Along with a coveted medal, athletes at the Tokyo Paralympic Games are also competing for the chance to receive a "victory bouquet" of fresh flowers, arranged carefully by hand.
A group of disabled flower arrangers has been hard at work behind the scenes in Tokyo, using skills acquired through a vocational training program to help make the athletes' turn on the podium all the more sweet.
The initiative was made possible by the Applause Association, a non-profit organization in Minato Ward, Tokyo, that provides vocational training and work opportunities for the disabled, in the field of fresh flower bouquets and ornamental flower arrangement. For the duration of the Games, a group of seven disabled craftspeople from Applause's roster have been dispatched to a workshop in Tokyo, where they have been working alongside staff to fashion fresh victory bouquets for presentation to the medalists the following day.
Similar to the victory bouquets presented to athletes at the Olympics, the Paralympic bouquets feature a symbolic mix of gentians, eustomas, and other flowers grown in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima -- prefectures badly hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011.
But in an added flourish for the Paralympics, the bouquets are also securely wrapped in large aspidistra leaves, to help keep the petals in place even if the bouquet were to be dropped.
"I try to make sure that each bouquet will be well-balanced and pretty," said one participant, a mentally-disabled woman in her 40s.
The project first took root when Applause approached the Nippon Flower Council, which oversees the victory bouquets.
"Having all sorts of people participate [in the project] sets a good example for unity in diversity, one of the core visions of the Games," said Yukiyoshi Bannai, a council official. "I hope the vibrant bouquets can cheer up not only the athletes but also brighten up the lives of everyone suffering from the pandemic."
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