From the BBC, [UK] Telegraph, [UK] Times:

Athletes with intellectual disabilities will be permitted to participate in the London 2012 Paralympic Games, following a vote by the International Paralympic Committee.

They had been banned since the year 2000, when journalist Carlos Ribagorda infiltrated Spain’s gold medal winning basketball team and learned that only two members of the victorious 12-man squad had intellectual disabilities. Ribagorda exposed poor methods for evaluating athletes, and reported that some of Spain’s players were engineers and university graduates.

IPC president Sir Philip Craven hailed Saturday’s decision as “the outcome of a unique and excellent cooperation between sports governance and the scientific community.”

From the New York Times and AP:

A new study published today in The Journal of Applied Physiology concludes that prosthetic legs worn by double amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius give him an unfair advantage over able-bodied runners.

Researchers said Pistorius’s blades allow him to turn over his strides more quickly and with more power than a runner with biological legs.

The debate over the runner’s prosthetic legs has been raging for several years. Pistorius was cleared to race in the Beijing Olympics after a lengthy dispute, but failed to make the necessary qualifying time.

From ABC News (with Person of the Week video by Charles Gibson):

Varsity cheerleaders at Pleasant Valley High School in Bettendorf, Iowa, expanded their team by inviting athletes with disabilities to join them.

The Sparkles Squad now practices and performs at games with the varsity girls. The squad is comprised of ten girls aged 8 to 15 with conditions ranging from autism to Down syndrome.

“The big thing is that when we started we thought we’d be teaching them cheers,” said [Sarah] Herr. “But we didn’t think they’d be teaching us. They’ve taught us so many things about life and it’s really amazing.”

… “I think that it’s really given them a feeling of belonging and acceptance. Usually when someone has a disability, society can only see what they can’t do, but through the sparkle effect, we’ve really exposed what they can do,” said [Sarah] Cronk.

(ABC News photo)

Related posts here.

From the New York Times, with video:

A fencing club in New Jersey has opened a new program, reportedly the first of its kind in the Northeast, to teach wheelchair fencing to young people with physical disabilities.

The club’s first six fencers have conditions like spina bifida, cerebral palsy and spinal cord injuries. With only 27 wheelchair athletes represented in the United States Fencing Association, club staffers are hopeful that their new athletes could reach national-level competitions and even the Paralympic Games.

Fencing club president George Janto says the sport requires very few modifications to accommodate people with disabilities. Fencing coach Mickey Zeljkovic, a five-time Serbian national fencing champion, says it requires participants to think ahead — “like physical chess.”

Parents say the program brings unexpected benefits to the new duelers. “They have a lot more confidence in themselves, that they can do what other children can do,” said Colleen Mooney, whose 15-year-old son attends weekly. “They may have their own special way of doing it, but they can [do it] like anyone else.”

(New York Times photo)

From NBC 7 News in Boston (with video), WBZ 38 (with video), and the Boston Herald:

Fans praised Karen Gaffney’s grit and athleticism as she swam across Boston Harbor yesterday amid four-foot waves to raise awareness for Down syndrome.

Said boat coordinator John Forgione, “I’m so impressed with this young lady. She’s really made me aware, well aware, of how people with disabilities can accomplish a real lot of good things, and she’s done it.”

(Boston Herald photo)

From the Boston Globe, Fox News, KATU-TV, Portland, Oregon:

Battling high waves and frigid temperatures,  31-year-old Karen Gaffney swam five miles across Boston Harbor today to demonstrate that people with Down syndrome have “tremendous capabilities.”

Gaffney swam across Lake Tahoe two years ago on a similar mission to raise awareness and acceptance for people who, like her, have the genetic condition. Previously, she had been a member of a relay team that swam the English Channel.

“I did this swim to show people what people like me can do,” Gaffney said …

… The swim was a fundraiser for the Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress, whose executive director Maureen Gallagher, said, “We want our young people with Down Syndrome to have every opportunity for a full and productive life. And we know they can.”

Earlier posts here.

(Photo from the Boston Globe)

Adam Crisp writes in the Chattanooga Times Free Press (with video) that Anna Frierson, 12, who has Down syndrome, has been embraced as a member of the cheerleading squad at Red Bank Middle School in Lookout Mountain, Tennessee.

“When we first heard that she wanted to be a cheerleader, we were so excited,” said head team captain Hanna Holmes, 13. “She came to our first practice, and she was so sweet. We loved her. She was doing all the cheers, and then she said ‘I’m a cheerleader!’”

Later, the girls voted unanimously to have Anna as a permanent part of the team.

… “This group of girls has the biggest hearts of any girls I’ve seen,” [coach Kimberly Elbakidze] said. “They embrace everyone. They are gentle and kind. They try to coach her to her maximum ability, but they don’t push or and they don’t get frustrated. It works beautifully because they are very understanding and embracing of differences.”