How many times when the Olympics were being televised have you missed the games? Seeing that if your reading this, your into sports, so you probably haven't. The Olympics give those with extreme athletic ability to show off their stuff and represent their country on the biggest stage in the world.
There are also more athletes that have these extreme skills, but unfortunately they have been handicapped by a situation that leaves them unable to compete at the Olympics. This is why we have the Paralympics so these unbelievable people with great skills can still compete. They are just as stunning and eye opening as other Olympians but why don't we see them? How many of you have seen any events of the Paralympics? Probably not many because they are not really televised and are very poorly marketed. What kind of message are we sending that we can't support our athletes that our handicapped? Not a very good one.
Of course people say it's because there is no money in it or there are no sponsors supporting it. Obviously sponsors are nit going to support something if they know that it will never been seen. Why would a company want an advertisement that no one can see? To sum this up the media is hurting the Paralympics by not televising it or marketing it. If you did want to watch the Paralympics you probably wouldn't even know were to look.
The talent is there that will bring viewers and it is also amazing to see these athletes compete. We have people playing basketball in wheeclairs and athletes playing ice hockey with no legs. Tanni Grey-Thompson has dominated the wheelchair games at the Paralympics with 11 gold medals! It is inspirational and should be shown on tv.
The only thing holding it back is the support and the media. What are your thoughts on changing this problem?
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Hi Torey,
ReplyDeleteWe have a sports reporter in the Netherlands who is seen as one of the best in the country. He suggests that watching disabled athletes scares us, it makes us afraid. It sounds maybe weird, but I agree with his statement. It is maybe also that we, as healthy people, realize that we are privileged.
It is hard to solve this problem. I think that there are three main points what have to change: there must be more money and business, there must be more media attention and the society need to be more open minded. But again, it is a really hard task, in my opinion, to achieve more success in the near future!
Torey,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with your reasoning why the U.S. media does not show the paralympics. Since the sporting world is all about money, journalists feel it is not worth their time to broadcast something they feel is not as welcomed/accepted in society. Although disabled athletes are not frowned upon in today's world, they are not nearly as praised for their talent as they should be. As Wiebe said, society in an awkward way, are scared of these athletes. I do not think many people realize what it takes for the already physical impaired to overcome their disablility and perform at an elite level. Oscar Pistorius is a South African double amputie who sprints just as fast as able bodied olympians due to his artificial limbs. After looking at paralympians, I have realized they are not just disabled people playing sports with each other. They are infact athletically gifted individuals who have to train just like anyone else to be a great spectacle in sports.
Wiebe,
ReplyDeleteI had not really thought of it that way. But I totally agree with you. Society wants things to be as normal as possible and when things are different and maybe a little weird, people get scared. For example, when we see a disabled person struggling (just say trying to walk down the sidewalk) people either stare or go out of their way to not look and get away from that person. Its like people with disabilities have something we have never seen and we don't like it. I have had many issues in my life including tumors in my head that kept me in the hospital with brain surgery for 5 years. seeing people disabled and with problems doesn't bother me at all.
The most intriguing thing about people with disabilities is that you wouldn't believe how accepting most of these people are. They are athletes, and like every athlete they love challenges. So having a disability and having someone tell them they can't do something is like music to their ears. That fuels them to train twice as hard just so at the end of the road they can look back and say "take that".
The desire and character that disabled people build and gain because of their disability is so great. It puts the majority of able-bodied people to shame. in my opinion the disabled people should look at able-bodied people and say, where's your drive?
Kelsey,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree. I almost think of them as more than athletes because they have much more of a struggle than that of an able-bodied athlete. If u compared and able bodied athlete to that of an athlete with a disability they are already behind the ball. They have to train to equal the gap then some to become better. In my opinion that is one of the most amazing things in this world is how people can take the negatives such as a disability and turn it into the positive that gets them up every morning and drives them to be the best.