Fake Handicaps a Growing Problem for Disabled Sports

April 28, 2012 — -- Jürgen Schmid poses the question to the man sitting in front of him in a casual manner, as if the answer were obvious. "Can you stand up?"

"Mais non," the French athlete in the blue tracksuit top answers -- of course not. He says that he has been a paraplegic since an operation went wrong 11 years ago.

Schmid reaches for a measuring tape and places it around the athlete's thigh. It measures 50 centimeters (20 inches) around. "Pretty thick," he says, and then he pinches the athlete's calf and kneads it like a piece of dough. He runs a ballpoint pen across the bare sole of his foot. "Do you feel that?" The Frenchman says no again. "You have strong muscles in your legs, and I wonder why," Schmid replies.

It's a Friday in April in the town of Rosenau in the eastern French region of Alsace, the day before the world's biggest handbike race is set to begin. Handbikes are tricycles that are propelled with cranks moved by the rider's arms -- wheeled vehicles for people who are unable to walk.

Before the race can begin, Schmid examines the athletes in the conference room of a hotel. They include paralytics, spastics and leg amputees. Schmid is a physical therapist from Hamburg. He is also working here in Alsace as a medical investigator. He is supposed to track down athletes who are faking a disability.

Schmid decides that the Frenchman with the thick thighs is legitimate. But he remains skeptical, and he wants to observe the handbiker in a race. Perhaps, he speculates, the man is capable of more movement that he has just demonstrated.

Ambassadors of Hope

The public is particularly fascinated by disabled people who engage in high-performance sports. They are ambassadors of hope who set an example for everyone, because they have not only come to terms with their fate, but are also capable of incredible physical achievements despite their handicap.

Events like the upcoming Paralympics in London are always bathed in a special aura, a combination of competition and spirituality. There is more at stake than medals. In fact, disabled sports are mostly about respect.

But there is even trickery, deception and lying in disabled sports. There are plenty of dissemblers among the participants, people who, in medical inspections, deliberately paint their state of health in more dramatic terms than it is, thereby competing under false pretenses in events that are becoming increasingly popular and also provide the opportunity to make a lot of money.

One of the most spectacular cases was discovered about three weeks ago. The Dutch handbiker Monique van der Vorst had won two silver medals in the 2008 Paralympics. But after that she suddenly experienced a seemingly miraculous recovery. In the summer of 2010, she claimed that she had regained sensation in her legs after 13 years in a wheelchair. Since then, she said, she could stand up, walk and even ride a racing bike again.

Now Van der Vorst has had to admit that she was also able to stand and walk during her career as a paraplegic handbiker. Former competitors and neighbors had reported often seeing the athlete outside of her wheelchair -- taking a shower, or even dancing. Van der Vorst was a sports celebrity in the Netherlands, and now everyone is outraged. The newspapers are calling it a "scam" and a "lie."

All the athletes, trainers and officials in Rosenau are talking about the fallen disabled sports icon. Everyone is wondering how she managed to cheat her way through the classification for years.