Why this disabled Briton won’t be watching the Paralympics

As the Paralympic Games gets underway in Paris, James Moore can’t shake the feeling there’s a ‘pity party’ atmosphere around the event

Lauren Rowles will pair up with Gregg Stevenson in the PR2 mixed double sculls in Paris (Benedict Tufnell/British Rowing Handout/PA)

This year, Channel 4’s Paralympics marketing promises to challenge people to “view Paralympians as elite, world-class athletes, not as competitors ‘overcoming’ their disabilities”.

The campaign, “Considering What”, says it “captures the reactions of people as they watch Paralympic sport who, although well intentioned, are misguided and don’t appreciate Paralympians for what they are: world class athletes”. It’s a noble attempt to try and get people to view disabled athletes as human beings, instead of turning the games into one big pity party.

The move comes following research commissioned by the broadcaster, which reveals that a staggering 59 per cent of people say they watch the Paralympic Games to “see athletes overcoming their disabilities”. By contrast, only 37 per cent say they put it on to view “exciting sporting competition”.

The campaign is a step up from some of the channel’s previous efforts – in order to promote the 2012 Games, Channel 4 used the rather controversial moniker “the Superhumans” to refer to the athletes. That campaign happened shortly after my accident in 2011. Since then, I’ve used a wheelchair, and I’ll confess – at the time, the 2012 campaign really spoke to me. It said: “if these people can do this, maybe you can do everything you did before, too”. Journalism, parenting, exercise – all of it seemed achievable.

Of course, flash forward to 2024, and the whole thing comes off as a bit patronising.

It certainly didn’t help when, following the Games, all us “superhumans” fell right back out of the public eye, as if we’d never been there in the first place – that is, except for the occasional screamingly awful incident, such as the former Paralympian who wet themselves because there was no disabled toilet on a train. Or wheelchairs getting smashed up by aircraft handlers. Or, on a more personal note, my friend having to take their glass eye out to prove to a member of staff at a station that she was disabled enough to have a railcard.

Only yesterday, Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson revealed she had to “crawl” off an LNER train when no station staff were available to assist her.

I’m glad that Channel 4 is trying to correct past mistakes. I’m pleased that it wants to tell the public the Paralympic Games are about sport – not “overcoming adversity” – because some of the Games on show can be really exciting. I can attest to that from personal experience – I’ve played my fair share of wheelchair basketball and rugby.

Para-athletes are elite athletes and need to be recognised as such. If this new campaign works, who knows: perhaps I’ll be able to go out for a “run” around my local park without somebody patronising me with a familiar “you’re doing really well mate – you’ll be in the Paralympics next!”

But I’m not counting on it. The problem is that even a national broadcaster treating the Paralympics as a bona fide international sporting event of standing doesn’t address the real problem.

You see, Sir Keir Starmer will put out tweets congratulating Team GB on the gold medals they will inevitably win. He might even get his picture taken with the stars if they get invited to Downing Street. Culture secretary Lisa Nandy and Stephen Timms, minister for disabled people, will join the party, too.

But that doesn’t change the fact that Labour scarcely mentioned disability during the election campaign. They are pressing ahead with the previous work and pensions secretary Mel Stride’s Personal Independence Payment “consultation”, which was dubbed the Tories’ “full-on assault on disabled people” by disability charity Scope. Despite the promise of change, things aren’t looking any brighter for disabled people under a Labour government than they did under the Tories.

The fact is, disabled Britons who aren’t Paralympians fear for the future. It is possible that some of the Paralympic stars do, too. While that continues to be the case, I can’t in good conscience watch the Games this year – no matter how much I’d like to cheer on Team GB.