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Articles on Paralympics

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Giving greater visibility to paralympic sports is only part of what is needed to make inclusivity a reality for all. HelloWorld Images | Alamy

London 2012’s legacy boosted Paralympic sport, but disabled people’s lives have worsened

Mega-events like the Olympics have the potential to start important conversations around societal change. But improving the lives of disabled people takes much more than that.
Andrew Parsons, president of the International Paralympic Committee, speaks at the opening ceremony at the 2022 Winter Paralympics. The IPC announced on March 3 that all athletes from Russia and Belarus would be barred from competing. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Sports are political: Reaction and inaction to Putin’s war of aggression

It’s time for organizations like the IPC to stop lamenting the intersection of sport and politics, and instead accept this well-established reality going forward.
Malaysia’s Chew Wei Lun plays a shot during a gold medal Boccia match at the Tokyo Paralympic Games. Boccia is only one of three summer Paralympic sports where athletes can compete while using a powerchair. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)

After the Paralympics: New initiative to get more Canadians involved in power wheelchair sports

Within the parasport community itself, inclusivity and access is a real issue, especially for those who do not fit the mold of how we think an athlete “should” look or move.
Canada’s Zak Madell (right) and France’s Jonathan Hivernat (left) compete during a semifinal wheelchair rugby match at the Tokyo Paralympic Games. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)

#WeThe15 was misguided in using the Tokyo Paralympic Games to launch a disability inclusion revolution

The #WeThe15 movement is rooted in good intention and falls short in a big way by using the Paralympic Games as a backdrop to its launch.
Manuela Schaer of Switzerland, right, and Tatyana McFadden of the United States, second from right, compete in the women’s 1500m wheelchair racing T54 final during the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics Games. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Paralympians still don’t get the kind of media attention they deserve as elite athletes

The media determines how Paralympians are depicted to viewers. What it chooses to focus on can help change attitudes about disability.
Australia’s Ahmed Kelly is participating in the Tokyo Games, his third Paralympics. PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo

Tokyo 2020: does the Paralympics empower disabled people?

The Paralympics are the stage for a battle between the exclusivity of elite sport and the inclusivity the movement aims to nurture. Can the event effect true social change?
Wheelchair tennis players benefit from greater support than other sports in dealing with hot conditions. dpa picture alliance archive / Alamy Stock Photo

Tokyo Paralympics: how Paralympians are affected by the heat

As the Summer Games warm up, more research is needed on how heat acclimation can help Paralympians in particular prepare for extreme conditions

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