The evolution of the sport wheelchair

People can do almost anything from a wheelchair these days. Gone are the days when your disability defined you and what you could and couldn’t do.

Today, the disabled are no longer confined by their wheelchairs, their wheelchairs give them power.

This article will explore the development of the sport wheelchair, from the clumsy beginnings to the contemporary creations that allow disabled sportsmen and women to shine.

Early wheelchairs and sporting wheelchairs:

Anyone who had suffered through a spinal cord injury had slim chances of even surviving before the Second World war! The first wheelchairs were rudimentary transport chairs, designed to get the disabled or infirm from one point to the next.

They were heavy, difficult to maneuver and provided transport for only the most basic trips.  For any disabled person living a few decades ago, the prospect of living with a disability meant you could forget about having a sporting career.

Over the next few decades, wheelchair designers refined the original wheelchair design to include enhancements that would result in a sleeker, more powerful wheelchair design that would revolutionize wheelchair sports forever.

Sports wheelchairs of today:
   
Modern day sporting wheelchairs come with all kinds of bells and whistles. It certainly is a whole lot easier to be disabled and remain active nowadays! Wheelchairs have evolved to the point that users can expect some extraordinary performance, no matter what sport it is they want to be involved in.

And while wheelchair sports were once limited to table tennis and basketball, nowadays there are all kinds of extreme wheelchair sports to choose from, provided you have the right kind of wheelchair to participate with of course.

There are specialized wheelchairs that allow you to ski, climb mountains or race with anyone.

There’s no need to shelve those sporty aspirations if you are disabled, with the right wheelchair you can out-perform anyone at almost anything!