AS THE long-awaited 2020 Paralympic Games gets under way today, Mencap has released a video from a group of people with learning disabilities highlighting their exclusion from the Games.
Currently athletes with a learning disability can only complete for 4% of gold medal chances in Tokyo, meaning fewer opportunities for representation of people with a learning disability on a world stage.
Ffion, Nigel, Michael, and Vijay – who all have a learning disability – joined forces to record their video about their frustration around the exclusion that athletes with a learning disability face.
The group – who are either athletes or big sports fan themselves – talk about the Spanish basketball team’s cheating scandal in 2000 that led to the 12 year ban of athletes with a learning disability and continued exclusion from many events now.
They also announce the launch of Mencap’s ‘Inclusion Games’ – an activity pack for people with a learning disability to try out Paralympics sports at home – and which includes everyone!
