By Brian Blom
Remember Brian McKeever, who powered his way to the gold medal in the 10-kilometre cross-country skiing event at Salt Lake City this year, becoming the first Canadian male to win two gold medals at the Games?
Or, how about Daniel Wesley, a west coast product who brought home a medal of each colour – gold in slalom, silver in Super G and bronze in downhill skiing?
And who could forget Calgary’s Karolina Wisniewska, who also captured three medals including a silver in the women’s giant slalom.
Do you recognize these names? Like most Canadians, you probably haven’t heard of this successful trio.
These are Canada’s most decorated athletes from the Paralympic Winter Games, held in Salt Lake City from March 7-16. After all those other athletes left town, the Paralympic Games kicked off. And the reality is, not many people heard much about this version of the Games.
In the wake of perhaps the most publicized Winter Olympics ever, Paralympians were largely ignored by the media. As a result, many great achievements went unnoticed.
How long will the Paralympic Games float in obscurity?
McKeever, for example, did something virtually unheard of in Canada’s history at the Games by earning gold twice.
The Ottawa Citizen ran a small article about his accomplishments on March 13, that happened to be tucked away on the seventh page of the sports section.
The front page of the sports section was devoted to a large photo of sexy tennis star Anna Kournikova, still without a singles title to her name, promoting her new Adidas ad.
If such a feat had come during the regular version of the Olympic Games, Wesley would have become a household name.
Little was made of the fact that Canadians finished sixth among 36 countries in total medals at the Paralympics, equaling their count from the 1998 games in Nagano with 15. But when Canada won 17 medals at the Olympics, the media made it out to be the greatest achievement in sports history.
When many Canadian athletes returned home from Salt Lake City, they were greeted by a mob of media and fans at the Calgary International Airport.
Our Paralympians? Do we even know if they’re home yet?
Paralympians worked just as hard as our traditional Olympians on the road to Salt Lake City. Their efforts were an accumulation of four years of hard work, and for many it paid off. Still, they were not awarded the coverage they rightfully deserved.
Following the Olympic Games, it seemed as though camera crews packed up and left. Newspaper coverage of the Paralympic Games was minimal, and similar to the Ottawa Citizen, most newspapers kept coverage a low priority.
Locally, little was mentioned of Jean Labonte, a member of the Canadian men’s sledge hockey team that went 1-2-2 in round robin play before falling 2-1 to Sweden in a bronze medal match that took two overtimes to decide. Not a gold medal, but a gold medal effort nonetheless.
Things must change for the 2004 Summer Games in Athens. Sponsors need to get on board to promote our disabled athletes, just as they sponsor our Olympic athletes. Critics might argue that they are not as marketable, but I disagree.
By sponsoring Paralympians, these athletes will become more recognizable to Canadians. In turn, the media will likely pay more attentionto them, increasing their public profiles.
Another solution is to hold the Olympic and Paralympic Games at the same time, at the same venue. Perhaps then Paralympians would be rewarded with the media exposure they deserve.
What’s certain, is that something needs to be done to improve on the poor publicity.
While the 2002 Paralympic Games may have been a success for the athletes, they were a failure for the fans because of the limited coverage.