Saturday, September 1, 2012

Shameful

It has come to my attention that the coverage of the Paralympic Games in Canada is just absolutely atrocious. People in Canada who want to watch athletes are not able to due so due to   the very large lack of Paralympic coverage, and, this is unacceptable.
When I was competing, I knew that the TV air time that the Paralympic Games got was very minimal, but when you are focusing on being the best you can be, some things just slip by. You just don't have the time and energy to fight every battle. Now that I'm not competing, I have a lot of time and energy to devote to this battle and I am prepared to make a lot of noise.
The lack of coverage just completely boggles my mind. Here we are in 2012. There is no excuse people! None! Some people claim that the Paralympics aren't viewer friendly.
Really?
Tell that to the sold out stadium at the track heats yesterday morning. And that was just for heats!!!!
Again, really?
Tell that to the swimmers who set at least three world records just last night. Even more were broken the night before. Please tell me if I'm missing something, but when three swimmers come into the wall, less than a half a second apart for gold, silver and bronze, that is viewer friendly.
Sure, some of the classifications can be a bit confusing, but at least attempt to make that information accessible to the general public. There are  informational videos available on the main networks websites  carrying the Paralympics and even more on the various Paralympic youtube channels. In an era of social media, there is absolutely no excuse for the Paralympic Games to be ignored by large broadcasting companies.
The most amazing part to me is that Canada already has seven medals, just after day two, and most of the country has absolutely no idea that such a high calibre of athlete is representing their country. This lack of awareness is  because the TV networks' coverage is horrendous.
The Paralympic Games are the second largest sporting event in the world, coming second only to the Olympics. How is it even possible that there is barely any coverage? As a Canadian and a  former Paralympic athlete who was proud to represent her country,  I am ashamed of our media and their lack of attention to the Paralympic Games.

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