The 2012 London Summer Olympic
Games are in full swing. The much-anticipated opening ceremony, which
took place Friday, went
off without a hitch and with great fanfare. The Queen of England
even jumped into the fray by seemingly bailing out of a helicopter
as part of the event. Of course, we now know it was a stunt man
posing as the 86-year old monarch. Still, the ceremony was
watched by billions around the world.
Coverage of Olympic action is
taking place around-the-clock ad nauseum. The games are being broadcast
on NBC, NBC Sports Network,
MSNBC, CNBC, Bravo, NBC Specialty Basketball Channel, NBC
Specialty Soccer Channel and Telemundo. For those who still can’t
get enough of the five-ring circus, the games can be streamed
online for free on NBC.com. By the end of the games, Aug. 12,
this will have been the most-watched, over-exposed Olympic Games
in history.
Meanwhile, another event will be taking place on the same Olympic site in London. Beginning Aug. 29, with much less fanfare,
the 2012 Summer Paralympic Games will kick off, running through Sept. 9. More than 4,000 athletes from more than 160 countries are expected to compete. During each day of London 2012, the International
Paralympic Committee Web site will broadcast four streams of uninterrupted live coverage from the Paralympics with English
commentary, including daily coverage of swimming, wheelchair basketball and athletics. A fourth channel will cover a range
of sports, while a fifth channel will broadcast a mixture of sports with Spanish commentary. In addition, more than 1,000
hours of Paralympic action will be made available on www.Paralympic.org as video on demand during the course of the Games.
Wow, not quite the major network hype the current
games are receiving. I would argue the Paralympic Games are vastly and
woefully under-covered.
The first Paralympic Games were held in Rome in 1960 and featured
400 athletes from 23 countries. The word “paralympic” derives
from the Greek presposition “para,” meaning beside or alongside,
such as the Olympic Games. The Paralympic Games are the second
largest sporting event in the world, behind the Olympic Games,
which makes the lack of TV coverage all the more inexplicable.
While we champion the exploits of
U.S. swimmer Missy “The Missile” Franklin, the 6’-1” teen phenom who
already had taken two
gold medals by Tuesday, we may never know about Allison Aldrich, a
Paralympic sitting volleyball player from Schuyler, Neb.,
who lost her right leg when she was 7 years old due to bone
cancer. While the talking heads wonder if the 2012 U.S. men’s
basketball team could beat the 1992 squad, dubbed the “Dream
Team,” we won’t hear about Paul Schulte, the men’s Paralympic
wheelchair basketball player whose legs were rendered useless
after being paralyzed in a car accident.
Olympic athletes are sorted out by
weight class, event, time trials or swim stroke. Paralympic athletes
compete in the categories
of amputee/dwarfism, blind/visually impaired, spinal cord
injury/paralyzed/wheelchair user, traumatic brain injury/CP/stroke
or intellectual impairment.
All athletes overcome many obstacles to become Olympians. Paralympians take on roadblocks every day just to live. Imagine
trying to play tennis with one arm behind your back or swimming without using your legs. Try shooting an arrow at a target
20 yards away with your eyes closed. Or try riding a bicycle at breakneck speed using only your hands.
Better yet, try to remember those competing in the Paralympic Games.
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