The Olympics are dominated by the US. How come it can’t perform the same at the Paralympic Games?

The Olympics are dominated by the US. How come it can’t perform the same at the Paralympic Games?

The Olympics are dominated by the US. – Olympic supporters are surprised to see Team USA trailing behind other nations in the medal table when they view the Paralympics final medal standings.

For many years, American Olympians have dominated medal totals and media coverage, while their Paralympic counterparts have achieved much less.

The United States has never once failed to dominate the Olympic medal standings in the twenty-first century; but, from 2000 to Paris, it averaged fourth place in the Paralympic medal standings.

In two of the previous four Paralympic Games, Team USA has been defeated by Ukraine, a country with a population that is around tenth that of the US and a GDP that is less than 1% of the US.

But after finishing sixth in the medal standings at the London Paralympics in 2012, the US has steadily improved, placing fourth in Rio in 2016 and third in Tokyo in 2021.

With 36 gold medals and 105 overall, the US placed third in the final 2024 medal tally, behind China and Great Britain.

Can Team USA keep making progress towards this goal?

Similar to how it did at the Olympic Games, the US used to dominate the Paralympics.

At every Paralympics from 1976 to 1996, Team USA led the medal standings. The United States holds the record for the most gold and total Paralympic medals ever won, partly because of its supremacy during this time.

The chief of the Paralympic movement for the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC), Julie Dussliere, told CNN Sport that the reason for Team USA’s relative decline in the medal tables is the worldwide expansion of the Paralympic program. “We are thrilled with the performance so far in Paris, and Team USA remains incredibly strong and well-supported.”

It is understandable that people may not be aware of Team USA’s erratic results considering that the Paralympics have never been able to draw television audiences in quantities comparable to those of the Olympics. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) estimates that 3.7 billion people watched the Sydney Olympics on television in 2000. However, only 300 million people watched the Paralympics in Sydney; that is, 92% fewer people watched the Paralympics than the Olympics that year.

Former para athlete and Team USA captain Kristin Duqette called the limited coverage of the Paralympic Games “a disservice to society” and said, “The reality is, being disabled is a part of being human.”

Lack of well-known role models can have an influence on people’s decision to participate in parasport and eventually become Paralympians, according to Mary Hums, a professor of sport management at the University of Louisville and four-time Paralympic Games veteran, who spoke with CNN Sport. She answered, “You don’t think you can be one if you can’t see one.”

Dussliere, who stated that US success “helps drive participation and competition,” echoes this opinion.

The inability to see well might cause aspiring elite athletes to put off starting their training. Despite holding five American records in parasailing, Duqette told CNN that she didn’t know about the Paralympics until she was fifteen years old.

TV viewers in several overseas areas have received greater coverage of the Paralympics than Americans have.

Channel 4, a UK broadcaster, aired more than 400 hours of Paralympic coverage in 2012. However, only four one-hour highlights packages were shown by American rights-holder NBC on cable channel NBC Sports in the US. Then-International Paralympic Committee (IPC) director Philip Craven told the Daily Telegraph in reaction to NBC’s coverage plan: “Some people think that North America always lead on everything, and on this they don’t.” It’s high time they made up ground.

With all events being televised for the first time, the Paris Paralympics organisers guarantee that 2024 will be the most watched Games in the history of the Paralympics.

In addition to a “record amount of primetime hours,” NBC has expanded their TV coverage of the Games to over 140 hours spread across NBC, USA Network, and CNBC. However, it still appears that this primetime coverage will just consist of three highlights specials. According to NBC, it is dedicating “an unprecedented amount of time to the Paralympics” and will provide almost 1,500 hours of programming on Peacock, its streaming service.

While this is going on, Channel 4 in the UK has expanded its coverage to 1,300 live hours across TV and free-to-access digital platforms. It will also virtually continually broadcast coverage of the Games on its TV channel from 8 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. local time during the Paralympic Games.

The US is by no means the only nation where TV coverage of the Paralympics is more restricted. There are few countries, like India, where no TV broadcaster will broadcast live coverage of the Paralympics.

Ian Brittain, a Coventry University professor and specialist in the study of Paralympic sport, told CNN that “future potential athletes have no role models to show them what they are capable of at a time in their lives when most of society is telling them they are incapable of just about anything useful.”

No matter how successful the athlete is, sponsors are hesitant to spend because they believe their product or brand won’t receive the appropriate attention.

Additionally, it perpetuates the notion that individuals with disabilities are less significant and deserving of praise and attention than their counterparts without disabilities, thereby marginalising and excluding them from society at large.

In addition to receiving less attention from the media, the Paralympics’ lack of exposure might also contribute to viewers’ general disinterest. During the 2016 Games, 60 countries had greater search interest in the Paralympics than the United States, including Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Brazil, the United Kingdom, and Germany, according to statistics from Google Trends.

The quality and depth of China’s paraathlete squad presents another significant challenge to US dominance in the Paralympic Games.

According to Brittain, reform must begin “with government and spread out to everyone else in society,” as she stated to CNN. Additionally, it’s a lengthy procedure that won’t be finished in two weeks in 2028.

“Co-designed plans and resources with handicapped people must be implemented immediately, routinely reviewed and assessed, and resourced for the next 25–30 years,” he continued.

Is it possible for Team USA to develop even more and reclaim the top rank in Los Angeles, even if they did not finish first in the medal table in Paris?

Even if American supremacy in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s seems hard to imagine, there is still hope. “The US has come so far, and we still have so much further to go,” stated Duquette.

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