Give a title to the article:

---

As the streets of the hosting city begin to empty of fans and the world's

media as the Olympic Games draw to a close, it will not be until 2 or 3 weeks

later that the world's best disabled athletes — many of whom have overcome

medical difficulties and shocking family tragedies to represent their country —

will gather in the same stadiums to compete in the Paralympics. Once there, the

competitors will receive far less exposure and recognition than their

able-bodied counterparts.

If we look back at the

Rio Games, many qualifying Paralympic athletes even missed the 11-day event, as

organisers have failed to hand over promised travel grants to competitors from

over 50 countries (source : Bloomberg). $8 million (£6 million) of the

money reserved for the Paralympics were reportedly used to pay for last-minute

construction crises at the Olympic village and the diving pool (source : The

Guardian reports).

Some leading

Paralympians, including six-time gold medalist David Weir, have previously

suggested combining disabled and non-disabled events in athletics competitions

to increase the exposure of disabled athletes.

The President of the

International Paralympic Committee, Sir Philip Craven, has also entertained the

idea of merging the events. "It's really a logistical problem at the

moment but I'm not dead against the idea, in principle, of [the Olympics and

the Paralympics] coming together at some time,'" he told the BBC. 

Ryan Raghoo, the

British long jump record holder for his T36 disability category, told Business

Insider that combining the two events could be an opportunity to give disabled

athletes the same status, media exposure, and sponsorship opportunities as

Olympic athletes. "I've got Paralympian friends who are world record

holders and gold medalists across events and they're not household names,"

Raghoo said. "The same value is not given to the same achievement."

"It's two

different things: the International Olympic Committee [IOC] represents

able-bodied athletes, while the International Paralympic Committee [IPC]

represents Paralympic athletes," Craig Spence, director of communications

at the IPC, told Business Insider. "That’s the simple fact." Spence

pointed out that the modern Olympic movement was founded in 1894, while the

first Paralympics did not take place until the summer of 1960. Disability sport

was widely introduced after World War II, as a means to encourage exercise

among those injured in the conflict.

"We have signed a

Memorandum of Understanding with the IOC, which is basically to extend our

co-operation to 2032, so nothing will change between now and then," he

said. This agreement between the Olympics and Paralympics allows the events to

run concurrently, and promises that the two bodies work together to promote the

"Paralympic brand." According to the document, they do this by

"deepening existing cooperation," and guaranteeing the

"financial stability and long-term viability of the IPC." It makes no

mention of a possible merger.

However, the Olympics

and the Paralympics aren't only separate because of tradition. There are also

more practical reasons, according to Spence. "If we combine the two, then

we would have 15,000 athletes," he said. "We would need a far bigger

athlete village. Logistically, the event would take probably five weeks to

complete and it just doesn't logistically make sense to bring the two

together."

One argument against

merging the two events, put forward by former British wheelchair racer Baroness

Tanni Grey-Thompson, is that much of the Paralympics would "disappear off

the face of the earth" because only very few disability events would be

incorporated.

British Paralympian

Hannah Cockroft has also said that she is against combining the two events.

"I don't want the Olympics and Paralympics to merge because I am proud of

what we have made of that name," she told the BBC. The athlete said she

worries that losing the separate Paralympics brand would leave disabled

athletes overshadowed by other Olympic stars.

Paralympians do not

necessarily need to be boosted by merging the Paralympics with the Olympics.

Disability sport could simply be given more funding, more exposure, and

respect, with increased media coverage.

Despite the success of

the London Paralympics, mainstream media interest in disability sport has waned

since 2012. The Diamond League — a 14-leg series of athletics events — gets

regular coverage on networks like the BBC, but disability sport outside of the

Paralympics is hardly covered. During the IPC Athletics European Championships,

there were "people becoming European champions and their family back home

could not even watch them on television," Raghoo said.

The most recent data

on the issue from a 2011 survey by disability charity Scope shows that 65% of

disabled people are in favour of scrapping the Paralympics and instead allowing

disabled athletes to compete in the Olympics. 42% of disabled people said they

disagreed that the Paralympics positively impact the public's perception of

disabled people, while one in five said that the Paralympics makes disabled

people appear to be "second class."

"Whatever

happens," Rhagoo said, "the athletes have to be at the very centre of

whatever decision is made."

---

Adapted for educational

purposes by FSSEP - UDL

Read the original article on Business Insider UK.