Should parasport be on TV all year round? This year’s Paralympics feature some of humanity’s most extraordinary sporting achievements. Some think parasports deserve a bigger spotlight.
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Greatest paralympics in history ends
Should parasport be on TV all year round? This year's Paralympics feature some of humanity's most extraordinary sporting achievements. Some think parasports deserve a bigger spotlight.
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On Sunday, the Paralympics came to a close.
Paris 2024 was a 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 and offer 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.1
Indian archer Steetal Devi landed a perfect bullseye using just her feet.2 Venezuela's Clara Fuentes Monasterio, set a new Paralympic powerlifting record a year after giving birth to a son, and the USA's Ezra Frech stunned the world 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.
Yet some think parasports paint a false picture of disability and could spread a cruel, two-tier idea of disabled people, where some are heroes able to overcome disabilities, and others are lazy or weak by comparison.
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.
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 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.
Greatest paralympics in history ends
Winning hearts: Bly Twomey (above) was born with cerebral palsy. Now the 14-year-old from Brighton has made history by becoming the youngest table tennis medallist at a Paralympic Games. Glossary
Fencing - The sport of fighting with swords.