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Successful, but ignored

Broadcast Date: Aug. 19, 1996

The 1996 summer Paralympics are in full swing in Atlanta. Canadians are winning "medals galore." But according to this report from The National, Canadian Paralympians are still having a hard time gaining recognition. Why? A general lack of awareness, a lack of respect for disabled athletes, and simple bad timing. Canadian sports reporter James Christie believes holding the Paralympics immediately after the regular Olympics is part of the problem: "People are just worn out right now by sport."

Successful, but ignored

• At the 1996 Paralympics, Canada won a total of 69 medals: 24 gold, 21 silver and 24 bronze. Canada ranked seventh among the 63 countries participating in Atlanta.
• Canada has done very well at the Summer Paralympics in recent years. Canada won 149 medals at the 1988 Games in Seoul, 79 medals at the 1992 Games in Barcelona and 96 medals at the 2000 games in Sydney.

• The Winter Paralympics have a much lower overall medal count because there are fewer sports, but Canada has done relatively well at the Winter Games too. Canada's best winter performances were at the 1998 Nagano Games and the 2002 Salt Lake City Games. They won 15 medals at each of these Games, ranking tenth at Nagano and seventh in Salt Lake City.

• Ever since the Paralympics gained more athletic legitimacy in the late 1980s, Paralympians around the world have been lamenting the fact that they get very little media attention. Many reporters go home after the Olympics, ignoring the fact that the Paralympics will be beginning shortly after.

• Ross Hopkins, a sports reporter for Canadian Press, said in a 1994 CBC interview that CP didn't send a reporter to the Paralympics simply because very few newspapers showed interest in those stories. He said many newspapers didn't view Paralympians as "true athletes."

• Reporter Teddy Katz has covered a number of Paralympic Games for CBC Radio since 1992. In Nagano in 1998, he noted that he was one of the few Canadian reporters who stayed behind after the Olympics to cover the Paralympics. He has said that, overall, the degree of Canadian coverage is usually similar to that of other countries.

• CBC Television covered the 1976 Toronto Olympiad for the Physically disabled with a one-hour documentary style special, presented after the Games were over. After 1976, CBC didn't provide considerable TV coverage of the Paralympics until 1996.

• CBC Television showed a two-hour highlight special of the Games in 1996 and 1998. In 2000, CBC showed two hour-long highlight shows, plus full coverage of the wheelchair basketball finals. In 2002, CBC increased this considerably to feature daily coverage during the Games — a half hour each day during the week and 90 minute shows on Saturday and Sunday. CBC coverage at the 2004 Athens Games was essentially the same as at the 2002 Games.

• TV coverage is increasing slowly in other countries as well, although not always through traditional "sports" networks. At the 2002 Winter Paralympics, there was substantial Paralympic coverage for the first time in the United States when the A&E (Arts and Entertainment) Network broadcast daily hour-long highlights during Games. This was hosted by TV personalities Joan Lunden and Harry Smith.

Successful, but ignored

Medium: Television

Program: The National

Broadcast Date: Aug. 19, 1996

Guest(s): James Christie, Natalie Mureau, Serge Raymond

Reporter: Mark Kelley

Duration: 2:46

Last updated:
July 6, 2004