To be absolutely LIVID...... What gives them the right?

[TotallyUnsure]

sorry if this is not the place but it gets ever such a lot of traffic - but i read something that has made me so mad!

all of the Gold medal winners for the olympics will get their own stamps (EXCELLENT!!) go team GB!!

NONE of the paralympic winners will get an individual stamp at all, (but will share in a general 6) and Royal Mail have defended this saying "We're honoured to be celebrating the achievements of ParalympicsGB. We will be doing more than any other postal administration in history to celebrate the Paralympic Games"

How in this day and age is that acceptable? The idea that competing in the paralympics is not as much of an achievement as competing in the Olympics.

Are we tipped to get lots of golds with para Olympics?

The British Paralympian Associations seems ok with it.

And the RM is donating a prize fund to the para but not to the able bodied.

Gold medal-winning Paralympians will not be featured on individual stamps as their Olympic counterparts have been, the British Paralympic Association has said.

Instead, a series of six first-class stamps featuring every medallist will be produced after the Games finish on September 9.

A post box in each gold medallist's home town will also be painted gold, as has been the case with members of Team GB. Royal Mail has also provided a £200,000 prize fund to be divided up equally between the gold medallists of Paralympics GB.

In a statement on their website, the BPA said: "Royal Mail's special stamps and gold post boxes to celebrate Team GB's gold medals have prompted questions on whether there are also plans to celebrate ParalympicsGB's gold medals.

"The BPA have been working closely with the Royal Mail and are very pleased with the final plans."

The BPA said it wanted to make sure British Paralympians were "recognised for their fantastic achievements" and noted that the stamp honour was a first in the history of the Paralympics.

The association said the plans were not the same as for Team GB because it was expecting a "similarly world-class level of performance" as in Beijing four years ago, when ParalympicsGB won 42 gold medals.

The BPA added: "As a result, it is logistically and practically impossible for Royal Mail to produce an individual stamp for every one of the gold medallists for ParalympicsGB."

we got 42 golds at Beijing and a total of 102 medals overall coming second in the medal table

That's really sad. Why would they do that? I don't get why they can't make stamps for all gold medallists?

I didn't know about that but am glad you brought it up. I have seen some brilliant documentaries about both the Olympians and Paralympians, they are equally serious about their sports, compete just as fiercely for their Olympic places and deserve as much praise and acclamation as each other. I think giving the paralympic gold medal winners stamps is a great way to raise their profile. We ought to know more about these athletes and celebrate them hugely.

Jumping - i read the article too - i still dont think this is right though!

I do wish people would put the whole article up instead of picking out one line

Apparently we got 42 in Bejing and so will probably get more this time. However RM are now producing a set of stamps which will feature all the gold medallists but not individual ones like the Olympic Gold winners are getting.

Not fair but then neither is putting the Paralympics on C4 when the current games are all over the BBC.

yanbu
but tbh can't say I am surprised. you only have to look at how this government treat disabled people to realise they are not considered equal or good enough.

Ah, the paralympians are just too successful

It's crap and discriminatory.

But we already have 23 golds in the olympics ... I don't really see why 42 would be out of the question?

If it's numbers, they should select the proportion from each according to the total number of golds, IMO.

Surely the Paralympics is not 'put on c4' its about who has the rights.

No one picked up on the £200K pot to be distributed? no one is giving the able bodied athletes anything.

I'm all for equality.

But in seriousness, what are we going to come away with, 25 maintream golds? Double that for the para. Why would we need 75 different varieties of first class stamp? 25 is 20 too many in my book. all it will do is push up costs and then there will be a dose of moral outrage at the RM come April when they revise stamp prices.

i dont think it is about the stamps per-se but actually more about honouring the people that have achieved something (i believe great) for our counrty!

i also think that the oaralympians are inspiraional overcoming many odds to be able to compete let alone go home with medals!

Not exactly a level playing field for the paras though is it?

I can't see Tuvalu or Vanuatu sending in many athletes, if any. There are less countries competing. The western countries will have had the resources to fund and rehabilitate. I realise the same can be applied to the able bodied who may come from impovrished nations.

Op your title asks 'what gives them the right'

Well it's there company they can do what they like.... It is their 'right'. Surely?

Why arent the Olympic team getting a cash payout too if you are LIVID about equality?

The stamps for the Gold medallists are printed and available to buy the day after the medals are won. On a couple of days we have had a few winners that day but with the Paralympics we will have several Gold medallists on several consecutive days it is predicted. It would be a logistical nightmare to get that many stamps printed and available to buy the next day.

It has nothing to do with the fact that they are Paralympic athletes, but just to do with the fact that Royal Mail recognises they won't be able to keep up with the logistics of it. So they have gone for having 6 different stamps featuring all winners instead.

We didn't get 43 gold medals in Beijing - we got 19 (this according to BBC news).

I realise that's not the point of the thread. On which note, I agree it's unfair.

Surely they should all be treated equally - so a 'pot' of money for all, gold postboxes for all home towns, and stamps for all. Perhaps 'group' stamps for all?

Am a bit behind on the whole olympics thing as not been able to watch a great deal of it.

Flipp, we got 43 in the Paralympics.

Why pick on Royal Mail? I'll be interested to see which newspapers decide to do 12 page colour pull-outs on the paralympics!

In that case, I apologise for being a smart arse Knitting !

That's shit. If anything the Paralympians put in more effort.

On another ragey topic, apparently the male Japanese footie team travelled in first class, while the females flew economy.

Are we tipped to get lots of golds with para Olympics?
Have you never watched the paralympics? We kick ass and always have.