Introduction

What are the Paralympics

The Paralympics are the second largest athletic event after the Olympic Games in the world. The athletes compete in one of six disability categories: amputee; cerebral palsy; intellectual disability; vision impaired; wheelchair; and "les autres" i.e., "the others," which includes athletes with dwarfism and other conditions that impair mobility.

The name of the event is not the original. Dr Jens Bromann* says that in the spring of 1983 in Lausanne, Samaranch demanded that the original name “Olympic Games for the disabled” was altered. Inevitably the name changed to “Paralympics’. The IOC gave reasons which were neither clear nor justifiable.

Progress and problems

As an event, the Paralympics have enjoyed large increase in participation as in Sydney 2000 some 4,000 athletes from 128 nations participated in 18 different sports, leaving the media and some IOC members to describe them as “the best Paralympics ever” (CNN, Luba Vangelova, 2000). The same was said about the Atlanta Paralympics in 1996, making it clear that the Paralympics are expanding.

However, in reality things are somewhat different. In a letter to the Olympics Minister Mr. Knight, the president of the International Paralympic Committee, Dr Robert Steadward complained that the Sydney Paralympics lacked some vital facilities. No special Paralympic traffic lanes were available, the village did not include sufficient bathrooms for the disabled athletes, unlike previous Games and the athletes had to leave Australia when their duties were over

Black and white photograph of Wheelchair track and field paralympist

Wheelchair track and field paralympist

or pay for their own accommodation afterwards. In addition, the airlines did not realize that there will be a "unique event coming up", and they were not prepared (Civil aviation safety authority forum on Paralympics). Problems like these did not alert the media or the society.

Accusations that the IPC suffers discrimination from the IOC

Black and white photograph of wheelchair Tennis Paralympist

Wheelchair Tennis Paralympist

The Paralympic athletes and the International Paralympics Committee (IPC) are still suffering from discrimination. In March 1994 the IOC banned the IPC from using their flag with the five teardrops for marketing reasons and demanded to drop their emblem. An organization that claims to support activities such as the encouragement and the development of “Sport for All” (IOC official website), forces the impoverished, neglected Paralympics movement to alter its symbol of “five yin-yang teardrops to three because five look too much like the Olympic rings”, (see the related web page).

A. Jennings adds: ‘The IOC’s attitude to disabled sport undermines its claim that the Olympic Games are universal and open to everyone…the Olympic Charter claims to respect universal fundamental principles’ and that sport should be practiced without any discrimination of any kind’.

Media coverage

”Sometimes the public and media enthusiasm has seemed like the excitement of discovery of a new continent, of people with disabilities being newly charted territory”, (Australian Life Underwriters Association and Claims Association conference 5 November 2000 Graeme Innes Deputy Disability Discrimination Commissioner).

However, the fault is not entirely the IOC’s. The media coverage of the Paralympics is poor. To give an example, on Saturday 4^th August, 2001, in the News

Black and white photograph of wheelchair Basketball Paralympist

Wheelchair Basketball Paralympist

program of the Greek Star Channel that lasts for 90 minutes, there was a report about the Paralympics held in Sydney 2000. In the report the disabled athletes complained about the low publicity the event was receiving. The journalist finished his report by saying “let us hope that the media will someday acknowledge and respect the efforts of these athletes”. The report was shown an hour after the start of the news, towards the very end.

Society attitude

C.G. Alexandrides** writes that the Sydney 2000 Paralympics “with their extraordinarily courageous and determined athletes, began in an atmosphere of conclusion and shutdown”. The society as such finds it easy to turn away from an event of this kind. It is the fault of the governments and society, which lack corporate social responsibility and allow words such as "disabled," "handicapped," or "impaired” to bring fear and disgust towards anything dysfunctional. (C.G. Alexandrides, Brad Hazzard, A. Jennings).

“The Paralympics are not only about athletic achievement, it's about a movement; a movement that lets the world know that people with physical disabilities can achieve anything despite their disability", (see the related Nerdworld web page).

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* Dr Jens Bronmann competed for Denmark in events for blind people.

**C.G. Alexandrides is a Mamagement professor at Georgia State University.