What do American make of their poor performance in the Paralympics?

[NoComparison]

Despite their atrocious human rights records, it seems that both China and Russia give more opportunities to sportsmen and women with disabilities than the USA do. Is that right? Do Americans notice or care?

medal table

Given how little coverage the media there were planning to give the Paralympics, I don't think they do particularly care about it. Whether that's because they don't care about disabled people and sport, or because they have more interest in some national sporting equivalents rather than the international one, I have no idea. The US can be quite insular about things when they choose to be!

I heard from a U.S relative that none of their TV channels appeared to be broadcasting the Paralympics.

For a start 6th out of 164 participating countries with 31 Gold medals is not a poor performance, the fact is that there is very little interest in it in the States with no coverage whatsoever.

If the USA were hosting it however, you'd find the coverage would be great there.

lol

I'm not sure there would be much more interest in their own competitors if the paralympics did take place in the US. We get Good Morning America over here and the only mention of the paralympics at all has been of Oscar Pistorius.

www.theweek.co.uk/olympics/paralympics/48766/channel-4-and-nbc-under-fire-over-paralympics-tv-coverage

NBC showed NO LIVE COVERAGE of the Paralympics
it only scheduled in less than three hours to cover the whole event.

Even the soldier who one a medal on the first anniversary of losing his sight fighting in Afghanistan did not warrant live coverage.

NOT impressed USA (and I'm a yank)

I think it's a bIg mistake to think that excelling at the Paralympics and Human Rights for athletes with disabilities are in anyway linked. The US is poor at funding people with disabilities and funding medical treatment for its population that could prevent disabilities, and there are some awful outcomes because of that. But a number of States have been way out in front of most countries (including the UK) in terms of insisting public life is accessible to more people.

China on the other hand may well fund a tiny percentage of its people who can excell in a sport, but their treatment of people with disabilities otherwise doesn't really garner much international acclaim.

In Britain, where public funding has been the main driver behind our recent resurgence in sporting prowess and where the Paralympics started, there has been an effort to promote Paralympics as equal. But that hasn't stopped the assault on disabled people in other ways.

I don't think you learn much about countries' views of people with disabilities by contrasting their treatment of paralympians.

Agreed.
The VA system in the USA is FAB at getting ex services people up and about again.
Those who lose their jobs through disability or whose parents do not have a job when they are children are a bit nadgered - because they will lack private medical insurance so rely on the very limited state funding
BUT there is a lot of private donation in the US.

On the other hand, the UK has successfully separated the heroism of the wounded soldiers from the insanity of the conflicts (Iraq and Afghanistan)
The USA has never quite managed that bit - from Vietnam onwards.

An American friend of mine reckons that it's because the US has a rather 'Nazi' preoccupation with perfection and as the Paralympics falls short of their 'ideal', it has not been deemed high on their priority list.

Hmm....? Controversial..

Not that I've observed.

The disabled are not highly visible in the US - but that is because they have a benefits net rather than a cushion and because healthcare is linked to employment not need.

I hope the IOC give NBC a REALLY hard time about it before Rio - along the lines of "no David Weir = no Usain Bolt"

I think in years gone by, the Paralympics has been treated as the poor relation, so I've been pleased that the UK has broadcast equal coverage of the Paralympics and the Olympics (although possibly because we're the home nation ) also the victory parade was joint.

Maybe one day they'll be combined?

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Interesting chart here: www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19503755 showing different countries relative success in the Olympics and Paralympics.

Also the USA has won 696 gold medals over the history of the Paralympics as opposed to China's 237