If you’ve been following the 2024 Paralympics, you may have heard that Australian Paralympians will now receive the same cash prize for winning medals as their Olympian counterparts. Recent data shows that 7.8 million Australians have tuned in to the Nine Network’s broadcast of the Paralympics. These figures seem like a significant win for Paralympians and the Paralympics, right? Well, yes… but also no.
While these numbers are impressive, a closer comparison with the Olympics tells a different story. According to The Ministry of Sport reported, 19.5 million Australians watched the Olympics across the Nine Network. That’s over double the number of viewers the Paralympics received. And, prior to the 2024 Paralympics, do you know what Paralympians received for winning a medal? Just the medal itself, and a pat on the back.
As a disabled person, when Olympic season rolled around, a sense of melancholy surrounded me. I had read previous statistics about Olympic and Paralympic viewership and was bracing myself for the same disappointment. While the people in my personal life value and respect disabled people, the internet, as usual, revealed a darker side. There were, of course, people making fun of those with physical and mental disabilities, but a much more dangerous group also exist: those who don’t realise the harm they’re causing.
I recently spoke with someone who had watched the Paralympic table tennis. As soon as they brought it up, I knew what was coming. “When I saw them doing that in their wheelchairs, I thought, ‘Amelie should give that a go!’”. For reference, yes, I am in a wheelchair. You might not recognise the damaging nature of this comment. They were just encouraging good-old-disabled Amelie to have a go at sport, right? That’s just the thing. Paralympians aren’t ‘just having a go’. They’ve trained extensively and refined their skills to a level where they can compete in elite sport.
This epidemic of inspiration porn minimises the talent and achievements of disabled athletes. If I was a Paralympian (or Olympian) and someone compared me to a person who definitely does not meet their weekly exercise requirements and should probably consult a dietician for more balanced meals, I’d be offended. Wouldn’t you?
If you can’t take my word for it, let the data speak for itself. Research conducted by Britain’s free-to-air Channel 4 showed that almost 60% of viewers watched the Paralympics to ‘see athletes overcome their disability’ while less than 40% watched for the excitement of competitive sport.
Another reason I think not as many people are watching the Paralympics is sport fatigue. You know, the kind where you’ve watched so much sport that you don’t really care to watch any more. I know I definitely felt it. The build up to the Olympic opening ceremony, keeping track of the event schedules, and daily medal updates from news outlets made the Olympics feel like the main event, with the Paralympics obscured by a massive shadow.
While I’m glad to have seen continued coverage of the Paralympics on the news, it felt like an anticlimax to a larger celebration. It was like all the party poppers had already been popped, and we were left tossing faded confetti ourselves – no fun ‘pop’ sound, just dull remnants of past festivity.
If it were up to me, the Paralympics would be held before the Olympics. At the very least, the two could alternate which comes first, right? After all, the word ‘para’ means ‘alongside’ (not paraplegic, as I’ve realised some people think…) and Paralympians deserve just as much attention and celebration as Olympians.
No matter how enticing an equal cash prize might appear, they’re only the start of lighting up the shadow society’s view of disabled people has cast upon the Paralympics.