry in motion..." Devi is one of 84 Indian athletes at the Paralympics.

At the time of writing this piece, India 15th with 15 medals–three golds, five silvers and seven bronzes–a tally that can only improve by the time the games close on 8 September. By comparison, India won only six medals–a silver and five bronzes–at the recently-ended Paris Olympics. Could it be that India's Paralympic athletes are faring better than able-bodied ones? The answer is nuanced.

Countries that do well in the Olympics also tend to do well in the Paralympics, reflecting an overall sporting accent. In that sense India's medal haul across both games probably reflects a relative parity. The difference? In a word, technology.

But it would be a stretch to claim that technology gives Paralympians an unfair advantage over able-bodied athletes. For tech plays a massive role in able-bodied Olympics too–think of the constantly evolving material used to fabricate bicycles for instance. If anything, Sheetal Devi's achievement illustrates other-worldly skills and will-power, rather than tech.

Tech helps, but not always, and not in all disciplines. When the Paralympic Games began in 1960 in Rome, the technology was rudimentary, as was the case for able-bodied athletes too. Two decades later, the introduction of lightweight materials like aluminum and titanium for wheelchairs marked a turning point, improving speed and manoeuvrability across sports