Stop the Paralympics - Nobody needs it

Away from the world's glare, the Paralympics Games are now taking place silently in Beijing.

The Paralympic Games, or parallel Olympics, is for athletes with physical, mental, and sensorial disabilities. Conducted after olympics, at the same venue, it is taking place right now (from September 06 to September 17th) in Beijing.

The 2008 Beijing Olympics was in media spotlight even before it started. And after it started, it boasted of a magnificient opening ceremony and an equally colourfull closing ceremony.

But Paralympics is not so fortunate. Even though it is taking place in the same country, the same city and the same venue, it lacked the spectacular fireworks, breath taking ceremonies and the flocking media. It does not even attract a tenth of Olympic's curiosity. The media dumped it and the world is no way interested in it. While the world celbrated Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt, they ignored du Toit Natalie and Cowdrey Matthew.

The games remind me of small kids. The big boys won't let them use the main ground. So the smaller kids have to wait till the big boys are gone. But the big boys would leave only when it gets dark. The spectators too would be gone by then. No one is left to watch the smaller boys. No one to cheer them.

With Paralympics, are they not being told to go and play in that corner ?

Now what is preventing the organizers from conducting Paralympic events along with normal olympic events ?

Olympic boxing has many categories - fly weight, light weight and heavy weight etc., each according to the weight of boxers. A heavy weight boxer is not allowed to compete with a lightweight boxer. The boxing items are categorized so that a heavy person do not take advantage by competing against a light weight person.

So why not do the same with other events ? Let Paralympic categories be a part of olympic events and let it be conducted just like boxing.

So instead of pushing them to a corner and letting them play all alone, they will be getting a chance to share the stage.

Let us start the campaign so that the paralympic games gets accomodated in the Olympic feathers.