Michael McEwan is a freelance journalist and disability campaigner who suffers from cerebral palsy and is calling for the Olympics and Paralympics to be merged.
It was a successful Commonwealth Games for Team Scotland Para athletes, celebrating a fantastic haul of 12 medals. This total surpassed the seven medals they won at the Games in Glasgow 2014, making Birmingham Scotland's most successful games of all time.
A total of 31 athletes went to the games to represent Team Scotland across seven sports, another all time record making up 12 per cent of total participation. This year was the most inclusive ever held with 46 medals events, meaning that Scottish athletes won nine per cent of all para sports medals.
This has led for calls for greater integration in the Olympics, although there is a difference between the Commonwealth and Olympic Games. Unlike the Paralympics games and other major sporting events, the para sports programme at the Commonwealth games is fully integrated.
That means there is no separate events or tickets for para sports events and a medal won by para athletes in the men's T54 wheelchair 1500m contributes to a nation's medal tally in exactly the same way as the men's 1500m. Events for athletes with a disability were first included in the Commonwealth Games programme as an exhibition sport at the Victoria 1994 games in Canada.
It was at the 2002 games in Manchester where the para athletes were fully integrated into their national teams, making them the first fully inclusive international multi-sport games. And it would be good to have para sports integrated in the Olympics. It would put para sports on the map more and would let the spectators and the general public see what people with a disability are capable of and forget about the disability they have. It would also encourage more people to take up sport. If it can work in the Commonwealth Games then why not the Olympics?
Well, according to the International Paralympics Committee (IPC) president Andrew Parsons, the Paralympics will remain a stand alone event "for the foreseeable future”. Parsons said: “I have seen some of the integration sports events and it’s positive and many people have said this is the future for the Olympic and Paralympic. But to be honest I don't think so.”
Stephen McGuire, who plays Boccia, said: “The Commonwealth Games is so much more than a multi sports event. It bridges the gap on equality and provides a platform. It’s a positive move for the Games movement and I champion para sports to play a huge part in future. I don't think the Paralympics and Olympics should be combined. Paralympics is a stand alone worldwide event with different value. As a Paralympics athlete I'm proud to represent my country and wouldn't want the vast heritage to come under threat by combining"
The 2024 Paralympics in Paris will have 549 medals events with around 4,400 athletes plus their support staff. Gavin McLeod, CEO of Scottish Disability Sport said: “In theory the two events together is great for inclusion but the merge would be beyond the capacity to cater for the size of those two Games. The quantity of the athletes and the complex nature of the various sports means it would be a massive undertaking and not very cost effective, so the practice would be problematic."
