Paralympics!

[OneLittleSpark]

Hey everyone! I've been really looking forward to the Paralympics (at least in part because us Brits do fairly well in it ), and I thought it might be nice to start a conversation here about it. So, feel free to pipe in with any news, results or cheers for the athletes and teams participating!

One questions I've been wondering about, what is media coverage of the Games like in other countries? Here the Paralympics get about as much media attention as the Olympics do. Is it the same elsewhere?

So, good luck to all the athletes participating (OK, so I doubt any of them are reading this, but I'm sending those good thoughts out to them!) and I hope we have another great Paralympic Games!

 

[Michigan]

We know several US paralympic athletes in track, field, basketball, swimming and power lifting.

In the US we have 0 media coverage of the paralympics. That's right none at all. There is no mention of it other then the Home Depot store commercial on TV.

It makes me so mad that every other country shows them but ours. Since we live near Canada we can see them really fuzzy on the Canadian stations.

Cindy

 

[OneLittleSpark]

In the US we have 0 media coverage of the paralympics. That's right none at all. There is no mention of it other then the Home Depot store commercial on TV.

It makes me so mad that every other country shows them but ours. Since we live near Canada we can see them really fuzzy on the Canadian stations.

Cindy

Wow! I'd heard that our coverage was fairly good compared to some other countries, but I didn't realise that the US doesn't cover it at all! You might be able to view it on the BBC website, but I don't know whether that is restricted to UK only viewers or not (I know some of the TV on there is, but whether it all is or not, I don't know). If nothing else, you should probably be able to listen to the BBC radio coverage on the BBC site.

 

[Momelie]

I have a "son from another mother" whose major goal in life is to compete in the paralympics in 2012 when they are in London. He's only a year and a half post amputation, but has already won some major tournaments and gained sponsorships. I'm so proud of him!

 

[WheeledTraveler]

You can't see video on the BBC website if you aren't viewing using a UK IP, unfortunately. I know one of the UK swimmers (ex of a friend of mine) who was in Athens and is going to Beijing so I'm hoping to figure out how to see her somehow as I didn't get to see any of Athens.

I really wish there was a way to get someone in the US to show it on tv, but part of the problem is that NBC automatically got the broadcast rights when they got the rights to broadcast the Olympics. They don't see the Paralympics as worth the time to cover since it's not going to get them as much money in advertising space, etc. It's really sad. There was enough outcry after the Athens games that there was a 2 hour Paralympic special, but it was broadcast 2 months later on a really obscure channel that a lot of people don't get (the Outdoor Life Network). More than making me sad, though, it just makes me angry. Especially since I think with a bit of exposure quite a few people would find disability sport interesting. Think about <i>Murderball</i> and the fact that it was heavily supported by MTV (in fact, was produced by MTV), not exactly a place that supports the "uncool".

I am fairly certain that some of the Paralympics will be on http://www.xable.com (with time delay), which has quite a bit of disability sport on it already. They're likely to focus on some of the more obvious sports (wheelchair rugby, power soccer, etc.), but I'm not sure. I know they were saying a few months ago that they would be doing Paralympic coverage, but I'm not sure if it'll actually happen since I have no idea if they were actually able to get the rights to do it.

I'm a big fan of xable so really everyone should check it out anyway, even if you aren't into sports it's got all sorts of disability related video, podcasts, forums, etc. Things on xable should be viewable no matter where you are as long as you have flash enabled. Unfortunately, I don't think they have captioning on their video yet, but I suspect it's something they're working on.

 

[Ms_Butterfly]

I wish they would show the Paralympics on TV, too. Most of the athlete's stories would be just as, if not more, inspirational than those of the able-bodied Olympics.

Actually, ideally I'd like for them to take place at the same time and have the some coverage so as not to discriminate, but that likely will never happen.

 

[SueM in MN]

The way they talked about it before the Olympics on NBC, I thought this year would be different - but it wasn't.

Here's the coverage information from the official Paralympic site. No USA coverage anywhere.
There are 2 links in this paragraph though!

For those fans of the Paralympic Games who do not live within the territories of the rightsholding broadcasters, there will be coverage available on www.ParalympicSport.TV, the IPC’s internet TV channel. Daily news and highlight shows will be offered on demand as well as live coverage wherever possible. More than 150 hours of Paralympic sports are already available on the channel, 24/7 free of charge, all over the world. Additionally, daily news will also be shown on the YouTube channel of ParalympicSport.TV at www.youtube.com/ParalympicSportTV. Fans of Paralympic Sport can also join the group "Your Paralympic Moment" and upload video clips of their special Paralympic Moment. The best clips will be released on ParalympicSport.TV after the Games.

 

[OneLittleSpark]

I know it's not a perfect solution, but you may be able to listen to radio coverage of the Paralympics on the BBC website. I don't know for certain whether they're doing radio coverage, or not, but it's worth looking into. I think you can listen to BBC radio from anywhere in the world.

Good luck!

 

[OneLittleSpark]

Oops! I only just noticed what Sue had posted before me! Shows what state my brain was in last night . That Paralympic TV website is a great idea, I'm so glad they're running it!

 

[WheeledTraveler]

Unfortunately anything on BBC iPlayer (which is what the radio stuff is on when archived; I think it uses RealPlayer for streaming) is locked in to UK IPs, or was last I checked. The idea is that it's all funded by the TV license so at least if they restrict to UK IPs they know that there's a decent chance the person watching helped fund the programming. Of course, I know plenty of people who don't own TVs in the UK who use it without having paid for a TV license, but I suspect they're in the minority of people in the UK (they're all geeks).

 

[merryweather20]

Who else watched the opening ceremonies! I thought the smaller scale of the production was actually alot nicer then the Olympic opening, and the torch lighting was very exciting.

I thought Ping Yali's service dog looked very proud to be part of the torch relay too He was holding his tail high and stepping proudly!

There are pictures at the official paralympic website.
http://en.paralympic.beijing2008.cn/photo/ceremonies/

 

[WheeledTraveler]

I watched part of opening ceremonies, but not all.

I have to admit that with the bit that had the girl who was an amputee from the May earthquake, my first thought was "I realize she's new to a wheelchair, but that chair is waaay too big for her".

I do think a lot of the ceremonies were really nice. I'm excited to see what I can of the games.

 

[SueM in MN]

I wish I could have seen it here in the US.
The pictures look really wonderful. Thanks for posting the link.

EDITED TO ADD:
I went back to the link for the official Paralympic website I posted a link to before and noticed a link to a video page. When I clicked on it, on the right side of my screen, it loaded links to video of the 2004 Paralympics.
BUT, when it finally finished connecting, the video box on the left side of the screen is showing a women's basketball game between Mexico and the Netherlands!!!!
The announcer at least said the coverage was live. Whether it actually was or not, it's at least the 2008 Games.

Here's a link to the ParalympicSportTV website. If you end up on a page with just some pictures in a band down the center, click near the middle of the page to get to the video page.

ENJOY!

 

[Ms_Butterfly]

I have to admit that with the bit that had the girl who was an amputee from the May earthquake, my first thought was "I realize she's new to a wheelchair, but that chair is waaay too big for her".

I didn't see it, but I'm guessing that she can't afford to keep getting new wheelchairs as she grows, so was given one that she can grow into instead.