This week marks the start of the Paralympic Games in Tokyo. And while the audience for the games is large, equal treatment for the athletes has taken time. It took until this year for the Paralympics to be covered on prime-time television and for Paralympians to be paid comparably to their Olympic counterparts.
This year, over 4,000 athletes with a range of disabilities from all over the globe will compete in 28 Paralympic sports. Of course, it’s a little different during the pandemic.
Spectators are banned just as they were during the Olympic Games. Japan’s Covid-19 cases hit a record high just days before the opening ceremony.
We talk through what to expect this year and why it’s taken so long for the Paralympics to make it to prime time.
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