Why aren't the Paralympics seen as being on a par with the "real" Olympics? By Ama Richard Gillin from St Albans, UK, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons You’ve almost certainly watched the Olympic Games, but what about the Paralympic Games? The Paralympics is an international sports competition for athletes with disabilities. An interesting fact is the prefix “para” means “parallel” or side by side. But let’s be honest: the Paralympics are not side by side with what people might consider to the "real" Olympics. For example, in 2020 15.5 million people watched the Olympic Games every single night, while only 14 million watched the entire Paralympics Games. The Paralympics happen every four years and host many of the same events as the Olympics, such as alpine skiing, cross country skiing, and many more sports. The Games started in 1948 as a competition for injured service people in wheelchairs and now include athletes with many categories of disability, such as limb deficiency, impaired muscle power or vision impairment. This year the Games will be hosted in Paris, France and will see athletes in 22 different sports compete against each other in over 500 events, making it the biggest Paralympics ever. Sports like badminton and taekwondo only made their debut four years ago, so things are always changing in the exciting world of adaptive sports. There are many talented athletes that have competed in the Paralympics. For example, Joo Jennog-hun, who is missing his right hand, won a bronze medal in Taekwondo at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. Also, Alia Issa, who contracted smallpox as a child and has a hard time balancing, was the first woman para athlete to compete in the 2020 Refugee Team in the women’s club throw event. Meanwhile, Abbas Karimi was born without arms and is a competitive swimmer after moving to the US from Afghanistan. While Hope Gordon was the first ever British female para nordic skier. She was diagnosed with reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD) and had to have her left leg amputated above the knee. These amazing athletes are making sports history and are not the only ones by far. These Paralympians - more than any other athletes - embody the Olympic Spirit. This spirit is about fair play, resilience and kindness. As Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Games, put it, “the most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well." Who embodies these struggles better than Paralympic athletes? There are many reasons why people know less about the Paralympics than the Olympics, but the main reason may be a lack of media exposure. Multiple gold-medallist Lauren Woolstencroft is one of many people who have stated that there needs to be "proportional coverage". Some people even think combining the two events could help to raise the profile of the Paralympics even though it might have disadvantages too. And why are the Paralympics so important anyway? Well, watching the Paralympic Games sends the message that people's disabilities can become incredible abilities. This can bring about social change in terms of how disabled people are seen and respected. So go put it in your calendar: Aug 28 - Sept 8. Tune into the events in Paris. As the slogan says, "Games Wide Open". Let's help the Paralympics make society more open for all of us.
4 Comments
elijah abdullah
26/4/2024 11:42:00
Thanks Ama! I learned so much from this. You keep accumulating more and more SICK, DOPE, DAPS!
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Paola Gavria
26/4/2024 15:15:32
Wow Ama! You are a true writer. You balanced the article with real facts, and also caught my attention with real stories from amazing people around the world!!!
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GILMA CATALINA CARMONA
26/4/2024 16:34:50
Felicitations AMA serás una gran escritora
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Terry
29/4/2024 19:28:00
I'm so glad you wrote about this important topic, Ama! I hope that people who read this will think more about the disparity in viewership between the Paralympics and the Olympics. Your piece is so well argued and well-written! Thanks for sharing these ideas with everyone!
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