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See the sport, not the disability:exploring the Paralympic paradoxD.E.J. Purdue a & P.D. Howe ba Peter Harrison Centre for Disability Sport, LoughboroughUniversity, Loughborough, Englandb School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, LoughboroughUniversity, Loughborough, EnglandVersion of record first published: 10 May 2012.

To cite this article: D.E.J. Purdue & P.D. Howe (2012): See the sport, not the disability: exploringthe Paralympic paradox, Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 4:2, 189-205

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See the sport, not the disability: exploring the Paralympicparadox

D.E.J. Purduea* and P.D. Howeb

aPeter Harrison Centre for Disability Sport, Loughborough University, Loughborough,England; bSchool of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University,Loughborough, England

(Received 25 August 2011; final version received 12 December 2011)

The Paralympic Games, a quadrennial global multi-sports competition forindividuals with certain impairments, has increasingly become the focus ofsocial scientific research. The aim of this paper is to explore the coexistence andsubsequent tension between social interpretations of disability and elite sport asarticulated in the context of the Paralympic Games. This is achieved throughexploring members’ of the Paralympic community social perceptions of athletesinvolved in this elite disability sport competition. Empirical evidence suggeststhat Paralympic stakeholders possess a variety of opinions regarding the way inwhich sport and disability have been and should be articulated at the ParalympicGames. We use Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus and capital to focus on the indi-vidual sportsperson’s body and the meanings derived and ascribed to it withinthe Paralympic Movement. In doing so, the authors develop the concept of theParalympic paradox, which is a tension created by the representation of a Paral-ympian as either an impaired athlete or an athlete (with a disability). This con-cept is a useful tool in actively critiquing the images perpetuated in bothmainstream and disability sports. In doing so, we are hopeful there will be agreater appreciation of elite disability sport on its own merits.

Keywords: body; disability; Paralympic; sociology; sport

Introduction

Tanni Grey-Thompson, Britain’s most celebrated Paralympian, has recently enteredthe debate surrounding the inclusion of South African double below the knee ampu-tee athlete Oscar Pistorius into the 2012 Olympic Games by stating ‘I don’t think itis about whether he has an advantage or disadvantage; he’s just too different’(Lewis 2011). A comment such as this, from a revered figure within Paralympicsport, highlights the confusion that many feel when reading and interpreting imagesgenerated around athletes with impairments. In this paper, we explore social percep-tions articulated by members’ of the Paralympic community about athletes involvedin this elite disability sport competition. We use Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus(Bourdieu 1977, 1984) and capital (Bourdieu and Wacquant 1992, Bourdieu 1997)to focus on the individual sportsperson’s body and the meanings derived andascribed to them within the Paralympic Movement. In doing so, the authors develop

*Corresponding author. Email: d.e.j.purdue@lboro.ac.uk

Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and HealthVol. 4, No. 2, July 2012, 189–205

ISSN 2159-676X print/ISSN 2159-6778 online� 2012 Taylor & Francishttp://dx.doi.org/10.1080/2159676X.2012.685102http://www.tandfonline.com

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the concept of the Paralympic paradox, a tension created by the representation ofthe Paralympian as either an impaired athlete or an athlete (with a disability).

Exploring Paralympic context using Bourdieu

The Paralympic Games is a quadrennial global multi-sports competition for individ-uals with certain impairments, organised by the International Paralympic Committee(IPC). IPC succinctly encapsulates the Paralympic Games through the statement,‘Today, the Paralympics are elite sport events for athletes with a disability. Theyemphasise, however, the participants’ athletic achievements rather than their disabil-ity’ (IPC 2011). Yet, within this simplistic comment lies a fundamentally complexissue that has ramifications for all involved in elite disability sport. As such in thispaper, we undertake a critical examination of social perceptions of Paralympianswhich are influenced by the messages IPC proliferate in pursuit of a higher publicand commercial profile for Paralympic sport.

To emphasise an athlete’s sporting prowess and their athletic achievements isarguably affected by their embodiment. Previous research has demonstrated thatindividuals have had their sporting performances framed within the context of a par-ticular facet of their identity; be that their gender (Hargreaves 2000), their race/eth-nicity (Hoberman 1997) and most relevant to this article their impairment (Mastroet al. 1996, Bertling and Schierl 2008, Howe 2008, Berger 2009). Indeed, someresearch has highlighted how two or more of these social attributes, such as femi-ninity and impairment (Hargreaves 2000) and masculinity and impairment (Sparkesand Smith 2003), can be influential in shaping our perceptions of an individual’sengagement with sport. Significantly, it has been reported that some consider dis-ability sport inferior to able-bodied sport (DePauw and Gavron 2005). This per-ceived inferiority may be attributable to the differences in the sportingperformances of individuals with impairments compared to able-bodied athletes. Forexample, in the sport of athletics, there are faster or greater ‘sporting’ performances,in terms of world record times and distances, by able-bodied athletes at the Olym-pic Games compared to those achieved by the majority competing at the ParalympicGames.1 This paper focuses on the complexities that emanate from the interactionof impairment and the elite sporting identity which the IPC wishes to emphasise(IPC 2011). In this endeavour, we draw upon the concepts of habitus (Bourdieu1977, 1984) and capital (Bourdieu and Wacquant 1992, Bourdieu 1997) as used byBourdieu to articulate the nexus between a body and the social environment sur-rounding it.

An individual’s competence and the resources at their disposal interact to gener-ate the social actors’ position in the world. Bourdieu (1984) states: ‘habitus is notonly a structuring structure, which organises practices and the perception of prac-tices, but also a structured structure … the perception of the social world is itselfthe product of internalisation of the division into social classes’. (p. 170). Thus,Bourdieu’s use of habitus attempts to articulate how an individual’s socialisationcauses social rules and structures to become embodied frames of reference whichinfluence behaviour, in a seemingly unconscious manner. Social classificationsbecome part of an individual’s habitus and shape how they react and relate to sub-sequent stimuli, events and people. Without seemingly conscious thought, an indi-vidual reacts to a situation because of the habitus they have developed through theirlife experiences. As Bourdieu (1977) explains, ‘the “unconscious” is never anything

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other than the forgetting of history which history itself produces by incorporatingthe objective structures it produces in the second natures of habitus’ (pp. 78–79).Individuals, while acting autonomously within social relations, remain tied andinfluenced by the social structures in which they have developed. In other words,habitus is the nexus between the decisions individuals make and the structured envi-ronment in which they are a part. Through this understanding of habitus we areable to firstly justify differential perceptions of Paralympians, as conceived byParalympic stakeholders’ habitus. Secondly, the reciprocal nature of habitus allowsus to appreciate how Paralympic stakeholders’ perceptions are a key part of con-stantly reshaping others’ habitus.

Bourdieu (1997) uses capital to explore issues of inter-relation, interdependenceand power struggles within social configurations. Reasons for two or more individu-als or groups to relate with each other are revealed through considering the flows ofcapital that are facilitated and/or prohibited by certain social relations. Social capitalis a frequently used commodity within social relations and according to Bourdieu(1997): ‘social capital is the aggregate of the actual or potential resources which arelinked to possession of a durable network of more or less institutionalised relation-ships of mutual acquaintance and recognition’ (p. 51). The initiation and mainte-nance of these social relations, i.e. the ownership of social capital, may entail theuse of financial resources (economic capital). This may be considered profitable ifeconomic expenditure translates into usable social capital for the individual and/orgroup.

An alternative form of capital, used by Bourdieu, to understand social relations,is cultural capital. Cultural capital refers to the valued tastes, consumption patternsand behaviours stemming from belonging to a certain group (Bourdieu 1997). Inparticular situations, it may be argued that social and cultural capital may each betransformed to generate economic capital, as often seen with athletes negotiatingemployment and sponsorship contracts. However, social and cultural capital canindependently also be perceived to be transformed into what Bourdieu refers to assymbolic capital. Symbolic capital is defined by Bourdieu and Wacquant (1992) as‘the form that one or another of these species [economic, social cultural capital]takes when it is grasped through categories of perception that recognize its specificlogic or, if you prefer, misrecognize the arbitrariness of its possession and accumu-lation’ (p. 119; italics in original). Together, habitus and multiple capitals act asanalytical tools with which to explore social perceptions of Paralympic athletes.

Social perceptions of Paralympic athletes

The IPC is arguably endeavouring to situate the Paralympic Games as an elitesports competition operating within a self-contained social vacuum. A vacuum inwhich social perceptions about differently impaired bodies are nullified by the asser-tion that Paralympians are athletes and their sport performances, not their individualimpairments, should take centre stage. For the IPC to promote and perpetuate thismessage requires others, including media, to endorse the conceptualisation thatimpairment is merely incidental, not influential, in Paralympic sport.

The IPC and Paralympic Games are operating within a highly saturated andheavily competitive market, where sports jockey for visibility and position withinthe media-sport production complex (Maguire 1999). Some may argue that impair-ment could be embraced by the IPC, in such a way that both begins to reconfigure

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our social understanding of individuals with a disability, as well as differentiatingthe Paralympic Games from the plethora of established able-bodied elite sportingcompetitions currently in existence. Others may call for Paralympians to be framedas athletes, with other aspects of their identity not being remarked upon. This maystem from the tendency for impairment to be the dominating aspect of an individ-ual’s with a disability identity. With regard to media coverage of Paralympic events,Hinds (2000) suggests media personnel who have attempted to report Paralympicsport in an informed and critical way, arguably in keeping with the coverage whichmainstream able-bodied sports receive, risk automatic censorship as they stray fromthe more palatable heart-breaking and feel-good stories about overcoming disability.Hence, athletes’ desire for respect and acknowledgement of their high performancesbecome subordinated beneath tragic-overcoming stories, rather than mainstreamsports reporting, as ‘the spotlight dwells on the reason for their [Paralympians’] eli-gibility [to compete]’ (Hinds 2000, p. 80). The apparent pre-occupation with dis-ability, rather than sporting achievement, is reaffirmed by Hilvoorde andLandeweerd (2008) who argue: ‘for many people in disability sport, the athlete isstill a “patient combating their limitations”, instead of an elite athlete with specifictalents or virtuosity’ (p. 108). Furthermore, Hilvoorde and Landeweerd (2008,p. 98) observe

there seems to be a sharp contrast between the athlete as a cultural hero and icon andthe disabled person that needs extra attention or care; the one incorporating the peakof normality, human functioning at its best, the other often representing the opposite.

Thus, the social appraisal of an individual with an impairment and that of an athleteis seen as contradictory, incompatible within the same body at the same time. Thisis problematic for the IPC and those wishing to market the Paralympic Games asan elite sports competition, which by design includes individuals with impairments.

The relationship between the physicality of the sporting body and the sociallyimperfect impaired body is complex and some may argue contradictory. Hughes(1999) asserts; ‘Perhaps there is some awkwardness and discomfort in watching ath-letes with some obvious disability perform. They pose the issue of otherness,reminding the sporting public that not all elite athletes have ideal physiques andattractive body shapes’ (p. 171). However, there is arguably a need to attempt torearticulate sporting bodies, if elite athletes with a disability are to have their high-level sporting performances acknowledged. The work of DePauw (1997) is helpfulin this regard.

DePauw (1997) provides a useful insight into the issue of disability and elitesport, by setting out a three tiered typology, relating to the visibility of disability insport. DePauw (1997, p. 424) states:

individuals with disabilities (a) have been invisible or excluded from sport (invisibilityof disability in sport), (b) have become visible in sport as disabled athletes (visibilityof disability in sport) and, (c) are increasingly becoming visible in sport as athletes[(in)Visibility of disAbility in sport].

The Paralympic Games is arguably an example of a vehicle which currentlyensures, as DePauw (1997) may term, the visibility of disability in sport in that it isa relatively high-profile global sports event for individuals with an impairment.

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Referring to the work of DePauw (1997), is (in)visibility of disability in sportthe desired outcome for a sporting competition such as the Paralympic Games thatonly includes athletes with a disability. DePauw (1997) defines (in)visibility of dis-ability in sport as a situation, whereby ‘athletes with disabilities are visible in sportas athletes or a time when an athlete’s disability is no longer visible’ (p. 425). Theresultant invisibility of disability may initially seem positive and evidence of attitu-dinal barriers being taken down. Yet, to do so, it could be argued would result indiscriminating and prejudicial attitudinal barriers being erected elsewhere. A barriercould feasibly develop between the new breed of individuals with impairmentsdeemed worthy of the label elite athlete and those individuals with a disability whodo not engage in regular, strenuous physical activity. Furthermore, among the Paral-ympic community, a schism could develop and deepen between those with lesssevere impairments, who closely mirror or gain acceptance as examples of elite ath-letic performance, and those more severely impaired sportspeople who do not fitthe mould.

If there is a thirst by the organisers of the Paralympic Games to achieveDePauw’s (1997) (in)Visibility of disability in sport; it is possible that the mostnoticeable markers of imperfect bodies, i.e. the ‘severely impaired’ may be culledfrom the Paralympic Games. This would represent a logical consequence as theideological separation of disability and sport within the Paralympic Movementbecomes a physical separation of bodies that are seen to represent elite sport, andthose that do not. Some work has already suggested that this separation, based ontype and severity of impairment, is already occurring (Howe 2008). Darcy andCashman (2008) state there exists an ‘ongoing debate about whether the Paralym-pics should display the range of disability sport or whether the event should be pro-moted as a spectacle of elite sport’ (p. 243). Hence, it is arguably being discussed,whether some impairments and/or disability sports are more conducive to the notionof elite sport than others. This discussion again points to the potential removal ofthose impaired bodies that do not ‘fit’ the elite (disability) sports events that theIPC is actively seeking to promote through the current manifestation of the Paral-ympic Games.

To take this argument to its logical conclusion leads to the extinction of theParalympic Games. This is because the Paralympic Games, as an elite sports eventdevoid of impairment, by definition is the Olympic Games. According to Hughes(1999, p. 171):

Paralympic philosophy was summarised at the opening ceremony of the 1992 Paral-ympic Games by Jose Maria Arroya: ‘I am sure that the social integration of the dis-abled, which we wish for in all fields, will spread naturally and inevitably to top levelsports competitions’. We can read into this a desire for the Paralympics of the futureto be totally integrated into the Olympic Games.

Is this the desired result for the IPC? These new integrated Games may perhaps berenamed the ‘real Olympics’ as the philosophy of Olympism is allegedly trulyshown by the inclusion of elite athletes with a disability (Landry 1995). However,it is important to question how this new sports event for all elite athletes (regardlessof impairment) will be organised. Classification of impaired athletes will still benecessary, hence how will the logistics of this event operate? Which impairedbodies will be allowed to compete, especially assuming the Olympic athlete

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population will not be reduced? Ultimately, if the Paralympic Games was devouredby the Olympics, this would have immense implications on the ability of (certain)disability groups to compete at the top level. Darcy and Cashman (2008, pp.233–234) highlight:

Dr Robert Steadward [IPC President (1989-2001)] had challenged such an approach[amalgamating Olympic and Paralympic athletes so the Paralympics become redun-dant] in a number of speeches in which he has maintained that the IPC needs to beconscious of the underlying philosophy of the Paralympics and continue to do morefor athletes with high support needs and maintain their presence in the Paralympics.

Thus, paradoxically in striving to achieve (in)Visibility of disability in sport couldresult in some impairment groups returning to a period of invisibility of disability insport. Therefore, is it instead more important, but also more complex, to desire asituation in which a transformation occurs in sport culture, whereby ‘we are able to“see” sport and athlete with a disability without seeing any contradiction’ (DePauw1997, p. 428; italics my emphasis). The complexity in articulating disability andsport as embodied within an elite athlete with a disability at the Paralympic Gameswill now be considered through what has been coined the Paralympic paradox.

Paralympic paradox

The complexity of elite disability sport is apparent when considering the dual rolethat Paralympians fulfil. Firstly, the desired reception of an impaired athlete’s per-formance, by an able-bodied audience, arguably focuses on valuing sportingachievement and performance, aside from disability. Deciphering the sporting per-formances of individuals with impairment in this way, may begin to breakdown thestigma of ‘otherness’ (Hughes 1999) which some able-bodied people may perceiveas inherent when viewing and/or interacting with a person with a disability. More-over, focusing on the sporting aspect of an individual’s identity, rather than theirdisability, could potentially empower persons with an impairment. This empower-ment could be accessible to both individuals with a disability who are physicallyactive and those who are not, as the concept of identity as a multi-dimensional bio-social construct is being highlighted, opposed to a reductive focus on impairment.

However, Paralympians are arguably also asked to play a second role. Thisrelates to the desired reception of the athlete’s with a disability performance by adisabled audience. In this instance the viewer, who themselves possesses an impair-ment, is encouraged to identify with the impairment the athlete has, while alsoappreciating their performance. This recognition of impairment and sporting perfor-mance, it may be hoped, could lead to the Paralympian becoming a credible rolemodel for other people with similar impairments (Joukowsky and Rothstein 2002).

Both of these roles and the corresponding scenarios could be considered benefi-cial outcomes for the profile of, and interest in, Paralympic sport as well as disabil-ity sport and the broader disability community. However, these dual roles of theelite athlete with a disability are at the heart of the Paralympic paradox.

Firstly, there is a fundamental need for able-bodied audiences to be able to iden-tify the Paralympian as possessing some form of impairment, to ensure the individ-ual is seen as a credible and justified member of a disability sport competition.Secondly, the more an impaired athlete’s disability is de-emphasised (the desiredreception of able-bodied audience), the more that those viewers with disabilities

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may become alienated from their own bodies and disability sport in general. Theathlete being viewed at the Paralympic Games may no longer act as a credible rolemodel for individuals with a disability, as they seemingly distance themselves fromparticular coalitions of disabled people.

In regard to this issue, some sociological research suggests elite athletes with adisability may already be distanced from the broader populous of individuals with adisability, as they do not identify as ‘disabled’ (Berger 2004, Huang and Brittain2006). Arguably, just as Olympic athletes may become considered detached fromthe general public, thus undermining their potential to act as role models; so tooParalympians risk being alienated from the population of impaired bodies who donot partake in regular, strenuous physical activity.

The potential for Paralympians to become ideologically uncoupled from individ-uals with impairments is apparent when, in regard to the Sydney 2000 ParalympicGames, Cashman and Thomson (2008, p. 140; italics my emphasis) comment:

while the [2000 Sydney Paralympic] Games helped changed (sic) attitudes towards theParalympics and Paralympians, such attitudes did not spill over to the disability com-munity more generally. It seems clear that such people had reservations about theParalympics and did not regard them as relevant to their situation.

Elsewhere, the distancing of Paralympians from other impaired bodies is apparent,when Berger (2004) cites wheelchair basketball player Melvin Juette’s assertionthat:

The two groups [elite disabled athletes and the non-sporting disabled] do not necessar-ily see themselves as sharing a commonality of interests. In fact, many of the [dis-abled] non-athletes do not even view the [elite disabled] athletes as disabled. (p. 806)

There is some evidence that ‘some [Paralympic] athletes are beginning to questionthe need to self-identify as disabled’ (Huang and Brittain 2006, p. 371). This disas-sociation is argued to stem from the elevated status given by identifying as an eliteathlete. Huang and Brittain (2006) report; ‘[elite] disability sport provides a possibleway out of the traps of negative identification … the recognition this [elite sport]affords them [the athletes] allows them to pin their dominant identity on that of anelite disabled athlete’ (p. 372). This is assuming that others support and endorse thisparticular interpretation of an impaired body and its belonging within elite sport.This paper sheds light on the apparent issues raised by the Paralympic paradoxusing data collected from Paralympic stakeholders’ comments about the status ofathletes in the Paralympic community.

Methods

Empirical data were generated through semi-structured interviews with Paralympicstakeholders, conducted as part of one of the author’s doctoral research. Individualswho have operated, continue to operate, and/or had experience of the ParalympicMovement were selected for interview. This research sought to identify individualswith the requisite knowledge through a key informant technique meaning: ‘individ-uals are chosen on the basis of specific knowledge that they possess, for examplethey may have a particular role or responsibility within an organisation’ (Grattonand Jones 2004, p. 104). Once the criteria for the sample had been identified, a list

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of desired interviewees was created and contacted via email. The key informanttechnique (Gratton and Jones 2004), which helped identify some of the key playersconnected with the Paralympic Movement, was supplemented with some snowballsampling in an effort to build a rich, qualitative data-set. Interviewees included cur-rent and former Paralympians, active and retired disability sport administrators aswell as social researchers of disability and disability sport. These categories are notmutually exclusive, with some individuals being, for example, former Paralympiansand disability sport administrators. Comments made during interviews wererecorded and transcribed verbatim. Interview transcripts were coded and analysed inaccordance with a grounded theory approach (Morse and Richards 2002). Data col-lection ceased after the collection of over 21 h of interviewee responses during 20interviews, at which point it was deemed ‘saturation’ had been reached as severalthemes had become apparent within the data-set.

These themes included three a priori themes namely; ‘purpose(s) of the Paralym-pic Games’, ‘suitability of impaired bodies as vehicles for elite disability sport’ and‘potential future developments of the Paralympic Movement’. One empirical themeemerged from the data-set during analysis entitled the ‘impact of the IOC’. Datafrom ‘purpose(s) of the Paralympic Games’ theme are discussed in this paper toanalyse the contestation between the prominence of disability and sport at the Paral-ympic Games.

Once allocated to a specific theme, the data were then critically explored usingaspects of Bourdieu’s sociological theory (Bourdieu 1977, 1984, 1997, Bourdieuand Wacquant 1992).

Findings

The empirical data collected from Paralympic stakeholders revealed competinginterpretations of the Paralympic Games. There was contestation between those whoperceived the Paralympic Games as elite sport and others who acknowledged a needto appreciate the Paralympic Games as an elite sport competition which wasunavoidably flavoured by the presence of impaired bodies.

The subsequent discussion of findings and results is arranged into two sections.Firstly, the viewpoint that the Paralympic Games is an elite sports event, to whichdisability should be largely ignored, is presented. Secondly, the complex social per-ception of appreciating the sporting achievements on show at the ParalympicGames, while also acknowledging the social concept of disability, is considered.

See the sport, not the disability

For some Paralympic stakeholders, the Paralympic Games was simply an elite (dis-ability) sport event. Daniel, a former Paralympic athlete with cerebral palsy whocompeted at four Paralympic Games, stated: ‘It’s [Paralympic Games] an outlet forhigh performance sport, for wonderful achievements. For a one legged man whojumps higher than a two legged female, for example. It should be about those sortsof things’. Hence, the purpose of the Paralympic Games expressed here is to exhibitthe sporting performances of impaired athletes. Edward, a two-time ParalympicGames seven-a-side footballer, commented the Paralympic Games should, ‘showand recognise and be a platform for people with disabilities to be involved in sportsas legitimate athletes competing to the highest level, on an even playing field’.

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The importance of the sporting achievements on show at the Paralympic Games,for Daniel and Edward means according to their habitus it is the sports perfor-mances of Paralympians which should give meaning to the Paralympic Games,opposed to the use of the Paralympic Games as a tool to serve other purposes, forexample, raising awareness of social issues experienced by disabled people. Thishabitus, their perception of the social world, can be viewed as the product of theinternalisation of societal divisions in classes which they have experienced, and areaware of (Bourdieu 1984). As former athletes, it may be argued within their habitusexists a desire for contemporary Paralympians to receive the praise that they them-selves sought from their own Paralympic performances. As social researchers theircontinued critical engagement in the social meanings surrounding Paralympic sportcontinues to significantly influence their habitus and guide their future engagementwith Paralympic sport.

If the Paralympic Games is to be seen as an elite sporting event, Jack, a formerParalympic wheelchair tennis player, commented on the need for the media to framecoverage of the Paralympic Games as sports stories, rather than personal intereststories:

it’s about the media not just making it an interest story; someone has fallen off theirhorse and 10 years later they’re riding for GB [Great Britain], it’s about this person isa sports person who happens to ride a horse and their doing this in their horsingcareer. It’s about making sure if there are [Paralympic] sport stories they are includedin sports pages and not in the general interest or ‘isn’t it nice you’re doing something’kind of attitude.

The technique of framing a media article about a Paralympian’s sporting prowess asan interest, rather than sports, story can again be seen as significant when shapingthe social perceptions of the Paralympic Games (Schell and Rodriguez 2001). Theassertion being that to frame and position, a media article about a Paralympianwithin the context of sport will increase their perceived legitimacy as an elite ath-letic performer. Inevitably, however, at some point that individual’s reason for com-peting in the Paralympic, rather than the Olympic, Games will be mentioned. Atthis point, it is debateable as to whether the audience’s attention remains on the rea-son for competing rather than the details of the sporting achievement (Hinds 2000).During interviews, the belief that the purpose of the Paralympic Games is to stageand promote elite athletic performances by athletes with a disability was oftenexpressed, when the interviewer suggested that the Paralympic Games could per-haps be used to address the social issues faced by disabled people. For example,when talking with Daniel:

Interviewer: Do you feel the Paralympic Games is an appropriate and important stageon which to discuss social issues that individuals with an impairmentface?

Daniel: No I don’t, because it should be about the sport and it should be aboutimperfect bodies showing how well they can engage in sporting practicesand that’s the tensions that exist between disability scholars and myselfand scholars of disability sport. So, the likes of [named disability rightsscholar] for example, would argue the Paralympic Games should be aplatform for these sorts of discussions, but I don’t believe they should …if it [Paralympic Games] is going to be about the sport and sport is all

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that matters, you can’t have it as a vehicle [for social change], it can’t beeverything to the [disability rights] movement, it can’t be everything todisabled people.

Hence, the specificity of capital (Bourdieu 1997) is being emphasised by Daniel. Inhis opinion, the Paralympic Games cannot serve a variety of purposes successfully.Here, a clear demarcation is being sought between elite sport and social issues suchas disability rights. Yet, with regard to Olympic sport, its status as a premier globalelite sports event is not seemingly tarnished or devalued, indeed perhaps the oppo-site, by the apparent sporting and social legacy which London 2012 will purport-edly leave many years after the closing ceremony (Culf 2006). The expenseincurred through bidding for, and staging, the Olympic and Paralympic Games isarguably justified by the profits, as understood by Bourdieu (i.e. economic, culturaland social capital), which are yielded and extend beyond the confines of the sport-ing venue. This sentiment is seemingly being supported by Lord Coe’s commentsthat: ‘Legacy is probably nine-tenths of what this process [hosting Olympic Games]is about, not just 16 days of Olympic sport’ (Culf 2006).

During discussion with Jerry, a current British wheelchair basketball player andwinner of a bronze medal as part of the British Men’s wheelchair basketball team atthe Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, he too stated his desire for the ParalympicGames to be seen as a stage on which top level athletes with a disability are thefocus, not the social issues faced by disabled people:

Interviewer: In your opinion what is the purpose of the Paralympic Games?

Jerry: It’s for the elite disabled athletes to put on a sporting event and see whois the best in the world.

Interviewer: Do you think the Paralympic Games is an appropriate and important stageon which the social issues faced by individuals with impairments shouldbe raised, for example the need for more accessible environments?

Jerry: In my opinion no, in my opinion it’s a sporting event, we did get askedquestions about disability rights out there [at Beijing 2008 ParalympicGames] and we just don’t comment on them. That’s not what we’re therefor. We’re competing in elite sport to find out which team is the best in theworld … I think certainly since Beijing [2008 Paralympic Games] what[media] coverage we saw it was about the sport and not about anythingelse, so hopefully going into London [2012] it will be all about sport.

This response may be symptomatic of an athlete who does not want to risk their cul-tural capital as a Paralympian being ideologically hijacked, and or devalued, by com-peting interpretations of the value of the social, cultural and symbolic capital derivedfrom competing at the Paralympic Games. The importance of being recognised as anathlete was also apparent when talking with Michelle, an individual with cerebralpalsy who competed as a swimmer at the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games. Duringinterview, Michelle commented, ‘I think as an athlete you want to be recognised asan athlete … I think probably first and foremost you want your identity, subjectivityto be recognised as an athlete for your athletic pursuits’. However, appreciating thepotential for the Paralympic Games to fulfil other uses Michelle, who was undertak-ing social research into Paralympic sport, went onto state that:

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I think from an athlete’s perspective it [Paralympic Games] is first and foremost asport event competition. But that said I do think it does possess the potential [to raiseawareness of disability-related social issues] … am I just trying to see possibilities thatI want to see, you know, you want it to change attitudes, perceptions of disability.

The importance of Michelle’s status as a former, rather than current, Paralympicathlete is perhaps pertinent and influential in regard to her opinion on this matter.Her habitus represents a culmination of many experiences of Paralympic sport as anathlete, volunteer and social researcher (Bourdieu 1984). It is perhaps through occu-pying these different positions that Michelle is able and/or wants to view the poten-tial for the Paralympic Games to be used for more than just sporting purposes,compared to, for example, a current athlete such as Jerry. However, both Danieland Edward have retired from competing as Paralympians and yet, still desire theParalympic Games to be seen as an elite sports event for individuals with animpairment, where the sole focus is on recognising elite sporting performance. Dif-ferences in opinion here emphasise the importance of individual habitus and remindsocial researchers to refrain from generalised assertions, which fail to appreciate thecapacity for differential individual interpretation and a multiplicity of habitus. Thisdifference in opinions was borne out by several Paralympic stakeholders stating thatdisability had an effect upon the way they felt the Paralympic Games was andshould be perceived, an assertion that will now be addressed.

See the sport and the disability

Several Paralympic stakeholders emphasised the importance of disability in theirexperiences of Paralympic sport. The origins of the Paralympic Movement arguablyfocused on rehabilitation rather than sport for sport’s sake (Guttmann 1976,Anderson 2003, Bailey 2008). From the data collected it should not be overlookedthat even today the Paralympic Games may still be viewed, by some, as primarily arehabilitative tool. As such disability is clearly centre stage, with Paralympic eventsless akin to sporting practice, and instead subordinated to a form of organised thera-peutic exercise. The emphasis on rehabilitation rather than sport was apparent toDonald, an able-bodied social researcher of Paralympic sport actively involved inthe administration of Paralympic sport through his work with a national Paralympiccommittee. Donald commented: ‘from being at the Paralympic Games, and some ofthe comments made by people, I think some people still think it’s very much aboutrehabilitation, so because of that it’s not necessarily seen as elite sport’. Throughfailing to identify as an elite sporting event Paralympians fail to access and accumu-late the symbolic capital (Bourdieu and Wacquant 1992) that stems from being per-ceived as an elite sporting performer. Thus, Paralympians’ identities are perceivedto stem from being recipients of rehabilitation, not primarily as athletes operating atan elite disability sport competition. Hence, the focus truly remains upon disability,rather than sport; the Paralympian remains ‘a patient combating their limitations’(Hilvoorde and Landeweerd 2008, p. 108).

However, through ascribing to a subjective ontological perspective of knowl-edge, it is arguably possible for the same Paralympic Games to be perceived to pos-sess different purposes at the same time, as individuals have different habitus(Bourdieu 1977, 1984) and occupy different vantage points from which to view theParalympic Games and society more broadly.

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The Paralympic Games was seen by many as more than just elite sport, it waselite disability sport. Social perceptions of disability influenced individuals’ experi-ences of Paralympic sport. For some, the purpose of the Paralympic Games wasto show impaired bodies producing sporting performances which can be inter-preted differently to athletic performances achieved by able-bodied athletes. Thisperceived difference between able-bodied and disabled sport was identified by sev-eral interviewees as a key reason for being involved in Paralympic sport. Donaldcommented:

People ask why, why am I researching disability sport. Why not American football orsomething like that. I mean these guys [Paralympians] they’re not there to set them-selves up financially for the rest of their life (sic). But the passion they have, they’repassionate even if they don’t get seen as achieving an elite result, they’re still brilliantathletes. I like that against all odds approach, it’s what attracted me to the sport and Ithink that’s what helps get other people involved.

Thus in this instance, the relative lack of economic capital available to Paralympi-ans, compared to some able-bodied sportsmen/women, is not deemed to be devalu-ing or detrimental to enjoying the sporting performances generated at theParalympic Games. Indeed, it may be argued that for some observers, these lesseconomically valued performances actually represent a purer form of sport. Somemay perceive that monetary rewards (economic capital) have not been permitted totaint and corrupt the sporting performances on show at the Paralympic Games. Assuch, Paralympians’ performances could be perceived as the legitimate example ofsporting endeavour; not driven to perform for selfish financial conquest, but for theemotional passion of sporting competition.

Of course as many national Paralympic committees select and financially sup-port athletes who are most likely to win medals, the amateur ideal is increas-ingly becoming an historic artefact within disability sport (Howe 2008).Furthermore, the issue of payments to players for their time and efforts devotedto sporting performances can be argued in several ways. It may be suggestedeconomic capital debases the morally enriching pursuit of sporting performanceas the pursuit of sporting victory becomes infact a pursuit of economic wealth.This reductive argument, however, fails to appreciate the multiple forms of capi-tal available (Bourdieu 1997). Alternatively, it may be argued that economic pay-ments enable individuals to improve their financial situation and gain socialmobility in such a manner which ensures sport is not solely a pursuit for theruling elite. Economic capital disparities, between sporting movements (such asthe Olympic and Paralympic Movements) and athletes within the same sport,clearly provide another gateway for future research into the social perceptions ofsporting bodies.

Another component of the data-set was the emphasis placed upon emotion.Some individuals cited emotion as a key reason for interacting with Paralympicsport. Barry, an able-bodied former athletics coach and administrator in blind sport,commented:

there is another appeal to Paralympic sport which is really quite moving and upliftingand that is the spectacle of people struggling with impairment to perform as perform-ers, as athletes. That can be quite moving. It’s a bigger emotional charge I think thanyou get in the Olympic Games.

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Hence, there appears to be some significant, intangible and emotional appeal towardParalympic sport based on the overt presence of impairment. Predominantly, thinkingabout athletics, there are faster or greater ‘sporting’ performances, in terms of worldrecord times and distances, for events at the Olympic Games compared to the Paral-ympic Games.1 Yet, Barry and others revealed that the performances achieved at theParalympic Games are perceived by some as more enjoyable, arguably pointing tothe perceived added value attributed to watching individuals possessing an impair-ment perform sport. The presence of an impairment provides another aspect to Paral-ympians’ performances for these spectators. It was argued that this emotive draw toParalympic sport, focused on impairment, is soon superseded by an appreciation ofthe sporting performances in their own right. Trevor, an able-bodied administratoractively involved in organising the London 2012 Paralympic Games, states:

Most people who see Paralympic sport for the first time do so from an emotionalangle. But then overtime they start to lose sight of the disability and start to see sportin its own right, and I’ve taken hundreds of people into that situation over many yearsand seen that happen to them.

For some individuals this sporting, opposed to explicit corporeal, focus is deemed amore appropriate and desirable form of sporting spectatorship. This is because thefocus on impairment can be perceived as distasteful and patronising as a Paralym-pian’s physicality, not their achievements, is centre of attention. Jack, talking aboutmedia coverage of Paralympic athletes that focuses on their impairment, stated: ‘Ifyou’ve got a disability that’s part of your life, and I do find the media slightlypatronising and condescending to some of the athletes’. The perceived patronisingof Paralympic athletes by the media was also highlighted by Nathan, who acquireda spinal cord injury and is currently a social researcher of disability and disabilitytheory. Nathan stated:

I often feel the Paralympics is shown as ‘after the lord mayor’s show2’. This willsound crude, but occasionally when I read some of the media and listen to peopletalking about it they’re almost discussing it in a way that they would discuss a poodlewalking on its hind legs.

Here, Nathan is expressing how the Paralympic Games can be viewed as a sourceof novel entertainment based on differences in physicality; a sporting circus full ofcurious bodies (Gilbert and Schantz 2008). This image of the Paralympic Gamesmay provide economic capital, but seemingly lacks respect for impaired bodies, nul-lifying the capability of impaired athletes to convert their cultural capital as a Paral-ympian into the legitimate symbolic capital afforded to other widely recognisedelite sports performers.

The variable importance of talking about impairment in the context of an indi-vidual’s sporting achievements was apparent during discussion with Patrick, a singleleg amputee administrator of sport for individuals with an impairment, who stated:

when people have an accident, some people, for whatever reason, just fade away,don’t do anything. For people who are born with that disability they know nothingelse. For me prior to my accident I could run, I could jump, I could play football, thatwas my life. Now for people who have congenital [impairment(s)], that is their life.They don’t adjust in terms of somebody who has had an accident, somebody who hasgot to learn to walk again, somebody who may well be in a chair, may be paralysed.

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So it’s a massive, massive shift change. Not saying it’s any easier at all, but it’s amassive shift change.

Here, Patrick highlights how for some individuals with an acquired impairment theParalympic Games may be perceived as inspiration to aid them during their read-justment to impairment. Other individuals with congenital impairments may per-ceive the assertion that impairment is something that needs to be adjusted to or‘overcome’ as facile and condescending. Individuals with congenital impairmentsmay feel they are not ‘overcoming’, but merely living their life in accordance withthe opportunities and constraints afforded to them by nature and nurture, like all liv-ing organisms.

Interestingly, the complexity of elite disability sport surfaced during conversa-tion with Abigail, a former wheelchair basketball player at the 2000 Sydney Paral-ympic Games. Abigail perceived the media’s focus on her physicality, rather thanher sporting achievements, as derisory and undesirable:

I can remember the first sort of press releases and stuff I had done. They were sopatronising. It was brave [name of athlete] does this and that, and you’re like ‘no’! Itwas all about that kind of sob story and I’m like ‘no, I don’t want that, I’m playing asport and I’m training hard, that’s the message’.

While expressing this desire for people to emphasise her sport and to ignore herimpairment, Abigail later stated somewhat contradictorily;

I think people need to see it’s not straight forward. It’s not as easy as being an able-bodied athlete, because you’ve got all sorts of things to take into account … you wantpeople to have an understanding of the disability but you want people to see the sportfirst.

Hence, Abigail arguably perceives it is important that recognition of impairmentand sporting achievement is achieved, to some extent in Paralympic sport. Hereperhaps she is asking us to ‘“see” sport and athlete with a disability without seeingany contradiction’ (DePauw 1997, p. 428). Notable here though is the call for theappreciation of sport and disability, not the simplistic subordination of one by theother which further disenfranchises individuals who wish to partake in sport, includ-ing those elite athletes with a disability competing at the Paralympic Games. Anunderstanding of disability in the context of sport gives us a better appreciation ofhow we socially construct our understandings of what disability and sport mean,and represent, within our society.

Conclusion

This paper begins to shed light on the complexities that exist when socially critiqu-ing an elite disability sport competition such as the Paralympic Games. Empiricalevidence suggests that Paralympic stakeholders possess a variety of opinions regard-ing the way in which sport and disability are and/or should be articulated at theParalympic Games. While some have expressed they believe the Paralympic Gamesshould be seen as an elite sports event, others have highlighted the important rolethat they feel disability plays in giving meaning and value to Paralympicperformances. The apparent incompatibility between certain bodies that are deemed

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impaired and identifying as an elite athlete should not lead to call for us to selec-tively attend to the sport and somehow not see the body performing that sport.

From a Bourdieusian perspective, the Paralympic paradox can be viewed as amanifestation of the complex interaction between the multi-dimensional habitus andthe possession and pursuit and exchange of multiple forms of capital. TheParalympic paradox is clearly significant in regard to the pursuit of economic capi-tal stemming from legitimised sporting performances ascribed with symbolic capital.This arguably leads to a subordination of certain bodies within the ParalympicMovement, irrespective of their possession of cultural capital stemming from beinga Paralympian. As such, the Paralympic paradox carries with it the prospect of pro-liferating a hierarchical structure, which in turn becomes an embodied frame of ref-erence within our habitus. As such, the Paralympic paradox is highly significant inunderstanding the socio-cultural context in which disability and sport are articulatedat the Paralympic Games.

The impaired body, in all its different configurations, should not be treated asthe social pariah of the elite sporting world which accommodates a range of able-bodies, be they tall, short, male, female, white, non-white, lean or so muscular tothe extent they can be classified as clinically obese (Monaghan 2007). The impor-tance lies in seeing all bodies in the context of the sport in which they compete.All bodies possess limitations, even so called able bodies. It is important to appreci-ate elite disability sport on its own merits, just as sports fans do across the diversespectrum of sporting practice that we have socially constructed overtime and engagewith today.

AcknowledgementsThe authors would like to express their gratitude towards members of the Paralympiccommunity for their significant insights. Thanks also to the constructive comments receivedfrom the anonymous reviewers of previous versions of this paper.

Notes1. Some exceptions to this rule do apply, for example the able-bodied men’s 800m world

record is 1:41.01 (see International Association of Athletics Federation 2010), slowerthan the Men’s T54 800m world record of 1:32.17 (see IPC 2010).

2. The Lord Mayor’s Show is an annual three mile long procession conducted along thestreets of the City of London, England in early November. It has been held for nearlyeight hundred years and is a ceremonial public festival that marks the inauguration of anew Lord Mayor. For more information, please see: http://www.lordmayorsshow.org/introduction.

Notes on contributorsD.E.J. Purdue is a research associate in the Peter Harrison Centre for Disability Sport basedin the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences at Loughborough University. In thisrole, he currently undertakes social research in the broad area of physical activity, health anddisability sport.

P.D. Howe is senior lecturer in the Anthropology of Sport in the School of Sport, Exerciseand Health Sciences at Loughborough University. His research interests relate to theimpaired sporting body, health and identity; and secondly the relationship between thesporting body, professionalism and medicine. He is author of Sport, professionalism andpain: ethnographies of injury and risk (Routledge, 2004) and The cultural politics of theparalympic movement: through the anthropological lens (Routledge, 2008).

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