Paralympics

After all the hype surrounding the Olympics who has been following the Paralympics? After all the pages of press Team GB got for their medal haul in Beijing many people are unaware that our Paralympians have already amassed a staggering 42 Golds, 29 Silvers and 31 Bronzes outshining the success of the Olympics.

You won’t see our Paralympic team on the front of every paper when they come back, you won’t get people rushing to see them off the plane and you won’t get people saying they should get Knighthoods, but why is this? Are they less worthy of our support and adulation? NO! If anything they are more worthy as their determination and inner strength is greater than any regular Olympian.

What’s it going to be like when it is in our country in 2012 are companies like the BBC going to make more of an effort to show it just because it is in our backyard and then revert back to their old style of coverage when it goes to another country? When the Olympics were on every time you put on the TV there was something on, when you were eating your breakfast something was on, when you were eating your lunch something was on and when you were eating your tea something was on. Now if you want to watch the Paralympics there is one, one hour show every evening but not on BBC 1 as it is has been demoted to BBC 2.

In a day and age where we should all be equal and not look at someone’s disability, race or physical appearance before the actual person inside, the media seem to be in the stone age as it treats the Paralympics like a second rate sporting event. It’s the media that have so much impact on the way we react and treat each other and with them sending these messages it’s not helping us as a society and the way we treat people.

Have you been watching the Paralympics? We would love to know your thoughts on the event and you can share them by going to:

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=559

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"
”Shaking up the Youth of Today”

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

The Olympics

After much press and politics surrounding the Olympics it finally kicked off last Friday with another brilliant and interesting opening ceremony. In this blog I am going to be talking about my thoughts on the Olympics as a whole and not about the rights or wrongs of holding this years event in Beijing.

I have always been a fan of the Olympics because it is one of the very few sporting events left which is not about celebrities. Yes some people go on to fame after success in the Olympics but for the main they are hardworking everyday people who have dedicated themselves to their sport and sacrificed a lot to be there. These are people that the countries can really get behind and identify with.

The other reason I like the Olympics is because it brings sports that don’t get much media attention in to the spotlight, sports you wouldn’t normally see on a sports channel or featured on the back page of a newspaper like Canoeing or Badminton. On the flipside however I’m not a fan of them having sports like football and tennis in which feature professional athletes who get huge sums of money every year. To me the Olympics should be about putting the spotlight on those athletes that don’t get the chance to make much money or get much notoriety.

The Olympics also provides us with a great chance to get behind our home countries and brings the country together as the Olympics spills in to everyday conversation. If your country is doing well it also gives you the feel good factor which makes the country a nicer place to live in.

Above all the Olympics is inspirational. It exposes young people to new and different sports. If your country does well at a sport it encourages lots of people to take it up. For any young sportsmen and women there is nothing more inspiring than watching the Olympics with the opening parades, the support and podium ceremonies.

I hope this Olympics encourages more and more young people to get in to sport.

Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"
”Shaking up the Youth of Today”

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com