Restrictions (no longer, "need not") Apply: Paralympians, Tried and True - Part 3  

Barriers Seen, Unseen: "An unofficial but acknowledged barrier to advancement...especially experienced more by women and individuals affiliated with minority demographic groups..."  -Glass Ceilings 

Braking Bad - Replete, Repeat: History, past and present, continues to provide us with plentiful lessons and dismaying imagery (now assisted by drones, harder for the 'bad guys' to hide) throughout the globe and closer to home, even in our own communities if we bother to cast more than a glance, of people who are either 'held out' or 'hemmed in' (i.e., "detained) against their will, due to a characteristic or trait assigned to them in utero, as opposed to a stand they are taking, which might be against the status quo. Not enough room in this post or the entire YTB span of this blog, to do the history of injustice justice. What I'll consider myself here, on this very day and this early hour, are those pertaining to the Olympics, which themselves are of an Olympic proportion, to cover in both breadth and depth. At the risk of being a bit superficial, I will introduce you to only a few people who have been pioneers, barrier breakers within the Olympics at large, as well as the Paralympics in particular, including those who may still be experiencing forms of exclusion, restrictions, and/or discrimination not apparent, certainly not experienced, by most of us...at least at first glance.

Olympics Coming of Age: "They're at that age" was a current offering by my wife when I, as an experienced psychologist, a so-called expert on development, arrived home, at which time I also lost a degree of credibility, a semi-clueless father, inquiring what was going on with one of our teenagers?! I imagine that's also what the parents of 14-year-old Aileen Riggin wondered, by diving into an "icy cold black canal" broke a barrier, becoming the first Olympic gold medalist for women in springboard diving. Was she just being a risk taking teen or did she understand the immensity of what she was jumping into? This, a 101 years ago, at the Antwerp Olympic Games, eight years after women started competing in swimming at the 1912 Games but part of the first 'contingent' of women representing the U.S. of A. (while being out-manned 274/14, women made up 50% of the 14 divers WE/US sent).                                                              While we don't have Aileen Muriel Riggin (who became Aileen Soule when she married Howard Soule, after she lost her first husband, Dwight Young, killed during WWII), to interview (she passed away in 2002 at the age of 96), there are plenty of quotable quotes to document what she might have been feeling, thinking, reflecting on, as she saw her own reflection in the brackish waters of the Antwerp canal, but this time of open discrimination against women, which masqueraded as looking out for their best interest: "It was not considered healthy for girls to overexert themselves or to swim as far as a mile...people thought it a great mistake...we would never have children...we would be sorry... a great deal of publicity against women competing in athletics at all..." And, of course, her tender age: "They said there was no way they were going to take children to the Olympics..." This from a diminutive (4'7", 65#) eighth grader, who ended up standing tall on behalf of her gender and other groups in the future, way beyond this youth's imagination, I imagine. Due in part to Aileen's persistence and that of her manager/chaperone, "Miss Riggin", fellow 14-year-old "Miss Helen Wainwright", along with teammates Thelma Payne and Aileen Allen swept the top four places at the 1920 Olympic springboard diving competition!!!!

A Place on the Podium, in History: As Aileen, Helen, and their two older teammates, Thelma and 'Aileen 2.0',  dove into history, establishing both women and youth as credible Olympians, it came eleven days after the 19th amendment became part of the United States Constitution. That is, they now had the right to vote - ratified on August 8th, 1920 -- talk about August company! After which Aileen Riggin also went on to be one of the first female sportswriters. As Paul Harvey used to intone, "Now you know the rest of the story". 

Next: Categorical Success - Divided, United, Cross Training.