Inside the Paralympic Village Repair Shop

Watching the Paralympics is an eye-opening experience, especially when you see wheelchair athletes fiercely colliding on the court while playing sports such as rugby and basketball. The sight of their dented frames and flattened tires quickly brings to mind the numerous repairs these specialized chairs may require throughout the tournament. However, the bustling fix-it shop located in the heart of the Paralympic Village reveals that repair requests go beyond just wheelchairs and can originate from every sport.

Interestingly, tire replacements and spot welding for chairs damaged in collisions accounted for only about 56 percent of the shop’s service requests during the initial half of the Games, which are set to continue through Sunday. Many of these repairs were conducted on-site during rugby matches at the Champ de Mars Arena, showcasing the dedication to keeping athletes’ equipment in top shape.

Merle Florestedt, the communications director for Ottobock, the German company managing the repair shop, notes, “My feeling is that I see wheelchairs the whole time.” However, he emphasizes that the reality is more diverse. “It’s just as much about prostheses. We even count instances when someone brings in broken sunglasses.”

The repair shop is a hub of activity, where technicians work diligently to address a variety of needs. They have refitted prostheses using both traditional methods and advanced 3-D scanning technology. Additionally, they’ve sewn loose straps back into place on braces and restored silicone on a man’s prosthetic leg. Spanning an impressive 7,750 square feet, this facility resembles a blend between a mechanic’s garage and a bloodless emergency room, equipped with 164 skilled staff members ready to triage the damage to the equipment and assistive devices of over 4,000 athletes competing in the Games.