By Stephen Brosnan
Previously, I have discussed (here) the best performing nations at the Paralympic games relative to their Olympic counterparts. In this post, I look at the worst performing nations at the Paralympic games relative to the nation’s Olympic athletes to provide possible explanations for the drop in performance levels individuals with disabilities relative to others. As previously discussed, comparing Olympic and Paralympic performances is not so straight forward given that there are many more medals distributed in the Paralympics compared to the Olympics. In Rio 2016, 974 Olympic medals were awarded while 1597 medals were distributed in the Paralympics. Thus, when comparing the performances of countries it makes sense to consider the share of total medals the country won rather than absolute values.
The Table below reports the worst performing countries measured by the percentage of medals obtained by countries in the Paralympics relative to the Olympics.
Previously, I have discussed (here) the best performing nations at the Paralympic games relative to their Olympic counterparts. In this post, I look at the worst performing nations at the Paralympic games relative to the nation’s Olympic athletes to provide possible explanations for the drop in performance levels individuals with disabilities relative to others. As previously discussed, comparing Olympic and Paralympic performances is not so straight forward given that there are many more medals distributed in the Paralympics compared to the Olympics. In Rio 2016, 974 Olympic medals were awarded while 1597 medals were distributed in the Paralympics. Thus, when comparing the performances of countries it makes sense to consider the share of total medals the country won rather than absolute values.
The Table below reports the worst performing countries measured by the percentage of medals obtained by countries in the Paralympics relative to the Olympics.
The United States is the worst performing nation in terms of differences between shares of total medals in the Olympic and Paralympics. While the US Olympians claimed 12.42% of overall medals in Rio, the US Paralympians claimed only 7.20% of total medals. The United States finished fourth overall which considering their income per capita and population, two indicators which increase the likelihood of success, could be considered a major underachievement. A recent article in the Independent (here) insists that this underperformance is no coincidence and can be linked to a lack of investment in Paralympic athletes with no central government funding in existence while arguing that it reflects the lack of support in the US for those who are disabled.
Japan were the second worst performing nation relative to their Olympic athletes, finishing 59th overall, their worst ever performance. The performance has prompted Japanese Paralympic Committee (JPC) President Mitsunori Torihara to insist the country must analyse their performance to decide which sports to concentrate on when the country hosts the Paralympic Games in 2020. Furthermore, the JPC plans to roll out educational programmes for the public to raise awareness of the sport. These measures in addition to extra funding available as a result of hosting the event in 2020 should give the country a good opportunity to improved their Paralympic performance.
Japan were the second worst performing nation relative to their Olympic athletes, finishing 59th overall, their worst ever performance. The performance has prompted Japanese Paralympic Committee (JPC) President Mitsunori Torihara to insist the country must analyse their performance to decide which sports to concentrate on when the country hosts the Paralympic Games in 2020. Furthermore, the JPC plans to roll out educational programmes for the public to raise awareness of the sport. These measures in addition to extra funding available as a result of hosting the event in 2020 should give the country a good opportunity to improved their Paralympic performance.
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