Chemlympics represents Saxony

Kay Uhrig

22 January will be an exciting day for the organisers of the Chemlympics, the sports festival for people with disabilities. On this Tuesday, the "Star of Sport" in gold will be awarded by Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel. Chemlympics will be representing Saxony at the award ceremony. Kay Uhrig, Head of Mobile Disability Support at the City Mission and co-organiser of the Chemlympics, will also be there. Together with the Miteinander statt Gegeneinander association, the Lebenshilfe association, Heim gGmbh, the Förderzentrum für Blinde an der Flemmingstraße, the Stadtsportbund and the City of Chemnitz's representative for the disabled, the 48-year-old has been organising the Chemlympics since 2011.

Are you hoping for another prize?
Kay Uhrig: It was a great honour for the Chemlympics team to win the bronze star in Chemnitz. It was sensational that we were able to win the silver star in Dresden. Everything that comes next in Berlin is just an encore and we will savour every moment!

The "Star of Sport" is awarded by the German Olympic Sports Confederation and the Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken to clubs in popular sport that "demonstrate a particular social commitment over and above their sporting activities". Last year, the Miteinander statt Gegeneinander club was awarded the bronze star as the best municipal club and qualified for the Saxony competition. When the Saxon Minister of Sport, Roland Wöller, then presented the "Star of Sport" in silver and the 2,500 euros in prize money, the joy was naturally enormous.

How did the Chemlympics come about?
There was a sports festival for children that Kerstin Stopp organised back then. When that no longer existed, we got together in a small group in 2011 and thought about how we could organise something similar. There should also be a similar programme for adults.
Our aim is that people who have never really enjoyed sport and who usually associate sport with therapy - I'll call them the classic gym bag forgetters - can also enjoy sport and gain something from it. That was the basis on which we said we would organise a big sports festival in and for Chemnitz.

How much preparation time does an event need?
Six months of preparation is definitely required. The date, supporting programme, the signing choir for the anthem, sports celebrities, etc., you have to get all that in place in good time. In the search for a patron, we are very happy to have found Horst Wehner, the Vice President of the Saxon State Parliament, who is passionate about this cause. Of course, we are now benefiting from our experience from the last few years in the preparations. The pressure is on in the final month when it comes to organising and ordering the registrations.

Which sports are on offer?
We have the classic athletics disciplines: Long jump and sprint. We have added the medicine ball long throw as a throwing discipline. This is supplemented by archery, a wheelchair course and carpet curling.
We differentiate between recreational and competitive athletes so that everyone has a chance of winning.
As always with inclusion, it's about diversity of opportunity: people who might not be so good at sprinting can be great at archery or curling. The highlight for all participants at the end of the event is a relay race between the various sponsors for the Mayor's Cup.

How is the sports festival received?
Very well. In the beginning, we had around 50 participants. Now we have reached our capacity limit. We have around 150 registrations every year. There is a broad spectrum of people who register. From very fit, sporty people to people for whom this is the only sporting highlight of the year.
I'm always impressed by the snapshots: a wheelchair user trying to run the 60 metres alone on the sprint track in the athletics hall. Or the blind or visually impaired runners who are travelling with a tandem runner and an incredible amount of confidence. This fighting spirit has a lasting effect on me.

Is the feedback from the participants consistently positive?
As soon as the sports festival is over, there are already applications for next year. The participants are also the real stars. It's not so much about the spectators, although we are very happy when the stands are full. The main thing is the competition and the participants doing sport together. This is where the Olympic idea of "being there is everything" comes to life.

Is sport a relatively easy tool for inclusion?
I think major events are never a good tool for inclusion. Inclusion starts on a small scale. When the person in the wheelchair becomes a name and a face, then inclusion begins. It doesn't matter whether it's in sport, in culture or in the church community - inclusion always starts where people meet directly and have contact.
However, major events such as the Chemlympics can be a door opener because that is where encounters take place. Inclusion in sport must then take the next step. It has to be internalised in a sports club, for example. I can't include 30 people at the same time. It only works with each individual. If someone is really good at running at the Chemlympics and then joins a running club, then inclusion works. But there is another aspect: we not only have the 140 to 150 athletes, but also around 70 accompanying volunteers, some of whom come from sport or politics, who can arrange further contacts and encounters.

How important is inclusion?
For me, inclusion means that everyone should have different opportunities to make decisions. We, society, must create a suitable framework for this. For example, it is important that the city of Chemnitz purchases wheelchair-accessible buses and that restaurants and other public buildings are accessible and usable for everyone. Only then can "all inclusive" work.

Has that improved?
Yes, if you look back 20 years, you can see that a lot has changed. Of course, it's not an if-then principle: if CVAG buys wheelchair-accessible buses, 50 wheelchair users will suddenly be travelling on them tomorrow. But it should become the norm for wheelchair users to be able to travel on any local public transport system without having to register in advance. Others will also benefit from this: a mother with a pram or an elderly lady with a walking frame.

What advice would you give to anyone who is unsure about interacting with people with disabilities?
It's good for everyone to change their perspective. It makes a difference if I simply sit down in a wheelchair to see if I can make progress or if I fail to open the first door.
Even if it sounds like a cliché, it is essential that we break down barriers in people's minds. The only way to do this is to meet others. I would very much like us to always look for and find ways to meet each other with an open mind and take someone weaker with us. And here I also mean people with a mental disability, who don't immediately recognise their limitations, but who don't grasp things as quickly or sometimes in a completely different way. They are often underestimated and ridiculed. How do you manage to meet them at eye level? How do you manage to take these special people with you, to include them? By focussing not on their deficits, but on their abilities and skills. That's also the message we want to get across to the city.

How long have you been committed to helping people with disabilities?
I got involved myself in 1991 through my community service at the Chemnitz City Mission. After my community service, I studied social work and then returned to work here.

What does Mobile Disability Care actually do in Chemnitz?
The aim of the Chemnitz City Mission's Mobile Disability Services is to enable disabled people to live in their own four walls. Everyone can live in their own home - if they have the necessary support. To this end, we have a specialised care and assistance service, a transport service that provides mobility for everyone and, very importantly, the advice centre with a wide range of leisure and counselling services, including our gem Club Heinrich, which has become something of a second living room for many. There are also many inclusive offers - e.g. cinema and pub, the Friends of the Theatre, the CFC fan club - the rolling MOB - all of which are part of the Mobile Disability Support. We want our activities to be part of the colourful cityscape. We want to get involved in society in order to actively promote a rethink.

We want to become the Capital of Culture in 2025, what else do you want for the city until then?
I like being from Chemnitz and think it would be brilliant if we were to become the Capital of Culture. For me, the best thing is to get there. But I'm also thinking on a small scale here - in other words, lots of small creative activities in the city's neighbourhoods, in which inclusion plays an important role in its entire spectrum. Whether in culture, church or sport, you offer something that works in the neighbourhood and where people with disabilities can participate just as much as so-called "normal" people. I believe that we then have a really good, human culture in the city. That also has a lasting impact on the image of our city.