When Tanni Grey-Thompson competed in the Sydney Paralympic Games in 2000, she became a national hero winning four gold medals in the 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m wheelchair events. That year she came third in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award. It was a great moment, except that the BBC forgot to provide a ramp for Tanni to get on stage!
The public had never before taken so much interest in sporting events for people with disabilities. Why might this be? One reason is that TV coverage of disabled sports has not until now been good, so people have not had the chance to watch many disabled sports people in action. The excitement is no less when watching a wheelchair race than, say, a cycle race.
One problem is that until now disabled sports have been seen as something separate, like so much to do with disability. But campaigners have been working to change all that. When the Commonwealth Games was held in Manchester in 2002, for the first time ever athletes with disabilities had many events timetabled alongside those of their able-bodied colleagues. Two hundred athletes with disabilities competed in athletics, swimming, lawn bowls, table tennis and weightlifting.
A huge number of people with disabilities watch sporting events. The organisers of the Manchester Games were careful to avoid the mistakes of the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
The organisers were judged by a court to have broken Australias Disability Discrimination Act by not providing a website facility which could be used by partially sighted people. Information about the Manchester Games was available in large print, audiotape and Braille.
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Tanni Grey-Thompson Photo ©
Graham Bool Photography |
Tanni Grey-Thompson is actively campaigning for sports for people with disabilities and is pleased with progress so far. But she is not yet satisfied. 'Not all sports for people with disabilities have the chances that wheelchair racing has. We need major events to keep the momentum going. She adds, 'And the vast majority of people with disabilities still have a lot of difficulty getting access to education and work and more has to be done. |
