The Polish comprehensive research presented in this study (concerning demographic, social, and sport characteristics) among the athletes selected for the Paralympic team over the 49 years of the Games from Heidelberg to Tokyo is unique. The research is longitudinal, conducted regularly, and covers 96.6% of all Paralympic athletes, from the first participation of the Polish team at the 4th Paralympic Summer Games in Heidelberg in 1972 to the present year, i.e. 16th Paralympic Summer Games in Tokyo in 2021. There are no similar longitudinal studies available in the literature. Therefore, it is difficult to compare the results obtained for other national Paralympic teams. Nevertheless, individual sociodemographic characteristics are in the area of interest of researchers primarily as independent variables that often determine athletic performance and prevalence of sports injuries or are used to identify disease risks among Paralympic athletes [4–8]. The sociodemographic characteristics that have been often analyzed in publications are used only to characterize the respondents in a given sport and refer to specific Paralympic Games or a Paralympic preparation period without taking into account temporal changes. Among such independent variables, it is important to point out age and gender, which were also analyzed in the present study taking into account the above-mentioned changes. Our results clearly indicated that age is a differentiating variable between Polish olympic athletes (1992-1998 =24, 2000-2010 =24) and all Paralympic athletes (1992-1998 =31, 2000-2010 =28) [1]. This may have been caused by the conditions of becoming disabled, rehabilitation process, and taking up sports adapted to the person's functional and sensory capabilities [9]. Given the above, it is not surprising that the oldest athletes in Poland who have competed in the Games for the first time are: the athletes from London (2012) such as a 54-year-old table tennis player and a 53-year-old archer, and a sailor who, at the age of 56 years, started his Paralympic career in Rio de Janeiro (2016). It can be observed that in Paralympic sport, athletes are not limited by age, which is especially confirmed by Paralympians from Poland who competed at the Games between 2000 and 2010. This is because the greatest statistically significant age heterogeneity among Paralympic athletes occurred during this period. The youngest athlete to be selected for the Sydney Games (2000) was an 11-year-old table tennis player, and the oldest was an archer who, at the age of 61, achieved a Beijing 2008 Paralympic nomination for the third time. Our results are consistent with the data presented in the study by Derman et al., where the authors showed that of n=3657 participants in the 2016 Summer Paralympic Games, as many as n=1341 were in the age group of 35-75, and the largest groups were Paralympic athletes (n=246) and table tennis players (n=112) [5]. Furthermore, the least numerous group of these games (n=996) were participants aged 12 to 25 years. Similar quantitative analyses were undertaken by Derman et al. in terms of gender, although they concerned the prevalence of diseases during the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games [5]. Undoubtedly, these findings are consistent with those obtained in our study by confirming significantly more frequent participation of men (n=2268) compared to women (n=1389). In this context, it is important to note the introduction of gender parity by the International Paralympic Committee in 2008, with a 30% threshold goal for female representation in athletes in each sport and national team [10]. Undoubtedly, this is a factor that has significantly changed the proportion of participation in competitive sports by women with disabilities over the past decade, and our study only confirms the upward trend in female participation.
In addition to demographic aspects, another issue in creating the image of a Polish Paralympian is his or her socio-economic status identified based on education and professional and family involvement. Interesting changes can be observed during the temporal analysis by marital status. It was demonstrated that the years of the Games 1972-1988 and 2000-2021 were dominated by unmarried athletes. However, when the study was repeated in 1999 to examine the group from the period of 1972-1988, it turned out that about 66% of the participants of the Games were already married [11]. The athletes emphasized that during their professional sports careers, they were focused primarily on combining their sporting duties with acquiring specific education, while they postponed (especially women) the decisions about starting families for the period after the end of their sporting careers [12]. This is the more so as since the preparation for the 2012 London Paralympic Games, finding a balance between personal life and sporting careers has been increasingly difficult, especially because the athletes performed 12 training sessions per week and the organizational structure of disability sport has evolved significantly due to socioeconomic changes in Poland [13–14].
An equally important problem in creating an evidence-based image of a Polish Paralympian is his or her education and economic activity. Not without significance in this case were the systemic conditions and reforms which occurred in Poland at the end of the 1990s, which, in retrospect, had an impact on the level of education of the respondents. The first group of Paralympic athletes from 1972-1988 was dominated by basic vocational education, similarly to the group from 1992-1996. This was a consequence of systemic solutions in education, as the education of people with disabilities was carried out within the special education system, limited to vocational education, followed by employment in disability cooperatives. In the following years, the introduction of a reform of the structure of primary and secondary education (in 1999) and the changes in the school system were of key importance for the process of educating athletes from Paralympic teams in 2000-2021. Since then, there has been a regular transition from education in the segregation education system (special schools) towards the integration and inclusive education in Poland and worldwide [15–16]. Athletes with disabilities felt not only satisfied with the inclusive education, but above all, appreciated that similar requirements and challenges were put before them. Consequently, they had the opportunity to fully develop and prepare themselves to function in the environment of able-bodied people, and, at a later stage, to continue their education at universities [17]. Furthermore, the possibility of receiving financial support in the form of scholarships irrespective of family income, such as university rector's scholarships for outstanding achievements in science or sport or Minister's scholarships for similar achievements were the factors encouraging Paralympic athletes to pursue education at all levels [1].
The qualitative analysis performed using the ethnographic method among Polish Paralympic athletes in individual periods of the Games over the years 1972-2021 shows subsequent changes in their profile taking into account economic activity. It was not surprising that in 1972-1988, the athletes from the Polish Paralympic team were more often economically active compared to other stages of the research. This fact is closely related to the organizational structure of Polish sport for people with disabilities that existed until the early 1990s. In that period, the sporting activity was concentrated mainly on the community of disabled employees of worker cooperatives for the disabled, with clubs and sections of various sports. Therefore, it can be concluded that with their employment in cooperatives, disabled people had the opportunity to practice sport [2]. Nowadays, in the era of inclusive policies and better systemic solutions in education, both in Poland and worldwide, Paralympic athletes, after ending their sports careers, can try to find their place in the sport sector as assistants or coaches, which is confirmed by preliminary studies conducted in the field of coaching and educational services [18].
The presented causal consistency of the results is consistent with few conclusions from the studies published by other authors. However, their explorations were conducted in countries with different legislative and systemic solutions [19]. Unfortunately, there are no studies in the available literature that are similar to the analysis presented here and consistent with the protocol of longitudinal prospective study to address the socioeconomic status of Paralympic athletes. Most often, the problems of the socioeconomic status of Paralympic athletes have been explored by researchers from a global perspective, by assessing their quality of life, sense of life satisfaction, or professional fulfillment after the end of their sport career [18, 20–21].
Athletic performance and medals won have been often considered an indicator of success. However, with the changes concerning the classification rules and an increasing number of national teams taking part in subsequent Games, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the athletes to win the coveted Paralympic medal. This is evidenced by the tendency in Polish sport for the proportion of athletes who have won Paralympic medals to fall gradually. This fact is confirmed by the new system of classifying athletes for particular sports and Paralympic events introduced in 1992 [22–23]. The reduction in sport classes has had an effect on raising the level of athletic performance, thus increasing the competition for Paralympic medals. An additional constraint was the advent of new eligibility rules for athletes to compete at the Paralympics. Since 1996, following the example of Olympic sport, national disability sport organizations have no longer decided on the sporting criteria that an athlete should meet in order to receive a Paralympic nomination. The ever-increasing athletic performance and popularity of many sports made it necessary for IPC to introduce qualifying tournaments for athletes wanting to participate in the Games. In addition to the results obtained at continental events, the rankings of athletes were also based on the results they obtained at major international competitions. Therefore, only the best athletes from a given continent could participate in the Games in a given sport and sport class.
The presentation of the sporting achievements of Polish Paralympians leads to the conclusion that other important benefits offered to medalists at the Games cannot be overlooked. In addition to sporting success, they have also the aspect of financial gratification. Similar to Olympic Games medalists, once their sporting career is over (when they turn 40 years of age and the statutory criteria are fulfilled), the Paralympians can apply for a cash benefit. Importantly, such benefits are awarded regardless of the financial situation to all athletes with disabilities who have won medals at the summer and winter Paralympic Games since 1972. Furthermore, since 2016, cash benefits have been paid to athletes for medals won by them at the Paralympic Games in exactly the same amount as to able-bodied Olympic athletes [2].
It is also worth noting that, as the years go by, the profile of the Polish Paralympian in terms of multiple participation in the Games is changing. Since the beginning of the 21st century, the national team has been dominated by athletes who have competed in Paralympic Games more than once. This includes athletes who have competed 6 and 7 times and therefore remained within professional sports training for up to 24 years or more. Some of them did so to win a coveted Paralympic medal and, in the future, to be able to be awarded financial benefits. Others pursued successive personal records and became Olympic medalists at the same time. There are also champions who have won over a dozen medals, with one of them standing on the podium as many as 24 times.
Strengths and weaknesses of the study
We believe that a strength of the present research is its protocol (longitudinal study), but also the direct participation method and the fact that the survey was each time conducted by the same researcher, who is the author of this study. To justify this thesis, reference should be made to the emerging awareness among researchers of the importance of using protocols for a prospective longitudinal study. These protocols allow not only for observation of phenomena and identification of problems studied but they can be used to create remedial measures with a higher degree of certainty. Such attempts were made, among others, by the team of Fagher et al. [24] who published a research protocol dedicated to monitoring the health of athletes with disabilities.
The authors of the present study are aware of the weakness of this study, which lies in its limited conclusions since there have been no similar studies analyzing the problems over such a long time.