Very often when people see someone in a wheelchair, with a disability, or with any type of impairment, they tend to feel bad for that person (myself included). However, we fail to realize that those people with disabilities are just like us. This August, the Olympics took place in Rio. The greatest athletes in the world were representing their respective countries. It was amazing to watch. On Aug. 21, the Closing Ceremony took place. But that wasn’t the end to the Olympics, because on Sept. 7, the Opening Ceremony for the Paralympics took place in Rio.

The Paralympics began as the Olympics for athletes who were injured because of the war, and they were widely introduced after World War II. The Olympic Opening Ceremony in London took place on July 29, 1948. Neurologist Dr. Ludwig Guttmann organized the first competition for wheelchair athletes: the Stoke Mandeville Games. Sixteen injured servicemen (14 men, two women) participated in archery.

The creation of the Paralympics was incredibly important. They not only provide people with disabilities the opportunity to represent their countries and play the sports that they want to and love to play, but they also brings awareness to disabilities and people with disabilities.

Let’s take the 2016 Rio Paralympics for example. On Sept. 8, Chinese swimmer Tao Zheng broke the world record for the men’s 50 meter backstroke with a time of 34.59 seconds. This is beyond impressive, because Zheng is armless. He doesn’t let his disability stop him from competing.

So let’s all remember that people with disabilities are capable of amazing things. Just because they have some sort of impairment doesn’t make them any less able than others to change the world.