ISSUE

A festival where everyone comes together as one, Hosting the 2018 Seoul Differently-abled Amateur Sports Competition!

Seoul City and the Seoul Sports Association for the Differently-abled hosted the 2018 Seoul Differently-able Amateur Sports Competition on September 13th (Thu) at Jamsil Main Stadium and auxiliary stadiums.

A total of 14 events were held in this Competition, where all differently-able types(physical, mental, autistic, visual, auditory, brain lesion etc.) participated, it is the largest differently-able amateur sports competition in Seoul with over 3,000 participants from 25 Seoul districts including teams for each event and district as well as participating guests.

In addition, for the safe and smooth operation of the event, Seoul City placed volunteers in various locations in the event area, and also provided emergency medical services by placing 7 medical staff and 2 ambulances on site.

In the opening ceremony, in addition to exciting performances by ▴a military band ▴a taekwondo demonstration team ▴the developmental differently-abled dance team ‘Noorudan’, a special kite performance was conducted for the bright future of differently-able amateur sports. The kite performance signaled the start of the sports competition with major guests and foreign guests and well as participating athletes writing words of hope on kites before setting them aloft

A total of 14 events were held including preliminary events and harmony events, and all events were conducted by changing the way the events are played to reflect the characteristics of the differently-abled type. Athletes were composed of 85% differently-able and 15% non-differently-able competitors from each district, and all differently-able types were made to participate equally to create a forum for harmony between the differently-able and the non-differently-able.

On the day of the competition, 7 harmony events(▴harmony futsal ▴400M relay ▴curling ▴parachute ball bounce ▴sport stacking ▴darts ▴sjoelen) were held with the exclusion of the 7 preliminary events which had taken place earlier.

3,000 differently-abled and non-differently-abled athletes representing each district showed off the skills they had practiced in the 7 harmony events for the honor of their district. In addition, Seoul Sports Association for the Differently-abled amateur sport trainers were placed in each event to allow participants to easily learn and follow along so that everyone could enjoy the event together

Participants participated in various events from darts which require concentration, to the traditional Dutch game of sjoelen, to the 400M relay where the differently-able and the non-differently-able participate as one team, to create a forum for harmony where everyone can enjoy the event together. Of those events, the parachute ball drop event where participants hold a parachute to throw a ball high into the air especially left a big impression on many participants through the cooperation of participants working and counting off together to throw the ball in the air

In addition, various event booths including ▴a photo booth ▴hair and nail art ▴calligraphy and face painting ▴caricature ▴dental treatment consultation and simple treatments (Seoul Dental Hospital for the Disabled) ▴Health examination and treatment consultation (Seoul Korean Medical Association) ▴wheelchair repair and correction etc. were installed to provide participants with various activities and were greatly welcomed as they created an atmosphere of a plentiful festival