Brian Moore Says Paralympic Attitude has to Chance

Brian Moore, a roaming columnist for popular the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph, says that the attitude towards disabled sports needs to be changed on a massive scale.

Moore was writing in response to a recent joke that was made by comedian Jimmy Carr, who is no stranger to causing offence and aggravation. Moore says that only when the attitude starts to change can the respect attached to disabled sportsmen or women also change.

He wrote, “ Actually, it is legitimate to see a compliment behind the joke – these men have the courage to overcome their handicap and are the sort of people who will strive to represent their country again, albeit in a different arena and one where at least they will know why they are there.”

“Unfortunately, as with their service careers, they will find that the attitude of some of the public and officialdom is patronising and occasionally hostile, on the basis that their disability is an unwelcome reminder of the real and brutal consequences of war.”

“Once the human-interest point has been made, all disabled athletes want or need is for their performances to be assessed and reported in the same way as their able-bodied counterparts. This means criticism when justified, and not some variation of 'but they did well anyway considering all they've been through’. This is the reason that the title Paralympics is meant to mean the 'Parallel Olympics' rather than the 'Paraplegic Olympics'.”

Hopefully jokes will not be part of the agenda by the time 2012 arrives and we can all get behind any British athlete.