disability sports essay

Suggestions

A brief history of the paralympics and disability sport.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games went ahead successfully this year, despite the looming threat of the Delta strain of Covid-19. It also went ahead without the support of the Japanese people , who were understandably concerned about the health risks posed by the coming and going of thousands of international athletes and their support staff. However with billions of dollars in sunk costs and the hopes and dreams of the world’s elite athletes on the line, the games took place, albeit with a 12-month delay.

After the experience of the last 18 months, it felt almost impossible that such an event could even take place. Transporting people from across the pandemic-ridden world to one location to compete together, sweat together, laugh, cry and likely share a celebratory drink or two didn’t seem like a wise idea. To combat these fears, the Olympic organisers put in place strict Covid-19 safety plans . Spectators were no longer able to attend in person and TV screens broadcast empty seats in eerie stadiums devoid of crowds cheering.

In spite of all the negative press and the anxiety and the uncertainty that permeates these times that we live in, the Games felt surprisingly joyous. For those still experiencing lockdowns and restrictions, passing expert judgement on synchronised diving was a welcome distraction. Cheering at the swimmers as they broke record after record while still in pyjamas at 3pm in the afternoon was a genuine highlight. The dedication, talent and pure grit displayed by the athletes in Tokyo seeped into our collective psyches.

And don’t despair, there is still more joy, heartbreak and edge-of-your-seat excitement to come. On August 24 the Paralympic Games began, which showcases more of the world’s best athletes competing at the pinnacle of disability sport.

Photo by Miguel Machado on Unsplash

A history of disability sport

Disability sport can be traced back to the 19th century when the first Sports Club for the Deaf was established in Berlin. Shortly after in 1914, the first International Silent Games took place in Paris bringing together hearing-impaired competitors from nine European countries. The Deaflympics, as the games would come to be known later, began important societal discussions about the welfare of deaf people at the time, who were often treated as outcasts and intellectually inferior . The event provided a valuable platform for deaf people to speak for themselves, as the games not only starred deaf athletes, but was also organised and promoted entirely by the deaf community. The Deaflympics take place every four years, with the next games scheduled for 2022 in Caxias do Sul, Brazil.

The origins of the Paralympics

While the Deaflympics paved the way for international disability sporting events, the origins of the Paralympics lie in World War 2. The neurosurgeon and spinal injury specialist, Ludwig Guttman , cared for many service men and women who had returned from the war with various kinds of paralysis. He believed that physical exercise and sport in particular helped his patients, even severely disabled ones, to live healthier and happier lives. Building on this belief, Guttman decided to organise a sports festival for retired service personnel to promote his approach to therapy and also showcase the abilities of those living with often debilitating injuries.

The Stoke Mandeville Games (named after the London hospital where the patients were treated) took place in London 1948, on the very same day as the London Olympic Opening Ceremony, with 16 service men and women taking part in an archery competition. This was a historic and symbolic moment in disability sport.

The Stoke Mandeville Games grew into an international event for spinal injury patients and by the 1950s had acquired the nickname of the ‘paralympics’ . In the following years more and more of the athletes competing were no longer patients themselves but were outside of the hospital system and leading independent lives. In coming years the games became not only about individuals competing against each other, but rather national teams of athletes representing their countries. At the same time the games became a more organised and professional sporting movement, as funding and support for para-athletes increased and the event became more well known.

The Olympics and Paralympics combine

The marriage of the Olympics with the Paralympics was gradual. Days after the Rome Games in 1960, 400 athletes with disabilities gathered to compete in a number of sporting events. In 1976 the first Paralympic winter competition was held following the Winter Olympics in Sweden and included an opening and closing ceremony. Organisers of the Paralympics came up against many barriers to inclusion in the early years, like Olympic Village facilities that were not fit for purpose for people with disability (there were no lifts at the Rome games) and lack of funding.

Finally the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee reached an agreement to host both events at the same time , with the first official Paralympics held alongside the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics.

Today the Paralympics and the Olympics take place together at both the Summer and Winter events. Countries bidding to host both events must demonstrate that they will provide a barrier-free experience for both Olympic and Paralympic competitors and promote both events as welcoming of diversity and inclusion.

Photo by yaron richman on Unsplash

The impact of the Paralympics

In 2021, the Paralympics will showcase the world’s very best disability athletes across 22 sporting events . However beyond the incredible talent and dedication of the individuals competing, the games have had an immense impact on perceptions of disability at many levels. For instance, when China was invited to send competitors to the 1960 Stoke Mandeville Games in Rome, the official statement was that disability simply did not exist there . By 1983, there was a Chinese Sports Association for Disabled Athletes established and a small national team was sent to the 1984 Paralympics in New York. Fast forward to Athens 2004 and the Chinese Paralympic team came first overall, demonstrating the significant shift in attitude that had occured over a few decades. In 2021, China sent 251 athletes to the Paralympic games to compete in 20 of the 22 sports.

But the success of the Paralympic movement lies not only in the increasing numbers of athletes competing at the games but also in fostering a spirit of inclusion. A new global campaign will launch at the Tokyo Paralympic Games to promote disability visibility, diversity and inclusion across the world. The campaign, entitled #WeThe15 brings together international organisations from across different industries like sport, the arts, business and policy makers to shine a light on the 15% of the world’s population that live with a disability. The campaign calls out the different ways that people with disability experience discrimination and ableism at all levels of society.

The Paralympic movement has successfully integrated disability sport into the mainstream arena, raising awareness of the physical, social and structural barriers that exist for people with disabilities. Despite this, there are some ongoing challenges to inclusion even within the movement, with some critics suggesting that there are inequalities between athletes with a physical disability and those with intellectual disabilities. While athletes with intellectual disabilities competed in the Sydney 2000 games, t hey were removed from the schedule for a number of years to return again in London 2012 . It appears there is still a way to go.

The Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games

These games will be another much needed form of escapism this year for those stuck once again at home.

The calibre and dedication of all the Olympic and Paralympic athletes has been amazing to see in light of all the challenges faced and the most wonderful form of escapism for our times.

Cover photo by Steven Lelham on Unsplash

Pia Bansagi

You might be interested in

How Remote Work Creates New Opportunities for People With Disabilities

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Publications
Account settings

Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .

Advanced Search
Journal List
BMJ Open Access

Inclusion of persons with disability in sport: part 1 – rights and challenges in Qatar

Sanaa taha al-harahsheh.

1 World Innovation Summit for Health, Research and Content Department, Qatar Foundation, Doha, Qatar

Kamilla Swart

2 College of Science and Engineering, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Doha, Qatar

Josélia Neves

3 College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Doha, Qatar

Sabika Shaban

4 College of Islamic Studies, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Doha, Ad Dawhah, Qatar

Associated Data

bjsports-2022-106224supp001.pdf

Sport is considered a powerful tool to foster social inclusion and improve the well-being of persons with disabilities (PWDs). While it can place people on equitable social footing, 1 PWDs remain under-represented in sport and physical activities compared with their peers without disabilities.

The participation of PWDs in sport is influenced by the type and severity of disability. Those with learning disabilities or with profound and multiple disabilities have the lowest participation levels. 1 Globally, disability rates are rising dramatically, presently estimated at over 1 billion people—including 190 million people (3.8%) who experience significant difficulties in functioning. 2 In Qatar, census data estimates 1.2% of the population have a disability, with 232 athletes registered at the Qatar Paralympic Committee (QPC). 3 However, it is important to note that defining and operationalising disability remains a challenge despite significant progress in measurement. Qatar has around 1.3 million employees, mostly young, healthy men, and uses a narrow definition of disability when estimating the number of PWDs. Therefore, the Washington Group Questions should be adopted in the future to measure PWDs more accurately. 4

Over the past few decades, the State of Qatar has achieved tangible progress in catering to the needs of PWDs. For example, various projects, initiative and programmes that accommodate to the needs of PWDs, while protecting their basic human rights were developed. Furthermore, the QPC is not only committed to enabling para-athletes to achieve sporting excellence but also to developing sport opportunities for all PWDs in Qatar (beginner to elite). 5 This editorial reflects on how sport and physical activities affect PWDs in Qatar and the obstacles to their participation.

Disability rights: inclusion and sport

As a form of social engagement, sport participation is a fundamental human right supported by many international and national policies, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006), the UNESCO’s KAZAN Action Plan, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Qatar Law No. 2 for 2004 and the 2019 Doha Declaration (See table 1 ). Qatar, like every state, has an obligation to take proactive and appropriate measures to ensure that PWDs participate in all aspects of society on an equitable basis. The rights of PWDs were also emphasised in the Qatar National Vision 2030, and in the first (2011–2016) and second (2018–2022) Qatar National Development Strategies. Although Qatar has taken important steps to promote and protect the rights of PWDs, challenges persist and PWDs remain under-represented in all forms of cultural life, including sport.

A summary of the international and national policies supporting the rights and needs of persons with disabilities (PWDs)

Disability and sport

In this editorial, the term disability sport is used to refer to all sport, physical activity, recreation and leisure for and involving PWDs, including adaptive sport or parasport. 6 Adapted physical activity is found in different application areas, including inclusive and specialised physical education, competitive sport and recreational physical activity; and can be placed on par with mainstream modalities.

Adapted modalities

The QPC is responsible for managing participation at the Paralympics and other international competitions as well as for providing opportunities for PWDs in Qatar to participate in sport at all levels. The Paralympics is an international sporting event in which para-athletes compete in six disability groups (amputee, cerebral palsy, visual impairment, spinal cord injuries, intellectual disability and ‘les autres’—any disability that does not fall into any of the other categories). The Paralympic movement recognises 10 impairment types and para-athletes are divided further into classes depending on the type and extent of their disabilities. 7

The International Paralympic Committee serves as an umbrella organisation that represents all sports with disability. It supports 200-plus members, including 182 national Paralympic committees (of which QPC is 1), 4 Paralympic sport federations (boccia, sitting volleyball, wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby) and 4 international organisations of sport for disability that focus on grassroots sport development, viz CP-ISRA (cerebral palsy), IBSA (vision impairment), IWAS (wheelchair and amputee) and Virtus (intellectual impairment), among others (see online supplemental file ).

Supplementary data

Benefits of sport.

The benefits of sport are universal for all including those with disabilities. Through sport, PWDs can advance social inclusion, health and life skills. 8 It fosters social and psychological well-being by providing opportunities for friendship, a sense of self and meaning and purpose in life. It positively affects the way PWDs perceive their bodies, leading to better mood states, less stress and increased self-esteem. 9 It develops social belonging, improved communication and better coping with the stigma associated with disability. 10 Despite these universal benefits, PWDs still face various barriers to participating in sport and other physical activities.

Challenges and constraints

Factors that hinder sport participation by PWDs are summarised here into three categories. 9 Intrapersonal constraints involve psychological conditions that are internal to the individual (eg, personality, attitudes, mood, stress and perceived self-skill). Interpersonal constraints arise from interactions with other members of society. Structural constraints include factors such as the lack of opportunities and accessibility or the cost of activities that result from external conditions in the environment. Additionally, the global COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant influence on sport and physical activity, leading to the closure of sport and physiotherapy facilities and spaces. It also resulted in the unprecedented delay of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and the cancellation of athletic activities at every level, directly limiting the social opportunities and advantages of global, regional and local sporting events for PWDs. 11

In Qatar, it is difficult to produce evidence-based policies due to the lack of adequate data on disabilities. Pockets of data gathered by scattered entities, combined with dated or scant figures from previous censuses, have led to the disability community failing to receive due support, whether at the local or global scale. 12

Recognising these barriers and challenges creates an undeniable opportunity to effect change. Qatar has progressed through several formative stages and is currently ripe with prospects for advancing to an inclusive nation. Moving forward, evidence should be generated to better describe the current state of disability and inclusion in sport within Qatar. National and international organisations must also work together to increase the opportunities and access of PWDs to sporting activities. Governments have an important role to play in supporting such initiatives, increasing funding and promoting awareness for the importance of sport participation by PWDs.

Acknowledgments

This article is part of a series commissioned by the BJSM for the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) 2022. The BJSM peer reviewed, edited and made the decision to publish. The series, including open access fees, is funded by WISH, which is an initiative of the Qatar Foundation.

Correction notice: This article has been corrected since it published Online First. The second affiliation has been updated.

Contributors: All authors contributed to the conceptual development of the paper and revising of drafts and approved the final draft.

Funding: This paper is funded by World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH), Qatar Foundation, Doha, Qatar.

Competing interests: None declared.

Provenance and peer review: Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

Supplemental material: This content has been supplied by the author(s). It has not been vetted by BMJ Publishing Group Limited (BMJ) and may not have been peer-reviewed. Any opinions or recommendations discussed are solely those of the author(s) and are not endorsed by BMJ. BMJ disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on the content. Where the content includes any translated material, BMJ does not warrant the accuracy and reliability of the translations (including but not limited to local regulations, clinical guidelines, terminology, drug names and drug dosages), and is not responsible for any error and/or omissions arising from translation and adaptation or otherwise.

Ethics statements

Patient consent for publication.

Not applicable.

Ethics approval

Disability and Sports

The Paralympic Games and the Promotion of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, by Sir Philip Craven
UNESCO International Charter of Physical Education, Physical Activity and Sport ( English , French , Spanish )
Resources on disability and sports (publications, websites, major disability-related sporting events)
Youth depart UN leadership camp with plans to use sport to tackle social issues
Panel Discussion on Sports for Inclusive Development: Sports, Disability and Development: Key to empowerment of persons with disabilities and their communities , United Nations Headquarters, New York, 27 June 2011.

The unique ability of sports to transcend linguistic, cultural and social barriers makes it an excellent platform for strategies of inclusion and adaptation. Furthermore, the universal popularity of sport and its physical, social and economic development benefits make it an ideal tool for fostering the inclusion and well-being of persons with disabilities.

Persons with disabilities often face societal barriers and disability evokes negative perceptions and discrimination in many societies. As a result of the stigma associated with disability, persons with disabilities are generally excluded from education, employment and community life which deprives them of opportunities essential to their social development, health and well-being. In some societies persons with disabilities are considered dependent and seen as incapable, thus fostering inactivity which often causes individuals with physical disabilities to experience restricted mobility beyond the cause of their disability.

Sport can help reduce the stigma and discrimination associated with disability because it can transforms community attitudes about persons with disabilities by highlighting their skills and reducing the tendency to see the disability instead of the person. Through sport, persons without disabilities interact with persons with disabilities in a positive context forcing them to reshape assumptions about what persons with disabilities can and cannot do.

Sport changes the person with disability in an equally profound way by empowering persons with disabilities to realize their full potential and advocate for changes in society. Through sport, persons with disabilities acquire vital social skills, develop independence, and become empowered to act as agents of change. Sport teaches individuals how to communicate effectively as well as the significance of teamwork and cooperation and respect for others. Sport is also well-suited to reducing dependence and developing greater independence by helping persons with disabilities to become physically and mentally stronger. These skills can be transferred into other new arenas including employment and advocacy work further helping to build self-sufficiency.

The power of sport as a transformative tool is of particular importance for women as women with disabilities often experience double discrimination on the basis of their gender and disability. It is reported that 93% of women with disabilities are not involved in sport and women comprise only one-third of athletes with disabilities in international competitions. By providing women with disabilities the opportunity to compete and demonstrate their physical ability, sport can help to reduce gender stereotypes and negative perceptions associated with women with disabilities.

Moreover, by improving the inclusion and well-being of persons with disabilities, sport can also help to advance the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). For example, sports-based opportunities can help achieve the goal of universal primary education (MDG2) by reducing stigma preventing children with disabilities from attending school; promote gender equality (MDG3) by empowering women and girls with disabilities to acquire health information, skills, social networks, and leadership experience; and lead to increased employment and lower levels of poverty and hunger (MDG1) by helping to reduce stigma and increase self-confidence.

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is the first legally binding international instrument to address the rights of persons with disabilities and sport. Article 30 of the Convention addresses both mainstream and disability-specific sport and stipulates that “States Parties shall take appropriate measures to encourage and promote the participation, to the fullest extent possible, of persons with disabilities in mainstream sporting activities at all levels”. It also calls upon Governments, States party to the Convention, to ensure that persons with disabilities have access to sport and recreational venues — as spectators and as active participants. This also requires that children with disabilities be included in physical education within the school system “to the fullest extent possible” and enjoy equal access to “play, recreation and leisure and sporting activities”.

Resources on disability and sports

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Article 30 – Participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure and sport

General Assembly Resolution: Sport as a means to promote education, health, development and peace (A/RES/69/6)

International Disability in Sport Working Group Sport in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities International Platform on Sport and Development (2008)

National Disability Authority Promoting the Participation of People with Disabilities in Physical Activity and Sport in Ireland

Sport for Development and Peace Working Group International Working Group: Harnessing the Power of Sport for Development and Peace: Recommendations to Government (2008) Chapter Five: Sport and Persons with Disabilities: Fostering Inclusion and Well-Being

World Health Organization Young People with Disability in Physical Education/ Physical Activity/Sport In and Out of Schools: Technical Report for the World Health Organization

Rights to Participate in Sport, Recreation and Play Websites:

Cerebral Palsy International Sports & Recreation Association

Disabled Sports USA

Handicap International

International Blind Sports Federation

International Federation of Adapted Physical Activity

International Paralympic Committee

International Platform on Sport and Development

International Sports Federation for Persons with Intellectual Disability (INAS-FID)

International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation (IWAS)

Rick Hansen Foundation

Sports and Physical Activity for Persons with Disabilities- Awareness, Understanding, Action

United Nations Sport for Development and Peace – Sport and Persons with Disabilities Thematic Working Group Major disability-related sporting events include:

Deaflympics – Ban Ki-moon about 18th Winter Deaflympics

Disability Commonwealth Games

Paralympic Games

Special Olympics

Our Mandates

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)

Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Disability and Accessibility

Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities of the Human Rights Council

DESA Forum on Disability and Development

Expert Group Meetings

International Day of Persons with Disabilities - 3 December

UN Voluntary Fund on Disability

History of disability and the United Nations

Frequently Asked Questions

Working at the United Nations

Handbook for Parliamentarians

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1: Overview

Chapter 2: In detail

Chapter 3: Monitoring

Chapter 4: Becoming a party

Chapter 5: National legislation

Chapter 6: Implementing the Convention

Chapter 7: Creating national institutions

Annex I: Convention

Annex II: Optional Protocol

Sustainable Development Goals

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Disability

Transforming our world: The 2030 Agenda for Global Action

Final draft of the outcome document for the UN Summit for sustainable development

Priority themes

Disability, accessibility and sustainable urban development

Monitoring and evaluation of disability-inclusive development

Women and girls with disabilities

Disasters and emergency situations

Mental health and development

Refugees and migrants with disabilities

Accessible tourism for all

Indigenous persons with disabilities

Development and human rights

Disability and sports

Financing for disability-inclusive development

Disability and the UN

The UN and Disabled Persons -The First Fifty Years

Subscribe to our Newsletter

General Assembly Reports and Resolutions

Security Council

Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)

Commission for Social Development

Human Rights Council

Inter-Agency Support Group for the CRPD

Regional Commissions

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Handbook for Parliamentarians on the CRPD

UN Expert Group Meetings

Toolkit on Disability for Africa

Cosp sessions.

Fifteenth Session 2022

Fourteenth session 2021

Thirteenth Session 2020

Twelfth Session 2019

Eleventh session 2018

Tenth session 2017

Ninth session 2016

Eighth session 2015

Seventh session 2014

Sixth session 2013

Fifth session 2012

Fourth session 2011

Third session 2010

Second session 2009

First session 2008

CRPD Homepage

NGO/CSO/DPO Participation

List of NGOs accredited to the Conference of States Parties

NGOs in Consultative Status with ECOSOC - Search

How to apply for NGO Consultative Status with ECOSOC

Conference of States Parties to the CRPD

Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Ratifications and Signatures of the CRPD and Optional Protocol

Map of Signatures and Ratifications

Status of Ratification Interactive Dashboard

Monitoring of Implementation

Civil Society

Convention in Brief

Timeline of Convention Events

Frequently Asked Questions on the Convention

Negotiation Archives

Featured: World Enabled , Women's Refugee Commission (disabilities section), Disabled People's International (DPI), G3ict , GAATES , International Disability Alliance (IDA), International Disability and Development Consortium (IDDC), Rehabilitation International , Zero Project .

IDPD annual observances

NEW>> IDPD 2022

IDPD Main Page

Calendar by Year

Special envoy and covid-19.

Information from the UN System Everyone is talking about coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Be sure to get your facts from reliable sources. The UN offices, field missions, agencies, funds and programmes are providing new information as it becomes available. Here are some of their resource pages .

Fraud Alert
Privacy Notice
Terms of Use

Academia.edu no longer supports Internet Explorer.

To browse Academia.edu and the wider internet faster and more securely, please take a few seconds to upgrade your browser .

Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link.

We're Hiring!
Help Center

Disability, sport and physical activity. A critical review.

Related Papers

Brett Smith

Objectives: Sport and exercise psychology has recently expanded into how it can be utilized to enable social missions like activism. No research, however, has examined activist identities among disabled, elite athletes. This article is the first to engage with this new and complex issue by examining narratives of activism amongst elite athletes with impairment and their adoption/rejection of various activist identities. Methods: Thirty-six people were recruited using maximum variation and criterion-based purposive sampling strategies. Data was collected using interviews and fieldwork observations (e.g., observation and social media material). The large data set was rigorously analyzed using a narrative thematic analysis. Results: All participants adopted an athletic identity and an athletic activist identity. A small group also adopted a political activist identity that was concerned with challenging disablism. The athletes' reasons for adopting or eschewing activist identities are identified and connections made to organizational stressors, interpellation, feeling, emotional regulation, narrative, habitus, health and wellbeing. Also revealed is the impact that sporting retirement had on activist identity construction. Conclusions: The article makes a novel research contribution by revealing two different activist identities within the context of disability sport and what social functions each identity might serve. It also significantly develops knowledge by revealing various organizational stressors experienced by disabled athletes, the importance of embodied feelings and emotional regulation in activist identity construction, the damage that social oppression can have on wellbeing following sporting retirement, and the positive possibilities retiring may have for developing different identities. Practical suggestions are as well offered. Crown

Disability and Rehabilitation

Monna Arvinen-Barrow

Disability & Society

Gayle McPherson

AUC KINANTHROPOLOGICA

Gavin Breslin

Daniel Jackson

The 2012 Paralympics was the biggest ever, the most accessible and best attended in its 64-year history. The Paralympics and ideas of disability associated with the Games provide significant opportunity for reflection on how far societal opinions, attitudes and behaviour have changed regarding disability. In 2012 – the first ever “legacy games” – an explicit aim of the Paralympics was to “transform the perception of disabled people in society”, (Channel 4), and use sport to contribute to “a better world for all people with a disability” (IPC 2011). The 2012 Games therefore came with a social agenda: to challenge the current perceptions many people have about disability and disability sport. Within this report – commissioned by the UK’s Paralympic broadcaster, Channel 4 – we consider everyday experiences of disability and disability sport within the context of the London 2012 Paralympics and televised coverage of the Games. The analysis is based 140 in-depth interviews that took place in the UK over a period of eighteen months, during the lead up to, and immediately after, the Games: between January 2011 and September 2012. Embedded in the lifeworld of our participants, we ask whether the 2012 Paralympics was successful in changing perceptions of disability.

Danielle Peers

In this thesis, I use Foucault’s methods of discourse analysis and genealogy, and my own experiences as a Paralympic athlete, to analyze and critique the power relations of the Paralympic Movement. In Chapter 1, I contextualize my study by discussing relevant literature in Critical Disability Studies, Sociology of Sport and Adapted Physical Activity, and by introducing my methodological and epistemological frameworks. In Chapter 2, I analyze two historical accounts of the Paralympic Movement to demonstrate how they discursively represent, reproduce and justify Paralympic power relations. In Chapters 3 through 5, I use genealogy to critique Paralympic power relations: analyzing their systems of differentiation, types of objectives, instrumental modes, forms of institutionalization and degrees of rationalization. This analysis brings to the forefront how discourses of empowerment reproduce, justify and conceal the increasingly rationalized structures that enable Paralympic experts to act upon the actions, bodies and identities of those experiencing disabilities.

Rebecca Peake

European Journal for Sport and Society

Drawing upon ethnographic research conducted with the England Visually Impaired Cricket Team, this article considers the extent to which participation in visually impaired cricket is an empowering practice. The topic of empowerment and disability sport are well debated; yet, the context of visually impaired cricket provides an original perspective. Using an embodied theoretical approach to disability sport, the participants’ experiences of recreational visually impaired cricket and their transition to the elite national team are investigated to understand the multifaceted ways that empowerment is experienced. There is a specific focus upon how disability sport affects the participants’ conceptualization and negotiation of their corporeality through the concepts of embodied reconceptualization of self and the restored self. Despite the players’ empowering experiences, this article evaluates the consequences of forming an ever-closer relationship with the mainstream game and how the elite organizational approach to visually impaired cricket, introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), has irreversibly changed the empowering potential of the game.