Para-athlete Anna Grimaldi will be one of two Paris 2024 Paralympics flagbearers for NZ. Photo / Alisha Lovrich
OPINION
Jana Rangooni is chair of Paralympics New Zealand and the Radio Broadcasters Association, of which NZME is a member.
“So why aren’t the Paralympics part of the Olympics?”
This is one of the most common questions I get asked as chair of the board at Paralympics New Zealand.
The Olympics have just finished and August 28 – next Wednesday – marks the start of the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris.
They are two of the most exciting, inspiring showcases of sport in the world this year. Both the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and International Paralympic Committee (IPC) have sport at the centre of what they do, wanting to leverage it to improve the lives of many in the world.
The Games have been run one after another in the same city since Seoul in 1988. This is based on a signed MOU between the IOC and IPC that is in place until Brisbane 2032.
Most people know about the Olympics. Fewer people know about the Paralympics.
Like our counterparts at the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC), we share strategic goals that relate to sending successful teams to the games.
However, two of our other goals are unique to Paralympics New Zealand (PNZ) and relate to the wider goals of the IPC – supporting the development of sports pathways for those with a disability and leveraging the Paralympic movement to drive social change.
Brisbane 2032 is a landmark and important event for New Zealand. It will be the nearest thing we have had to a “home” games since Sydney in 2000. With the growing cost of travel both financially and environmentally, I would think it is unlikely we will be hosting many more Olympic and Paralympic Games in Australasia in the near future.
In 2020 Paralympics New Zealand set Brisbane as a target for our 12-year strategic plan to 2032. We want to be competing successfully in more sports – 16 of the likely 22 – than ever before. For comparison, our Paralympic team competed in six sports in Tokyo and will compete in eight in Paris. Our Olympic counterparts competed in 21 sports in Tokyo and 23 in Paris.
Ultimately success is not just how many sports we compete in at Brisbane, but that is one of the indicators - we are on track to seeing every sport in New Zealand having a pathway from participation to high performance for any disabled athlete in New Zealand.
I often say one of the measures of success will be that society considers it as outrageous for a sport to not have a pathway for someone with a disability as it is to not have a pathway for women.
Sport, recreation and physical activity are proven to be some of the most powerful underlying factors in supporting physical and mental health. Tā Mason Durie’s health and well-being model – Te Whare Tapa Whā – recognises this importance for our ability to thrive.
The Paralympic Games are the pinnacle of this high-performance pathway and while few Para athletes will achieve this level, the pathway for everyone should be there even if they never leave the “enthusiastic amateur” phase.
Most of you, like me, will be a long way from high-performance level in our sporting life but the success of our Paralympians and Para athletes can be inspirational.
I picked up swimming after a 40-year hiatus after being motivated by the performances of Paralympian #166 Dame Sophie Pascoe and fellow PNZ Board member Paralympian #96 Duane Kale. I may be the slowest ocean swimmer in New Zealand, but they were a constant reminder to me to not let any excuse or fear get in the way of doing something I love and will hopefully be able to do until I’m 90.
While progress is being made, we still need to see more change for this pathway to exist in every sport.
If you work or participate in the sports sector, local or central government, take a look around and see if your sport, club and facilities make it as easy and accessible for a disabled person to take part as it is for someone without.
Regional disability sports organisations around the country like Parafed Canterbury, dsport in Wellington and Disability Sport Auckland provide a huge number of opportunities to try a range of Para sports.
They work with many, but sadly not all National Sporting Organisations (NSO), to get people on to a pathway to participate at a recreational, competitive or high-performance level.
If you hold a governance role in an NSO does your sport have a Para sport pathway from participation to high performance? If not, have you asked why and what it would take to have one?
I’d love Sport New Zealand (SNZ) to think about what they can do to change the ecosystem in the way we support and fund our organisations. Just like we have minimum representation requirements in NSO governance roles, should a Para sport pathway also be a minimum requirement for future SNZ funding?
SNZ chief executive Raelene Castle and High Performance Sport NZ director Steve Tew must want to run for cover every time they see me coming with my “thoughts”.
To give credit where credit is due though, they have changed the language and focus in both organisations in recent years. It is rare to see the Olympics spoken of without mention of the Paralympics and that in itself is a significant change in the time I have been involved.
Tew will be the second Head of HPSNZ to come to a Paralympic Games that I am aware of – these kinds of signals matter.
This year will also be the first time we have had a current Minister of Sport at the Paralympic Games. When the Minister attends both the Paralympic Games and Olympic Games it is another strong signal they both matter.
If you are a sports fan or have just loved watching and following the Olympics I urge you to follow Paralympics New Zealand on social media and watch some of the incredible action at the Paralympic Games in Paris, free on TVNZ. They have been champions of Para sports for many years, thanks to work of the late Sir Paul Holmes, Chas Toogood and others.
I can assure you if you love sport and haven’t watched any of the Paralympic Games you’ll be impressed and inspired by the sporting performances you will see, just like you do at the Olympics. They will give you something to talk about.
If you are in the media, I hope you can see the huge potential for further increase in engagement in the Paralympics if it is given the coverage it deserves.
Channel 4, the government-owned commercial TV channel in the UK, covers the Paralympics like most broadcasters cover the Olympics. They have used it as a platform to leverage changes in attitudes towards disability in the UK and it is a central pillar of its own ESG strategy.
So back to that original question.
Joining the Olympic and Paralympic Games would most likely mean the greatest compromise to the Paralympic Movement, to the number of sports, number of events and number of athletes and support staff that could attend.
Running the Games after the Olympics allows more efficient use of venues and resources to allow the event to showcase the Paralympians in their own limelight. To do both together simultaneously would have massive cost and logistic implications. I would imagine it may make it economically and environmentally unviable to deliver.
Talking to many Paralympians, they are proud to be Paralympians and everything that means.
Merging the events would not only take away that unique identity but also the underlying power of the Paralympic Games to change perceptions about disability around the world and drive the social change benefits in the cities that host the games.
If you’ve loved the Olympics in Paris, get ready for the Paralympics.
Jana Rangooni is chair of Paralympics New Zealand and the Radio Broadcasters Association of which NZME is a member.
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