Paralympics lost in a sea of big-time sport

Filipino Manny Pacquiao, the pound-for-pound best boxer in the world, won the first fight at the new Cowboy Stadium.

Michael Schumacher started his Formula 1 comeback in Bahrain.

The IndyCar season started in Sao Paulo.

David Beckham suffered a World Cup dream-ending achilles injury.

Curling’s Brier was on in Halifax, so was Grapefruit and Cactus League baseball and NFL free agency.

The March Madness bracket was released for the NCAA men’s basketball playoffs.

The Vancouver Canucks played their first home game after a six-week, Olympic-imposed vacation from General Motors Place.

Winter sports athletes who starred at the Vancouver Olympics in skiing and snowboarding finished their world cup tours.

Oh yeah, the Paralympics began.

Para-what?

Sure, we know that the Winter Games for athletes with a disability are a magnificent spectacle of amateur sports because the event is happening in our backyard until March 21. But what about the rest of the world?

Not so much.

Paralympians from 44 countries are enjoying their own stage, but it’s a small stage that is getting little attention from the rest of the world because of the sheer volume of bigger events with recognizable names. As long as this continues, the Paralympics will always be the add-on to the Olympics and the athletes will have little chance at stardom.

International Paralympic Committee president Sir Philip Craven fails to realize that his stubborn stance is actually stunting the growth of sports for people with disabilities.

Dr. Robert Steadward of Edmonton, the IPC’s founding president, boldly stated on March 10 that the Winter Paralympics should be held simultaneously with the Winter Olympics in the same city and venues for the sake of efficiency and to increase the profile. People with disabilities want equality.

There were 2,803 accredited written and photographic press personnel from around the world at the Vancouver Olympics.
There are less than 600 at the Paralympics and most of them are from British Columbia outlets. Most of the world media has gone home and turned its attention elsewhere.

“We believe that Paralympians compete at the Paralympics and there’s no real need for them to compete at the Olympics,” Craven said at a March 12 news conference.

“It’s not my idea of progress, we’ve got a good formula now with the Winter Games and Summer Games,” Craven said. “This is the way it is, and I don’t believe in changing formulae when they work.”

But it doesn’t work because the Paralympics have only two major sponsors -- Visa and Samsung -- and even the big Olympic broadcasters like NBC in the United States and CTV in Canada pay lip service to coverage. If Paralympians could compete in their events during the Olympic period, they would naturally have huge attention.

I was reminded of the power of the Olympics at the Paralympic opening ceremony when Rick Hansen captivated the nearly 60,000 fans in B.C. Place Stadium with his moving speech about the power of sport.

Hansen wheeled around the world from 1985 to 1987 to raise funds for spinal cord research and to campaign for access and equality for people with disabilities. In 1984 Hansen raced in a 1,500 metre event during the Los Angeles Olympics in Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. It was broadcast worldwide. The kid from Williams Lake was a global star because he was on a global stage.

If he competed in a second-tier event seen by few after those Olympics, would Hansen’s Man in Motion world tour have been so successful? Would he be one of the most-trusted, most-inspirational Canadians?

Just asking.

Integrate the Paralympics and Olympics. Celebrate the spirit of athletes of all abilities in the same event. The time has come.