Category: Paralympic Games
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It’s Time for Participation to Receive its Fair Share of the Sports Funding Pie
Greg Blood The cost-of-living crisis in Australia has the likelihood of decreasing participation in sport and fitness activities. This follows on from the impact of COVID on sport participation. Traditionally Federal Government funding has been directed more heavily towards high performance i.e., success of Australian athletes and teams on the international sporting arena. Is it…
australiansportreflections
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Athlete Entry Fees And The Creation Of The Oceania Paralympic Committee – Two Different But Lasting Dividends Of The Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games
By Greg Hartung AO History of Australian Sports Policy Series: Part 27 The purpose of this chapter is to consider two issues which made an important imprint on the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games legacy. The first concerns the vexed question of entry fees applied to teams to enter the Games; the second relates to the…
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The Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games Was Rocket Fuel For Athletes With A Disability…The Spectacular Success of Sydney Became a Turning Point for the Paralympic Movement
By Greg Hartung AO History of Australian Sport Policy Series: Part 26 Transformation The Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games has been described as the “benchmark” Games for the Paralympic Movement. This is true in many respects, but not all. Coming off a low base from the Atlanta Games four years earlier, the Sydney Games were undoubtedly…
australiansportreflections
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The Fight To Be Heard! How Athletes With A Disability Made Their Way In Australian Sport…defeat was never an option for our pioneers
History of Australian Sport Policy series: Part 25 By Greg Hartung AO Partners in the long campaign The pioneers who advanced the interests of people with disabilities in sport during the 1970s and early 1980s were the members of the government-appointed National Committee on Sport and Recreation for the Disabled (NCSRD) and the non-government Australian…
australiansportreflections
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Paralympians Join the Mainstream – Australian Paralympic Committee Brings in Reform Across Sport
History of Australian Sport Policy Series: Part 23 By Greg Hartung AO “Mainstreaming” was a fundamental and necessary policy reform on the long journey to win durable outcomes for athletes with a disability and the Paralympic movement. Designed and promoted by the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) in the period before and after the Sydney 2000…
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From Sporting Cripples to Powerful Advocates – How the Paralympic Movement Arrived at its Alcott Moment.
By Greg Blood and Tony Naar The announcement of Dylan Alcott as 2022 Australian of the Year is a significant milestone. Alcott became the first Australian with a visible disability to be awarded this honour. Not only that, but Alcott is a Paralympian, the first to be honoured as Australian of the Year in the…
australiansportreflections
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Reflecting on Australian Sport in 2021 – Another Year of Living with Covid
By Greg Blood 2021 was another difficult year for athletes, coaches and administrators. It is worthwhile documenting how Australian sport managed the many obstacles thrown up by COVID and the achievements of Australian athletes and teams. A major change during 2021 has been Sport Integrity Australia taking charge of major integrity issues that have beset…
australiansportreflections
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Australian First Female Paralympic Marathon Gold Medallist: Jan Randles Journey
By Jan Randles I was born on the 23rd of August 1945 in Melbourne, Australia. In 1974, while enjoying a very successful career as an Advertising Art Director both in Melbourne and overseas, I went to Bali on a holiday, where I fell off a motor bike down a cliff and broke my back. Looking…
australiansportreflections
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2000 Sydney Olympic and Paralympic Games Power Brokers: Why to Expect Many Changes in 2032 Brisbane’s Journey
By Greg Blood It is just over ten years until the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Brisbane and South East Queensland. If the 2000 Sydney Games are any guide, there will be significant turnover of political and administrative power brokers over this period. Documented are the power broker changes during the lead up – 1993…
australiansportreflections
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Australian Paralympic Mob at Tokyo 2020: Review of Performances, Funding and Contribution to Sport and Society
By Greg Blood Australian Paralympic Mob’s successful but extremely challenging Tokyo campaign has finished. Their journeys were well told by the media during the Games. It is worthwhile reflecting on their performances, funding and future development. In a previous article, I outlined the Australian Government’s contribution to Tokyo 2020 Australian Olympic and Paralympic Teams. Funding…
australiansportreflections