[PDFlist] Valued and included: Para integration a big Commonwealth Games hit

[Soloveni Vitoso]

 Valued and included: Para integration a big Commonwealth Games hit
By Nick Mulvenney15 April 2018 — 10:05pm

On a balmy Friday evening, 35,000 fans had packed into the Carrara Stadium
to watch Caster Semenya seal the middle distance double and New Zealander
Valerie Adams attempt to win a fourth successive shot put gold.
[image: Kurt Fearnley carries the Australian flag into the closing ceremony
on Sunday night.]

Kurt Fearnley carries the Australian flag into the closing ceremony on
Sunday night.
Photo: AAP

Tucked into the programme between the 3,000 metres steeplechase and the
heptathlon 800 metres heats was Arnott's 100 metres sprint.

As the crowd roared their support, the Englishman made a great start out of
his blocks only for Nigeria's Suwaibidu Galadima to storm past him with a
blistering finish to claim gold.

"All of a sudden I saw the guy to my left come through and I was a bit like
'woah'," Arnott told Reuters.

"But I held my form and I came away with a silver medal so I'm really
happy."
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Later, Arnott was awarded an identical silver medal to the one Adams
received, on the same podium where Semenya stood to receive her 800m gold
medal.

While Adams and Semenya's next multi-sports Games will be the 2020 Tokyo
Olympics, though, the goal on the horizon for Arnott is the Paralympics
Games that follow.

This is the Commonwealth Games, where Paralympic athletes are not just
included but fully integrated in the teams, and their events in the
programme.

Usain Bolt last week described it as "brilliant" and Arnott, who was born
with a condition called Erb's palsy which restricts the movement of his
left shoulder and impacts on his ability to sprint, would not disagree with
the Jamaican great.


"It's just amazing to the see the able-bodied and the paras coming
together, we've all become friends, it's just been one big team-bonding
experience," he said.

"I've been exchanging tips with the able-bodied sprinters. Them to me, me
to them as much as I can," he added with a laugh. "It's just been one of
the best experiences I've ever had."

Commonwealth Games Federation chief executive David Grevemberg believes the
full integration is essential if the Games are to reflect the mission of
the movement.

"Truly if we want a Games that is representative of all the people across
the Commonwealth, then our athletes need to be truly representative," said
the American, a former senior executive at the International Paralympic
Committee (IPC).

"If you value people, you include them, it's that simple. But it also needs
to be legitimate sport and I think the performances here speak for
themselves."
No Olympic integration

>From a handful of exhibition wheelchair races in Victoria in 1994, the
Paralympic element of the Commonwealth Games has grown to 38 medals in
seven sports on the Gold Coast.

However, quite apart from the impracticality of merging two already huge
events, there appears little enthusiasm among Para-athletes for emulating
the process at the Olympic Games.

"We don't really want to be integrated, we're Paralympians and they're
Olympians," said Kelly Cartwright, an amputee who won long jump gold at the
2012 Paralympics and competed in the power-lifting on the Gold Coast.

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"We have a disability, we are different but we are athletes. I think the
Paralympics represents that. We just need to boost the profile of the
Paralympics and get that showcased around the world a bit more."

The support for Para-athletes from the Gold Coast crowds has been vocal and
wheelchair-bound local Kurt Fearnley said the backing he received winning
silver in the wheelchair 1,500m "almost blew my head off".

The veteran, who brought the curtain down on his career with a marathon
gold on Sunday, was hopeful that the raised profile of the Para-athletes
could also open a broader discussion about disability in Australian society.

"Let's have this conversation on a greater level and let's make sure we can
do something positive for what's happening right here," Fearnley said.

"It's working, it's good, it's the right thing to do. Now let's use it as a
pivotal moment. Tomorrow morning have that yarn wherever you are."

A few nights later, Arnott described the whole experience of racing amputee
Galadima and winning a medal in the T47 100m as "surreal" and said he was
looking forward to a few more days hanging out as a proud member of the
England team.

"It's just fantastic, you get to come across the other side of the world,"
grinned the 21-year-old.

"And it's all for the sport."

*AAP*
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