Inclusion in competitive sport
Sport connects people and has the power to bring about a great deal of positive change, including in terms of inclusion. A lot of progress has been made since the start of my sporting career, with sport increasingly setting an example in many areas. As a result, parasports are converging more and more with non-disabled sports. The Abbott World Marathon Majors , which has included wheelchair athletes from my category for a number of years, are a prime example of this. Our elite field largely enjoys the same treatment as the best runners, and prize money is being or already has been brought into line with that of the runners. In other sports such as tennis, para-athletes are included in tournaments for non-disabled players, albeit with much lower prize money. Para-cycling has already been integrated into the International Cycling Union (UCI), and it is particularly encouraging that at this year’s Cycling World Championships in Zurich, the para-cycling categories are being held in parallel for the first time.
Sports awards
One issue that is the subject of regular debate is inclusion in sports awards. I was already lucky enough to win an award early on in my career – namely in the “Newcomer” category at the Swiss Sports Awards. The decision to nominate me as the first and to date only para-athlete was a brave one and sent out a strong signal. The fact that I beat some high-quality competition in the public vote came as a huge surprise. Looking back, I have to admit that a certain “disabled person’s bonus” might have contributed (although I hope it wasn’t the only reason I won!). I also think that the change in the category name from “Disabled athlete” to “Paralympic athlete” is worthy of praise. At present, two justified questions are up for debate in connection with such awards:
- Should female and male para-athletes be given separate categories in the interests of equality?
As the numbers of good para-athletes who could compete against one another are increasing all the time among both the women and the men, this would definitely be conceivable for me now. However, if equality is the primary argument, logically this change should also apply to other categories such as coach or MVP (most valuable player) of the year. Whether this is feasible and makes sense is not something I am able to judge.
- Should para-athletes be included in the Swiss Sports Personality of the Year award?
This is the ideal scenario for me, and it seems to function in some cantonal votes at least. One major challenge is that the voting committee needs to be able to classify and compare the individual performances correctly. A task that is already very difficult becomes even harder as more and more parasports are added. The same benchmark must be applied to all of them, and the “disabled person’s bonus” must no longer be allowed to have an impact. One disadvantage, however, would be that parasports would lose a recurring public platform.
Olympics versus Paralympics
Is it time to merge the Paralympics and the Olympics? I have often been asked this question. To give a conclusive answer, a number of issues must be considered.
The Commonwealth Games are a good example of how a large event can include both parasports and non-disabled sports.
Looking at the schedule for the last Commonwealth Games, it is noticeable, for instance, that table tennis was held at the same time as para-table tennis, swimming alongside para-swimming and cycling alongside para-cycling as part of a programme of eight sports.
It would no doubt be a bold dream of almost every para-athlete for the Paralympic Games to be combined with the Olympic Games and the medals to be presented simultaneously on the same stage. However, any discussion of a possible merger must not neglect a number of key factors.
Logistically infeasible
The Olympics and the Paralympics are the two largest sporting events in the world. In comparison, the Commonwealth Games is a much smaller event, which makes a merger possible. The number of participants would therefore have to be drastically reduced, which would be a very difficult thing to do. Questions regarding which sports or disciplines to drop or which disability categories to exclude would likely lead to some heated arguments. And in all probability, the excluded sports and categories would largely disappear as a result.
A separate movement with a separate history
The Paralympics have grown steadily in recent years and evolved into an independent large-scale event. With an estimated 4.25 billion viewers* in total, the 2020 (2021) Paralympics in Tokyo are thought to have set a new global record for audience numbers. Some people fear that a merger might curb this growth. After all, the Olympics and the Paralympics are separate events with a separate history and separate movements behind them, and in some respects they also convey different messages. A merger could dilute these identities and messages. There are also concerns that the loss of the separate Paralympics “brand” could cause the para-athletes to be overshadowed by the other Olympic stars. Furthermore, the event would last longer and interest in it might wane as a result.
Sometimes, it would seem, the Paralympics receive too little appreciation as a separate, important sporting event with elite athletes of equivalent value and their own, rich history. Many people are of the opinion that the Olympic Games are much better as they are and that the Paralympics should be an extension of them. Less thought is given to the fact that the Paralympics themselves are already good enough as a separate event. A merger wouldn’t necessarily strengthen the Paralympic Movement. Instead, parasports could be promoted by devoting more resources, attention and respect to them.
At present, people are largely in agreement that merging the events is neither sensible nor feasible. That said, it doesn’t do any harm to reconsider this question from time to time. It is crucial that the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee work together closely. Perhaps the Paralympics will never achieve the same status as the Olympic Games, but a further convergence is being targeted.
* Source: www.sbs.com.au
A proud Paralympian
Often, the media and other outsiders incorrectly refer to the Paralympics as the Olympic Games, or they call me an Olympic champion rather than a Paralympic champion. This usually occurs by accident or with the well-meaning intention of elevating my status. In my view, however, it is fine to simply stand by one’s achievements and be a proud Paralympian.
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The origins of the Paralympics Paralympic history began in 1948 with the International Stoke Mandeville Games, which were organised by Dr Ludwig Guttmann in a hospital in Stoke Mandeville, England, for injured veterans of the Second World War. Over time, the Paralympics have developed from a competition for wheelchair athletes into a sporting event for athletes with various physical impairments. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) was founded in 1989. The Paralympics are always held in the same year as the Olympic Games, and since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul they have taken place in the same location, too. Since the bidding process for the 2012 Olympic Games, cities have also had to take the organisation of the Paralympics into account in their applications. The Paralympics are then coordinated by the same local organisation committee as the Olympics. Under this agreement, the Paralympics always begin no more than three weeks after the end of the Olympics and are held at the same venues. The term “Paralympics” was initially created by combining the words “paraplegic” and “Olympics”. To represent the inclusion of people with other types of disabilities, the term was later redefined. Under the new definition, the word “Paralympic” derives from the Greek preposition “para” (beside or alongside) and “Olympic”. This expresses the fact that the Paralympics are held in parallel with/alongside the Olympics. |
Of course there is a still a lot to do in many areas in order to shift the barriers to inclusion that still exist and redefine or eliminate boundaries. If society opens up to further changes and the trend continues in the same direction, I feel very confident about the coming parasports generations and society in general.