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Inclusiveness at the 2002 Commonwealth Games
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Photo: © Manchester 2002 Ltd.
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From July 25 to August 4, the XVII 2002 Commonwealth Games
took place in Manchester.They have been praised as the best
Commonwealth Games ever and the most successful multisport
event ever held in Great Britain.
What made these Games special? From a Paralympic Family
perspective, it was the involvement of inclusive events for elite
athletes with a disability (EAD) into the general sports programme
and as regular members of their delegations.There were ten
medal events across five sports (Athletics, Lawn Bowls, Powerlifting,
Swimming and Table Tennis) on the programme and
about 130 elite athletes with a disability were present.
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What then were the highs and lows? Among the highs was the
fact that the EAD group and the events were not separated out
for ‘special’ treatment – they just flowed along with the rest of
the programme.To see Adekunie Adesoji (Nigeria) compete in
the 100m final in front of a packed stadium and win in a time of
10.74sec was breathtaking.To watch Natalie du Toit (South Africa)
not only win the two gold medals for the EAD swim events but
make the finals of the non-EAD programme too, was overwhelming.
She was also honoured as the recipient of the David Dixon
Award as the most outstanding athlete of the Games.
It is always better to talk about the highs after such a success but there
was one significant low worth referring to.The inclusivity of the EAD
group into the delegations was in a number of cases cosmetic.That is,
it gave the semblance of one team but the reality was often something
different.There is a great deal of work to be done in this area.
From an athlete services perspective, the one area where our planning
was found wanting was in meeting the needs of athletes with
severe ambulant difficulties.Those who have severe difficulties
walking had some problems with the distances even within the confines
of a very compact Village.We rose to that particular challenge
by providing wheelchairs for those who wanted them, rest places
with benches and also a golf buggy service around the longer routes.
In Manchester,we did not set out to fight for a political or social
principle but with the specific objective of enhancing the Commonwealth
Games. Our reasoning was that the Paralympic
Games have shown themselves over recent years to be equal
to any world multi-sports event in terms of sporting excellence.
The athletes do not need to beg for inclusion, they have something
unique and valuable to offer.
So in July,Manchester 2002 was named the Inclusive Games in
every aspect of the organisation and presentation. In the opinion
of everyone (who matters) in the world’s press, we met our goal
as this event really did enhance the reputation of the XVII Commonwealth
Games and that of the athletes who demonstrated
beyond doubt that they deserved to be there.
Tony Sainsbury
Village Operation Centre Manager
  
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