Following the success of holding both para and non-para events at this year’s Commonwealth Games, there are some calls to merge the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham has been a historic event, not only because it is the first multi-sport event to feature more women’s events than men’s, but also due to the fact it was the first major international integrated event. Athletes competing in para and non-para events have been competing at the same time.
Eight para-sports have featured in the schedule for Birmingham 2022 with 42 events across athletics, wheelchair basketball, cycling, lawn bowls, para powerlifting, swimming, table tennis, and para-triathlon. The integration means that medals won by para and non-para-athletes are combined in the same table.
“I Love That They are so Integrated”
Para-swimming Maisie Summers-Newton has been one of the beneficiaries of the integrated nature of the Commonwealth Games, winning gold for England in the women’s 100m breaststroke SB6. The 20-year-old is a big fan of the integrated Games, adding it’s important that para-athletes feel included.
She was quoted as saying by paralympic.org: “I love that they [the Games] are so integrated. I swim in a club [Northampton Swimming Club] that is integrated.
“I think it is so important for Para sport to feel included and inclusive.”
Summers-Newton added: “It was really special; I am really pleased with the result…I didn’t expect that roar.
“I’ve never experienced anything like that before, particularly after Tokyo with no spectators. It put a smile on my face and spurred us on a little bit more.”
“I Don’t Think There is a City in the World That Could Hold a Combined Games”
Those thoughts have been echoed by the legendary Tanni Grey-Thompson, though the 11-time Paralympic gold medallist is unsure that the logistics of merging the two Games are realistic.
Grey-Thompson said on the BBC’s Access All podcast: “On a practical level I don’t think there is a city in the world that could hold a combined Games.
“There are 10,000 athletes at an Olympics and about 4,500 at a Paralympics, and as well as the increased cost it would end up being a programme of about a month.
“So in reality, you would have to cut events and what would you cut?
“It would have to be a smaller Games and spectators wouldn’t be able to watch as many disabled people take part.
“People in Birmingham have loved watching disabled people competing [at the Commonwealth Games], so we have to keep building the profile of the Paralympics to get people coming and watching Para-athletes.”
Paralympic Growth Would be “Jeopardised”
It isn’t just Grey-Thompson who holds concerns over the prospect of a merger between the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The International Paralympic Committee’s (IPC) chief brand and communications officer, Craig Spence, stated that combining the events would “jeopardise” Paralympic growth.
Spence, talking on the same podcast as Grey-Thompson, said: “Since 1988, we have seen exponential growth in Paralympic sport.
“We are on a strong ascendancy and growing the Games so combining both events would potentially stunt and jeopardise that growth, and we could potentially go backwards.
“This is a conversation that crops up regularly, but you have to look to see if it makes sense to bring both Games together and at the moment we believe it doesn’t.
“The current agreement works for us at the moment. It serves us well and we like it and are keen to keep it.”
The earliest that any combined Olympic and Paralympic Games could take place is in 2036, with Paris (2024), Los Angeles (2028), and Brisbane (2032) locked in to host the Games separately. That could potentially take place in London with Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, confirming plans to bring the Games back to the city which would be 24 years removed from the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
