Paralympics - the immediate legacy

[The Large One]

A lot was made of how people will view paralympics, and paralympians in a different light after these Games.

Is that how you feel?

My take is, not having watched the Paralympics in any great depth before, I had an open mind. I finished watching absolutely blown away by the hard work, dedication, dignity and effort shown by the participants. I am now in the same awe for Paralympians as I was for Olympians. To me, they exist in the same frame.

So I suppose I do view them in a different light from how I did before.

 

[Questions]

A lot was made of how people will view paralympics, and paralympians in a different light after these Games.

Is that how you feel?

My take is, not having watched the Paralympics in any great depth before, I had an open mind. I finished watching absolutely blown away by the hard work, dedication, dignity and effort shown by the participants. I am now in the same awe for Paralympians as I was for Olympians. To me, they exist in the same frame.

So I suppose I do view them in a different light from how I did before.

So the hard work, dedication, dignity and effort surprised you ?
Interesting.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

So the hard work, dedication, dignity and effort surprised you ?
Interesting.

i think thats harsh. The impacts of these games is to make people react positively to disabled people, and that's a good thing. Shouldn't dwell on what may have been before.

 

[Questions]

i think thats harsh. The impacts of these games is to make people react positively to disabled people, and that's a good thing. Shouldn't dwell on what may have been before.

You are right of course KG. we shouldn't,t dwell on the old attitudes, it is good that TLO has been won over.

 

[RowleyBirkinQ.C(deceased)]

May I ask why this big spate of Paralympic threads at the end of the games when my thread during the games got limited response from
A handful of regular posters and at times was largly just me posting and posting updates. Either I'm on a massive amount of peoples ignore list or people don't give a shite about the Paralympics.
And yes this will be the start of something big for our paralympics

 

[The Large One]

So the hard work, dedication, dignity and effort surprised you ?
Interesting.

I didn't say they surprised me, I said I was highly impressed.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

My immediate feeling is that the gap in interest, and attitude towards, the Olympics and Paralympics is significantly smaller today than it was 12 days ago. A fine legacy and one we should be proud of.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Is an immediate legacy a contradiction?

No.

 

[stss30]

I know I'll get slated for this, and don't get me wrong I have nothing but respect for all the participants, but, to me during the Paralympics some athletes seemed to have advantages over others. I know the classification system tries to eradicate advantages for certain athletes but it still seemed to me it wasn't a completely level playing field. That's why I still think the Olympics is more spectator friendly.

 

[halbpro]

I know I'll get slated for this, and don't get me wrong I have nothing but respect for all the participants, but, to me during the Paralympics some athletes seemed to have advantages over others. I know the classification system tries to eradicate advantages for certain athletes but it still seemed to me it wasn't a completely level playing field. That's why I still think the Olympics is more spectator friendly.

I think part of it is they can't go too fine grained with classification, otherwise events would be 3 or 4 people each. I assume this is also why a few classes (like T43 and T44 I believe) get combined in some events.

 

[Hatterlovesbrighton]

You could actually argue that having the Paralympics in this country won't have a huge effect. But that's because our attitude to disability in the UK is a long way ahead of many other countries. Still some way to go though.

What has been great has been how "parrallel" they have been. They've got very close to the same amount of coverage as the Olympics did and the noise in the stadia has been the same.

 

[Safeway]

I wouldn't say my attitude towards paralympians has changed at all. But what the last few weeks has done has made me dispise (even more) this country's ITV2 generation. Jeremy Kyle, TOWIE and like represent everything that is bad in our society.

What would be really fantastic is if the nation's media started to concentrate on proper role models such as Mo Farah and and Hannah Cockroft rather than Wayne Rooney and Joey Essex. Unfortunately though the whole Prince Harry holiday snaps saga suggests that isn't going to happen any time soon.

 

[Questions]

I didn't say they surprised me, I said I was highly impressed.

That is good. Like you said, you had an open mind on it before.

 

[Gazwag]

That's why I still think the Olympics is more spectator friendly.

How do you define a spectator somebody who watches it live or on TV, with the third world coverage at times from C4 you can hardly compare one to the other.

Some athletes in the olympics have advantages over other as well, our cyclists for example have the best facilities, equipment and coaches in the world, hence they win so many medals

 

[Simster]

The Paralympics have always felt a bit "after the Lord Mayor's show" to me, and to a lesser extent I suppose they always will. Nobody will ever doubt the determination and effort that these guys have put in to get to the Paralympic games, but it must be a lot harder for the general population to connect with the Paralympians, because most are in the fortunate position never to consider themselves eligable for the games. I think I am more in awe of Paralympic athletes than most Olympians, but I guess I still care far more about the medal count for the Olympics.

As for the games themselves, they've been absolutely superb and I wish I'd bought tickets when I got my Olympic ones. The television coverage has been excellent - OK, not on the level the BBC might have offered, but C4 shoved their entire broadcasting schedule aside in favour of 16 hours of wall to wall sport over 11 days.

I wouldn't say my attitude towards paralympians has changed at all. But what the last few weeks has done has made me dispise (even more) this country's ITV2 generation. Jeremy Kyle, TOWIE and like represent everything that is bad in our society.

What would be really fantastic is if the nation's media started to concentrate on proper role models such as Mo Farah and and Hannah Cockroft rather than Wayne Rooney and Joey Essex. Unfortunately though the whole Prince Harry holiday snaps saga suggests that isn't going to happen any time soon.

Please please please let this be a legacy. Who gives a f*** about people on telly having an illicit affair? Or orange-coloured no-marks being given air time? Or freak shows that are dressed up as talent contests? The good news is that the ratings for X-Factor are down 25% on last year.
And football in this country still needs a dose of humility. People are tired of multi-millionaire footballers who prove themselves to be mediocre on the international stage.

 

[ROSM]

My children (5 and 3) have been engrossed by the sports and spent a day at the stadium and in the park last Tuesday. Having spent the last month wanting to be sprinters, throwers, swimmers and judokas, I suppose the major change was at a party on sunday when 5 boys all decided (having been all the above) to then be wheelchair athletes.

At that age I hope they're too young to have prejudices (except maybe towards a certain club in Croydon that they've learnt from me) but my eldest wanted to know, for each athlete, what had caused their disability. He came up with a good description which was 'differently abled' rather than 'disabled'

 

[ROSM]

The Paralympics have always felt a bit "after the Lord Mayor's show" to me, and to a lesser extent I suppose they always will. Nobody will ever doubt the determination and effort that these guys have put in to get to the Paralympic games, but it must be a lot harder for the general population to connect with the Paralympians, because most are in the fortunate position never to consider themselves eligable for the games. I think I am more in awe of Paralympic athletes than most Olympians, but I guess I still care far more about the medal count for the Olympics.

As for the games themselves, they've been absolutely superb and I wish I'd bought tickets when I got my Olympic ones. The television coverage has been excellent - OK, not on the level the BBC might have offered, but C4 shoved their entire broadcasting schedule aside in favour of 16 hours of wall to wall sport over 11 days.

Please please please let this be a legacy. Who gives a f*** about people on telly having an illicit affair? Or orange-coloured no-marks being given air time? Or freak shows that are dressed up as talent contests? The good news is that the ratings for X-Factor are down 25% on last year.
And football in this country still needs a dose of humility. People are tired of multi-millionaire footballers who prove themselves to be mediocre on the international stage.

I don't use 'this' often but it more than covers my view on your post.

 

[severnside gull]

The whole paralympic event can only be viewed as a positive experience but cynicism and experience lead me to wonder if people will be able to put aside their prejudices towards people with disabilities who are not olympians?

Interesting debate on the Craig Bellamy thread about the potential benefit to understanding by the majority brought about by celebrity illness. The creation and acceptance of disabled celebrities is a small step and one to be grateful for. Building on it will largely depend on the willingness of sponsors (through the realisation that there is a marketing advantage to be gained) and media to continue their promotion.

I am waiting with baited breath for more mainstream disabled tv presenters and actors; more disabled people at the forefront of industry.
And when disabled pornography is accepted.................................. well THAT will be a real breakthrough

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

And when disabled pornography is accepted.................................. well THAT will be a real breakthrough

You clearly have never been to Japan have you?

 

[severnside gull]

You clearly have never been to Japan have you?

I have! I have!



Which is one reason I suspect that it will never catch on here


Seriously though - one major issue is the lack of engagement in the paralympic movement of the USA. I can totally get that disabled sex is not something that middle America would wish to think about but I'm at a loss as to why they don't feel able to embrace disability willingly at any level. In recent visits I have found America to be a long long way behind other nations, certainly ourselves, in the way they are prepared to adapt day to day in order to make their environment disabled friendly. Better in big cities for sure but otherwise.......? They seem to still want to turn their backs and try to pretend that it isn't there.
Given their pre-eminence as a world leader in fashion/style/thinking/marleting etc I think they will always hold back a widespread cultural acceptance of disability