World Dwarf Games draw to a close in Germany

"It's like coming home," says Arunachalam Nalini, a financial manager from India.

At the Paralympics, only a certain range of activities, such as javelin and discus throwing, swimming and weightlifting, are open to athletes with dwarfism but the World Dwarf Games offers 10 disciplines, including badminton, basketball and bocce, over nine days this year.

The atmosphere is relaxed. Nalini laughs and takes selfies with two Canadian athletes, telling DW that she can be herself at this event. She says it's a welcome change because often at work or in other areas of life she has the impression that she has to do more than others just to prove she can keep up. "People without restrictions are not always aware of how little things, such as stairs, can be a huge obstacle for us. I wish that would change."

Nalini, 55, says she started doing sport many years ago to keep fit. Then she discovered parasports — sports played by people with a disability — and started training. She has now won 42 medals at regional, national and international events. Her favorite discipline is badminton, for which she won bronze in Cologne this year.

Her teammate Mark Dharmai is one of the most famous badminton players with dwarfism in the world. He grew up in a family where there was plenty of enthusiasm for sport, he says, starting with soccer and hockey.

But he took up badminton after the difference in size with other players became too great for him. He tells DW that doing sport teaches discipline and integrity, "and that you have to take care of others."

He wants to be a mentor to others and pass this knowledge onto younger people. He says that sports are a very good way of raising awareness. "Society should accept us as we are and accept us better. When we win a medal for our country, it's like an eye-opener, showing others what we're capable of doing."

The youngest athletes at the WDG

Luisa Beermann, Cora Gerdts and Frida Juny are among the youngest participants at the World Dwarf Games this year.

All three are 11 years old and from Germany. "I've been doing athletics on my own as a hobby so far. Without a club or a coach," says Beerman.

"It was very difficult to find something," says Gerdts. "But then I discovered swimming. I've been training with a club for three years." She adds that she feels comfortable there and has found friends, and even gotten used to the others in the pool being faster than her.

Juny, who is also a swimmer, says that's actually a motivation for her. "I would always aim to be like the bigger ones and that's how I got faster."

All of them are excited to be at this event with so many athletes of similar stature, from all over the world.

They do not know yet whether they will be able to compete in the next edition of the WDG, which will be hosted by Australia in 2027.

Funding issues

One of the obstacles for many of the athletes here is that travel and international competitions cost money, and they often have to pay their own way.

As a professional athlete, Dharmai is lucky to have some sponsors. Nalini, who is supported by her employer, says that the Indian government has understood the significance of athletes with dwarfism and is gradually improving the funding situation. She hopes that in the future it will become easier to train with other athletes with dwarfism in India. After all, the country is "so big and we're all over."

Financial feat for German association

It has also been a financial feat for the German Association of Short-Statured People and their Families (BKMF) to organize this year's edition of the games.

BKMF President Patricia Carl-Innig told DW that it had torn a "big hole in the reserves," despite support from the German NGO Aktion Mensch and the German Sports University in Cologne, which provided the venue. "But of course, it was all worth it, for the experiences and the encounters. This platform is unique."

In between bocce games, Nalini says that the event has been very well organized and that the athletes are happy to be in Germany this year.

As the oldest athlete in the Indian team, she adds that her role is also to give advice to children and younger people who are growing up with a similar disability. It's important to "try everything out and to keep on going if something doesn't work out," she insists.

Badminton champion Dharmai, who has spoken in TED Talks and on podcasts, points out that it is important to challenge society and "to show ourselves." Only then will discrimination and prejudice disappear, he argues. Just a few hours later, he won gold in bocce.

This article was translated from German.