ITF marks start of Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games with Own The Moment campaign spoken word performance

On the day of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics Opening Ceremony, the ITF has launched the second instalment of its Own the Moment collaboration with spoken word artist Henry Stone. The performance urges fans to recognise not just the historic feats in wheelchair tennis at the Paralympics, but the role the Games have had in changing perceptions towards persons with disabilities and ushering in an ever-more inclusive society worldwide.

The Paralympic Wheelchair Tennis Event will begin at 11:00 JST on Friday 27 August at the Ariake Tennis Park in Tokyo, with the draw made on Wednesday 25 August. A total of 104 players representing 31 different nations will be bidding for medal glory at the Games across six different events. All preview content and coverage of the action can be found at itftennis.com

A previous collaboration was published on the eve of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, tracing the inspirational touchstones from the annals of Olympic tennis. Similarly, Stone sees the Paralympics as serving a deeper purpose, one that stretches beyond the sporting realm.

“A few years ago, the IPC made a significant change in their focus of the Paralympics and the Paralympians,” he said. “Instead of focusing on the ailments they’ve overcome, it shifted to their athletic ability and achievement.

“I don’t think it would be fair to just focus on what a Paralympian has had to overcome in their private life – they want to, and they should, be seen as athletes. They prepare like other athletes: they sleep like athletes, they work hard like athletes. Anything else is disingenuous to the work that they put in as an athlete over the course of weeks, months and years. That’s what I’ve tried to highlight for the Paralympics – that’s the main differentiation from my work for the Olympics.”

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