The 2010 Vancouver Paralympics start this week. There is no planned television coverage, although interested viewers can watch it as it is broadcast over the Internet. The regular Olympics are fairly popular, but the Paralympics are barely even an afterthought.

I personally never thought much about the Paralympics until 2008, when Natalie du Toit entered the Open Water Swim, becoming one of the few people to participate in both the Olympics and Paralympics. I’m not even sure that I had heard about them prior to that. I was impressed by her story, and I’m sure that there are a couple hundred other great stories like hers in the Paralympics. With a potential treasure-trove of human interest stories in the Paralympics, I wonder why they are not more popular. Here are some of my ideas:

  • The Paralympics, which are competitive, are confused with the Special Olympics, which encourage trying and feeling good about participation
  • People are uncomfortable with seeing disabled people because they are reminded of their own fragility
  • Most disabled people that the average person comes in contact with is old and perhaps a little slow. Perhaps they get the impression that the events will not be that exciting.
  • The most popular events, like short track speed skating, figure skating, and snowboarding, are not Paralympic events (yet).
  • The Paralympics do not have the same kind of advertisement
  • The Paralympics are not broadcast on television.

What are your thoughts?

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