Toespraak van minister-president Mark Rutte bij de paralympische sport clinic

Toespraak | 09-11-2015

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls,

I recently read the story of the Dutch 19-year-old Fleur Jong. She was a top dancer, taking part in national competitions.  Until three years ago, when she got a serious bacterial infection. So serious that she lost both her lower legs and part of eight fingers. Last month, Fleur made her debut in Paralympic athletics at the World Championships.

Now the former dancer is as fast as lightning – on her blades. Fleur Jong is an inspiration. A determined young woman who thinks in terms of possibilities, not limitations. She’s never let herself be beaten − even in the worst times. Her focus is on her sport, not her disability. 

Fleur is special, but she’s not unique. Take the 32-year-old Japanese athlete Maya Nakanishi. She lost part of her right leg in an accident at work.  But she didn’t give up.

Soon she was breaking Japanese records in track and field. When she failed to get funding and a new artificial leg for the London Paralympics, she refused to give in.

Maya published a calendar of herself and raised 50,000 dollars. And in 2012 she was there at the starting line in London.

People like Fleur, Maya and the wheelchair basketball players here today underline the importance of sport and of this gathering.  They are an inspiration to us all. So it’s great that we are joined here by Japanese and Dutch schoolchildren, who can see for themselves what it’s like to play sport in a wheelchair.

Boys and girls, I hope today will show you that sport should – and can – be accessible to all. I have every confidence in the future of Paralympic sport, with you as its new ambassadors.

This meeting illustrates the importance that Japan and the Netherlands attach to promoting disabled sports. The wide coverage of Paralympic sports holds great promise for the 2020 Games in Tokyo. I believe it can help us achieve a society where everybody gets the chance to participate.

We think this is important, because sport not only helps create healthy individuals. It also contributes to a healthy society as a whole. Today's clinic and demonstration show that we can learn a lot from each other in the field of disabled sports.

And that leaves me in no doubt that the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games will embrace the principles of 'Sport for all' and 'Accepting one another'. That they will honour the positive attitude shown by Fleur Jong, Maya Nakanishi and the wheelchair basketball players here today. People who think in terms of possibilities, not limitations.

Thank you.