The 2024 Paralympics has been compulsive viewing for many - myself included. It hasn’t been without controversy in various areas and some of those issues continue to rumble on.
Those of us who use wheelchairs have experienced wheelchair envy as we’ve seen not just the sports wheelchairs, but the everyday wheelchairs that some of the athletes have - that probably cost the same as a family car.
The wheelchair rugby has been great - but I wish they’d kept the original name; Murder Ball, because it describes it so well!
Reasons to celebrate
It’s been an education as hosts and commentators, many of whom are also disabled, have reported on the games. They’ve taught us about some of the more complex areas such as classifications and rules of less well-known events. They have also helped those watching to understand that, even with intense training and a great mindset, for some of the disabilities represented there will be moments where an athlete’s body just won’t do what they need it to do on the day. This was clearly apparent when we saw team GB’s Kadeena Cox fall as she set off on her cycling time trial race. There have been others, too, whose bodies have just said ‘enough is enough today’.
I’ve been so thankful for crowds in the various venues rowdily cheering those who couldn’t finish and those who came in last with the same gusto they cheered the medallists.
Some of us have looked at our screens with either puzzlement or respect, or maybe both, when we’ve seen archers do what they do when they have no arms.
Reasons to pause
A picture of one of those archers was turned into a meme with the caption ‘No Excuses!’ This was aimed at non-disabled people, as a call to action to stop finding excuses not to do something they want to do - which is fine.
Since then, however, this or similar memes with different Paralympians, have been shared as either a toxic positivity meme; ‘If they can do it, you can too - get a positive mindset!’ or it has been used to call out disabled people who can’t work.
Before the Paralympics began, one disabled ‘influencer’ who saw this coming drew a cartoon about how disabled people can be viewed when the competition is on. In it she showed that disabled people are seen as having two options: a Paralympian or dead. That might seem a little extreme, but many disabled people can relate to it.
The International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons said in his opening speech: ‘Every person with a disability deserves the opportunity to thrive and live life free from barriers, free from discrimination and free from marginalisation’.
It’s a good thing to remember as the games finish and life goes on, because as we’ve sadly seen, all those things still exist in the UK today, even in ‘the Church’.
When someone isn't ready to call themselves disabled
For the first two articles in this series, see: "My church friend has become disabled: What do I do?" …