No 2018 repeat: Paralympics will not share spotlight in Brisbane 2032
The International Paralympic Committee has no intention of following the Commonwealth Games' lead and combining with the Olympics, the head of the organisation insisted as he visited 2032 host city Brisbane on Wednesday.
Para sports were held alongside able-bodied sports at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, the previous major multi-sport event held in south-east Queensland, meaning spectators saw both competitions with a single ticket.
It was lauded at the time, but IPC president Andrew Parsons said it was important the Paralympic Games remained a totally separate event to the Olympics.
'The Paralympic Games is the only event of global impact that puts persons with disabilities centre-stage,' he said.
'You think sport, in art and culture, in politics, economics, any type of event – the Paralympic Games is the only one. So we cannot change, we cannot lose that platform.
'We have to have that platform so we can advance the agenda of persons with disability.'
Central to that agenda, Parsons said, was accessibility, and while Brisbane was already out of the blocks on that front, the 2032 host city still had some way to go – as did 'every city in the world'.
'We had the example of Tokyo, where 70 per cent of their transport system was accessible – even before the bid – and they went the extra mile,' he said.
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