Runners at the Paralympic Games, London
Living in London during the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games was an incredible experience. I bought and begged tickets to as many events as I was able to attend. And I will hold my hands up and admit that, until that point, I hadn’t realised how incredible and fascinating Paralympic sport is.
London 2012 was a great moment for sport – perhaps the first time that the Paralympic Games received as much support and consideration as the Olympic Games. The achievements of Olympic and Paralympic athletes were celebrated equally.
It could have been a turning point in disabled sport, but sadly this equality hasn’t been reflected in the Rio 2016 Games. The last minute cuts to support the deliver of the Olympic Games and disappointingly low ticket sales made it seem doubtful at one point that the Paralympic Games would even go ahead. Fortunately, at the last minute the funding came through and many Paralympic athletes breathed a sigh of relief.
They may have saved the Games, but the very fact that the Paralympics was almost sacrificed for the Olympics, shows that we still have some way to go in putting our disabled and non-disabled athletes on an equal platform.
Why equality in sport matters
According to Sport England, a disabled person is half as likely to play sport as a non-disabled person. There are undoubtedly many reasons for this, but psychological barriers play a huge part. Not every disabled person wants to compete in the Paralympic Games, but when it comes to equality in sport, this should be led from the top.
Consider this. A non-disabled child watches the Olympics. They dream of one day running as fast as Usain Bolt, or are inspired to build the strength and tenacity to follow in Laura Trott’s golden footsteps.
A disabled child tries to watch their favourite Paralympic event. They’re told it’s not on TV, or they only get to see a short clip of the action. A clip where they see rows and rows of empty seats. They come away thinking that however hard they train and however good they are at their sport, the world is not interested in seeing them win. And if they feel they will always be second-rate, what kind of motivation is that to get into sport?
Provide opportunities, not just lessons
So how can we encourage more disabled people to get into sport and enjoy the outdoors? Perhaps the first thing we need to do is rethink our assumptions about what a disabled person can and can’t do.
In my experience, disabled people are incredibly adaptive. Take climbing as an example: a sport which most people would assume requires four functioning limbs. In the UK alone we have Jamie Andrew, a quadruptle amputee who is an active climber and mountaineer, Kev Shields, an epileptic with a partially deformed hand who is arguably one of Scotland’s best climbers (who needs fingers to climb E7?) and a two-time World Para Climbing Champion in Fran Brown. These are just a few of the disabled people who enjoy this sport.
Sometimes people don’t need to be shown how to do something, they just need to be given the opportunity to experience it and they’ll figure it out for themselves. This is especially true for children. Part of being a child is experiencing new things and learning new skills and techniques. Encouraging all children, regardless of disability to play outdoors and try out different sports will help them grow, develop and work out where their future path lies.
So in this Paralympic year, let’s cheer on our sporting stars, demand more equality in sport and show our children that they all have the potential to become champions. And more importantly, let’s give our disabled children all the opportunities their non-disabled counterparts get. Take them outdoors. Let them try different sports and work out for themselves how they can achieve their goals.