The Olympic Summer Games are the world's biggest sporting spectacle. Millions of people tune in every four years, either over the television or through social media, to follow more than 10,000 of the most dedicated athletes on their paths with the hopes of medaling. Even the Winter Olympics are an exciting time for many, with sports such as alpine skiing, figure skating, and ice hockey, dominating NBC. However, one branch of this highly-acclaimed global event is often overlooked and under-credited in the media and pop culture. This is the Paralympics, the sect for athletes with physical disabilities to compete.
It is quite disappointing to find that the coverage and general talk of the Paralympics is incomparable to the Summer games or Winter games. The premise is the same- all events contain the very best athletes from their respective countries to compete against others in various sports. However, what distinguishes one from the other is that these athletes, physically, do not have the same abilities to perform it in a certain way as others.
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It really is appalling that this "disability" factor is what determines the amount of publicity that is given to the games and the athletes. Sure, they may not have every single physical benefit, but the nothing else makes them extremely different from the athletes competing at the summer/winter games. They all train incredibly hard every day, commit themselves to always striving to become stronger physically and technically, and take care of their bodies. All of them share a common goal: to win gold. How can the general public not find the Paralympics as exciting or not care to follow their success?
If anything, I think that the athletes at the Paralympics are arguably stronger than the other competitors during the Summer/Winter games. These athletes may have had to face a physical hardship, but they did not let that act as a barrier to their potential of success and accomplishments. Instead, their disability allows for them to compete in the Paralympic games and engage in sports just like any other competitive athlete would.
Hopefully in the future, the media will begin to give the Paralympic athletes the attention they deserve for their hard work and outstanding performance during the games. To not fully do so is discriminatory against those with physical disabilities, and this must be changed. An olympic athlete is an olympic athlete, whether or not they have one leg, two legs, are blind, or have only three fingers. Although their physical bodies may not share the same traits, these athletes sure do share similar Olympic mentalities; so let's get on it, NBC, and let's get excited for the concluding results of the Rio 2016 Paralympics.
