posted Sep 10, 2008

the special olympics happened last year in Shanghai and were not shown on the BBC, please try to know what you are talking about and why do you have to make everything about footballers?
But the Paralympians and Special Olympians are great athletes! (my cus won silver RoI basketball)

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posted Sep 13, 2008

It's a joy to watch. It really is refreshing to see people so eager to give all for their country, as opposed to modern day sportsmen who are only interested in the cash. Well done everyone involved.

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posted Sep 17, 2008

I agree entirely with MajesticScotlandBhoy and Blue chris20. The dedication and commitment of the athletes, combined with their joy when achieving their best has been a real pleasure to see. They were so proud to be part of 'Team GB' What impressed me most was the lack of excuses if they didn't do as well as they had hoped and the respect that they gave to the other competitors. In many ways, the Paralympics was more exciting and meaningful than the regular Olympics. Many of the gutsy performances moved me to tears. Well done everyone. You did us proud and were great ambassadors for GB and sport.

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posted Sep 17, 2008

The problem with showing the Special olympics is the appear normal and so it is much harder to convey to people why they do not compete in normal events. Also the sort of atheletes who make it to the Special olympics world games tend to be very high functioning and actually are not very different to other athletes, a sad but true reality. Special olympics at a local level is much more about people with severe difficulties.
As for the paralympics, I just wish there was more coverage, we have done so well, like Steve Cram has said, they don't want your pity, they want your respect, and I think this is the least they deserve. I really hope they get a heroes return, like their able bodied colleagues, the deserve it just as much if not more.

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