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Why are there so few Yanks at the Paralympics?

  • 03-09-2012 8:05pm
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 371 ✭✭


    Why are there so few Yanks at the Paralympics? Just curious on this one.


Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 16,102 ✭✭✭✭Pherekydes


    They have the third biggest team behind the hosts and China. The UK also had the largest team at the Olympics.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,029 ✭✭✭Pisco Sour


    Pherekydes wrote: »
    They have the third biggest team behind the hosts and China. The UK also had the largest team at the Olympics.

    Yet they are only 6th on the medals table and you dont see them winning a heap of medals in the sprints like you do at the Olympics. For example, there were no Americans in Jason Smyth's event.

    http://www.london2012.com/paralympics/medals/medal-count/

    It's a fair question IMO.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,817 ✭✭✭myflipflops


    Money.

    Sport is mainly a privately funded thing in the US and I suspect very little gets put into the Paralympics so they are relatively less successful than in the Olympics.

    I would guess there are more full time athletes on the Irish team than the US team.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,850 ✭✭✭pgmcpq


    You don't get the resources into the paraolympic sports that you do into regular sports - so it's not that the numbers participating are disproportionate - the lack of funding levels the playing field.

    Saying that one of the guys, Raymond Martin, who trains on the running track near our house has won 2 golds in 100m and 400m events.


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