Paralympics in prime time: Athletes see progress but still a long way to go

Compared to the 2024 Paris Olympics, the Paralympics – which began with Wednesday's opening ceremony – will receive a fraction of the coverage.

All 22 sports will be streamed live on Peacock in the United States, however – up from 12 at the 2012 London Games. That is a sign of moving in the right direction, International Paralympic Committee chief brand and communications officer Craig Spence said.

"We're seeing more coverage than ever before," Spence said.

For Steve Serio, the captain of Team USA's wheelchair basketball team and a flagbearer during the opening ceremony, the improvements are promising while acknowledging there is a long way to go. A longtime goal of his was to have the gold medal game shown on network television, "big" NBC; his team made an appearance during one of NBC's two primetime telecasts at the Tokyo Games three years ago.

“We are in no way satisfied,” Serio said after he participated in a Paralympic discussion group hosted by NBC, an opportunity that was unimaginable to him a decade ago.

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He added: “We want more awareness. More coverage. Because when I was growing up, I didn’t see athletes that looked like me.”

Swimmer McKenzie Coan echoed this sentiment, recalling the impact of seeing billboards featuring Paralympic athletes from Great Britain during the 2012 London Games. She hopes the Paris Paralympics can raise the profile of some athletes ahead of the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.

“Now Team USA is getting there, but it has always felt like we’ve been a little bit behind in that sense,” Coan said. “It feels like it’s been a long time coming, and it should have happened a lot sooner. And I understand with progress, that’s what happens sometimes, but we’re getting there.”

Evan Medell, a para-taekwondo athlete, said the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) has done a suitable job in making everything equal for the athletes between able-bodied and Paralympic athletes. What he would like to see is the USOPC increase the pressure placed on each sport's national governing body (NGB) to create parity.

Medell’s journey into para-taekwondo was serendipitous, as he only learned about the sport after competing against able-bodied athletes at nationals for three years. Finally, somebody told him about the para programming within the sport.

The struggle to balance work with training and competitions is a common challenge among Paralympic athletes. Medell, who previously worked as a welder and washed semitrucks, often avoids discussing his competition schedule with potential employers, fearing it might jeopardize job opportunities since attending competitions often requires weeks of time off between travel and training.

“We’re athletes, too,” he said. “We have to support ourselves.”

The gap between the Paralympics and the conclusion of the Olympics puts the Paralympics at a disadvantage from a visibility standpoint. Running the competitions simultaneously would increase costs for the host city and create a scheduling nightmare, as many venues are used for both. A bigger Athletes Village, additional transport and a surplus of volunteers are other detractors.

Starting the Paralympics immediately after the Olympics is also not an option, Spence said. Captivating the world’s attention for six weeks is an impossible task and no media organization could sustain remaining on site for that length of time.

Medell had an idea for bringing more eyeballs to the Paralympics.

“If they had it before," Medell said, "and it warmed people up to the Olympics.”

Medell said it could be like the undercard for an anticipated fight night. But the movement itself doesn’t see it that way.

“We joke with the IOC that the Olympics is our best test event,” Spence said.

Each Games has "teething issues" that require resolution, and Spence is happy to let the IOC work out the kinks.

"We’re happy with the format that we’ve got, where we go second,” he said. 

Going second doesn't diminish the Paralympics' importance, Spence said. He was adamant that the upcoming four-year stretch before Los Angeles is the most pivotal in U.S. Paralympic history. 

Following the 1996 Atlanta Games, the Paralympic movement failed to make a tangible impact. Current Team USA athletes felt that effect. Serio had no disabled role models. Medell had to compete against able-bodied athletes.

“We can’t afford an Atlanta," Spence said. "It’s really important that we make the breakthrough in this country that we wanted to achieve 20, 30 years ago.” 

“We’ve got to get it right.”