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Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Times

For visually impaired parathletes, sound and touch guide their passions

Los Angeles Times
Summary
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79% Informative

The 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris will be held in 2024 .

Some of the athletes at the 2024 Games will wear prosthetics, others will be in wheelchairs.

Long jumpers will sprint down a narrow runway, aiming for the sound of a voice or clapping.

Goalball players wear blackout goggles to ensure everyone is completely blind.

Swimmers in the vision impaired classification often have “tappers” standing at each end of the pool.

These helpers use long, thin poles to tap the athlete’s back when it is time to make a flip-turn or stretch for the finish.

“When I was younger, I used to get tapped two strokes away from the wall,” says Hermes .