More than a Game

Fielding teams for the Paralympics is more than just a game to manufacturing giants such as Invacare and Sunrise Medical. It's a testing ground for features that might well find their way into everyday wheelchairs.

At the 2004 Paralympic Games for athletes with disabilities in Athens, Greece, Team Invacare, a group of 33 athletes, brought home more than 30 medals in such sports as tennis, swimming and wheelchair racing. Sunrise's Team Quickie.Sopur, made up of 38 athletes from all over the world, garnered 28 medals, including a gold for its Canadian Men's Basketball team and multiple medals in wheelchair racing.

The team names are a roster of the world's most elite wheelchair athletes. Just take a look at some of them:

From Invacare: Paralympic gold and bronze medalist in swimming Cheryl Angelelli; five-time Paralympic gold medalist in wheelchair racing Chantal Petitclerc; Paralympic gold medalist in tennis David Wagner; and Paralympian and top-ranked competitive basketball and tennis player Stephen Welch.

From Sunrise: two-time Paralympic gold medal basketball coach Mike Frogley; Paralympic multiple medalist in road racing Scot Hollenbeck; Canada's No. 1 quad tennis player, and holder of numerous international tennis championships, Sarah Hunter; and Paralympic gold medalist and U.S. Gold Cup Team gold medalist in wheelchair basketball David Kiley.

And those are only some of the titles — and some of the athletes. In addition to the Paralympians, Elyria, Ohio-based Invacare, and Sunrise of Longmont, Colo., sponsor other athletes around the world, sports teams and motivational speakers. But it isn't just about getting their names in the spotlight. It's about developing better wheelchairs.

“We use our [athletes'] knowledge and push the leading edge of technology, and it trickles down into our everyday wheelchairs,” says Marilyn Hamilton, senior vice president of global planning for Sunrise.

“Once [a feature] comes into the sports chair, we try to move it into the everyday chair,” says Rick Cooper, manager of consumer marketing at Invacare. For example, he notes, a type of suspension that was used in a mountain bike was incorporated into one of Invacare's everyday chairs to make it lighter.