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You and Yours - Transcript 大象传媒 Radio 4 |
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TX: 28.12.09 - Paralympic Brand PRESENTER: PETER WHITE |
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THE ATTACHED TRANSCRIPT WAS TYPED FROM A RECORDING AND NOT COPIED FROM AN ORIGINAL SCRIPT. BECAUSE OF THE RISK OF MISHEARING AND THE DIFFICULTY IN SOME CASES OF IDENTIFYING INDIVIDUAL SPEAKERS, THE 大象传媒 CANNOT VOUCH FOR ITS COMPLETE ACCURACY. WHITE Now by almost any measurable standard countries and athletes taking part, spectators watching, press and broadcasting coverage, the Paralympics is enjoying an ever upward curve. But as Paralympic standards rise, with the help of technology, and as more categories of athletes, such as those with learning disabilities, are admitted, how clear is the movement and the public about what exactly the Paralympics is all about? In some events now winning standards are good enough to qualify athletes for the Olympic finals and only recently British Paralympic cycling champion Sarah Storey said she'd love to take part in the Olympics. Well Gareth Davies is a Daily Telegraph journalist who's done more than any other sports writer to put the Paralympics on the map. Phil Lane is Chief Executive of the British Paralympic Association and was the manager of the British Paralympic squad in Beijing. LANE It's fair to say that we have moved a long way since 2000 but I would contend that we still have a long, long way to go and therefore the marketing of the Games for us is paramount, getting that right and involving more people, more of the public, more of the time, is absolutely crucial really to the success of 2012. WHITE So what's special about the brand? LANE Well I think it's defining the brand has been one of the challenges that we've had and I think we very assiduously try to align our brand to elite sport - so hence the relationship with the Olympics gives a line of definition which I think the public will understand. But we also want to portray the uniqueness of Paralympic sport, which we do believe is there, to engage people. WHITE Let me bring in Gareth because your job is to try and explain the Paralympics to people. How difficult is it to explain what the Paralympics is about to a general audience? DAVIES As Philip just said it's a unique event and in a sense people are still being educated in terms of what the Paralympic Games is. So there are six disability groups now and you're trying to get across the fact this is elite sport but it's also a celebration of sport and at the same time it's a celebration of the human spirit. WHITE But if it becomes too elite, as it were, doesn't that make it difficult for people who have an image of disability almost to believe in it? DAVIES We had exactly that situation in Beijing where one of the cerebral palsy footballers was told he was too able to compete because - and his theory was that he had trained so hard that he had trained his cerebral palsy and the fitter he became the less it was visible. These are the kind of issues that pop up all the time. Yes it's very, very difficult to get it across in simple terms and I don't think we ever will because it's too complex a subject in terms of the way athletes are classified, the different disability groups, because you're not looking at one group of athletes. So there will always be those anomalies. WHITE Phil Lane, can I look at one aspect of this in particular? What effect might the inclusion of learning disabled athletes have on that? One of the elements of opposition to that wasn't so much we don't want learning disabilities people in but it will confuse people because a lot of people with learning disabilities don't look as if they're disabled. LANE You're right that has been a challenge in the inclusion of the learning disabilities back into the movement. But Paralympics GB has always believed very strongly that they should be re-included, we believe very strongly in the power of sport to positively impact upon people's lives and intellectual disability is a well defined disability grouping. So whilst it may not be overtly visible to the person watching the sport, there is in fact a genuine disability that does impact upon their ability to do sport. I think, as Gareth said, there is a duality in what we're doing in the Paralympics, there is this celebration of absolute elite performance and some of those standards are very close now to Olympic performance, as we've seen with Oscar and ... WHITE That's Oscar Pistorius with the bionic leg. LANE Absolutely and there is a blurring in that sense. But it is the triumph of the human spirit, as Gareth has said, which defines what we do within the Paralympic family and I think with the intellectual disabilities there is again this notion they are challenging their disability to be able to perform at the levels that we would expect. WHITE Gareth Davies, this business about standards, I mean what could be the impact if more previous Paralympians go on to compete in the Olympics? We've just had Sarah Storey, as I said, saying she'd like to, well you can understand why people would like to but won't that confuse people even more? DAVIES I don't think so in the case of Sarah, Peter, because she was born with a part of her arm missing and therefore people will see straightaway what the issue is. I think it's when it's more complex. Just going back to intellectual disability. I mean I think it's a very complex issue, it's very complex from a journalistic point of view. In principle it's to be lauded, changes have been brought about in society for people with disabilities because of the Paralympic Games, of that there is no question, and it's brilliant that Paralympics GB under Phil lobbied for this. But what worries me is do people really understand intellectual disability, is it cognitive disability, is it learning difficulty? What exactly is it? And that's what really worries me. WHITE Phil Lane, does that matter? I suppose if you're sitting out at Stratford watching maybe that doesn't matter that much in the sense that in the end you're going to get lost in the event one would hope? LANE Absolutely, I think - Gareth's rightly pointed out - it is a complex area but you know who can - who could tell the difference between CP3-5s and 7s, you know that's a challenge in itself. WHITE Those are three Paralympic classifications. LANE Within those groups - so the whole piece is very challenging. What I often say to people is if you're interested in sport and enjoy a sporting spectacle you don't have to get yourself tied up in the whole classification issue, accept that the six guys or girls on the line in the final are the six very best in that event and just enjoy the competition for what it is. WHITE Phil Lane, Gareth Davies thank you both very much indeed. Back to the You and Yours homepage The 大象传媒 is not responsible for external websites |
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