On Sunday night worlds collided. The Stade de France, premier venue of this year's Paralympics, closed out Paris 2024 with a tribute to the country's raveA dance party in a warehouse or club, featuring DJs and electronic dance music. scene. DJs spun disks and athletes threw shapes before the Olympic cauldron was put out for good.

This year was a massive hit. The International Paralympics Committee expects total audience figures for Paris 2024 to surpass the previous two paralympic games combined.

The Paralympic Games are the world's leading showcase for parasports.

The event offers some remarkable stories. The Guardian's day-by-day photo galleries captured dozens of extraordinary moments, from fencingThe sport of fighting with swords. in the Grand Palais to Brazil's surprise loss to Argentina in blind football, and yesterday's women's KL3 kayak single 200m, for which Laura Sugar won Team GB's 49th and last gold medal in a record 46.66 seconds.¹ 

Indian archer Steetal Devi landed a perfect bullseye using just her feet.² Venezuela's Clara Fuentes Monasterio, who uses a wheelchair, set a new Paralympic powerlifting record a year after giving birth to a son. And the USA's Ezra Frech stunned the world by winning gold medals for both the 100m and the high jump.

Yet despite the excitement of the last 11 days, outside of the Games parasport is rarely broadcast on television. As Shelley Zalis writes in Time: "Paralympians often lack the same media coverage, sponsorship, and cultural fanfare that their Olympic counterparts receive." 

Many believe this is unfair as, according to the World Health Organization, an estimated 16% of the world's population experience significant disability.

Others argue that parasports are more exciting than regular sports. Competitors certainly thrill audiences with their ingenuity. As Frech says: "I want to not only normalise disability but show what is possible with disabilities."

Yet some worry that parasports paints a false picture of disability. They could spread the idea, say researchers Erin Pearson and Laura Misener, "that any person with a disability can overcome it if they just try hard enough". 

Should parasport be on TV all year round?

Yes: Sports broadcasting enormously favours people without disabilities, especially men. This is unfair and needs to change to reflect the diversity of people competing in sports today. Everyone deserves to be represented.

No: It would be nice. But televised sports are competitive. Sports that thrill every four years at the Olympics, such as athletics and swimming, are not popular enough for regular broadcast. Maybe their scarcity is what makes them so exciting.

Or... Parasport does not need to be on TV. Instead, it should be streamed online like the 2024 Paralympics, so that everyone can watch it as they go. And people should be encouraged to attend the events in person as well.