Next up is Los Angeles.
Paris hosted the Paralympics, with more than 4,000 athletes and 2.4 million tickets sold, the second-highest attendance ever for a Paralympic Games after the 2012 London Olympics. Now, the challenge for U.S. organizers is to create another breakthrough moment for Paralympic sports.
“We want to conquer America,” said Craig Spence, an International Paralympic Committee spokesman.
Retired Army Lt. Gen. Raynold Huber, CEO of the Los Angeles 2028 Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, is confident the Paralympics can do just that.
“We don’t have the Eiffel Tower or the Grand Palais, but we do have state-of-the-art facilities like the Colosseum, the Rose Bowl and the SoFi,” he said in an interview Friday as the Paris Olympics draw to a close.
The Paralympic venue in Los Angeles has not yet been announced, although ideally it would be confirmed by the end of 2024. Since LA won the bid in 2017, several venues have been reimagined or built, including Crypto.com Arena and Sofi Stadium.
With five new sports added to the Olympics and Paralympic climbing added to the Paralympics, up to 15,000 athletes are expected to compete.
“We’re trying to figure out what kinds of new, compelling, emerging sports are out there that can provide another avenue for Paralympic athletes to demonstrate their passion and dedication to their sport,” Hoover said.
When it comes to the popularity of the Paralympics in the United States, several aspects are generally considered key to success.
The Paris Olympics are over, the NFL is back on track, and college football is coming off its second week of action, dominating the American sports scene.
Chris Hammer, a paratriathlete who won his first gold medal in the PTS5 category for athletes with mild disabilities, said he wouldn’t be surprised if attention in the U.S. shifted elsewhere. He said he was “guilty.”
“I love American football. I watch it on TV,” he said. “We’re not as accepting of niche sports as the Europeans are, so I think it’s a challenge we have to overcome to replicate the success of Paris.”
Since the 2012 London Olympics, Britain’s Channel 4 has broadcast the Paralympics live on linear television. France’s state-owned broadcaster France Télévisions has been broadcasting the games almost continuously, but while NBC and Peacock have expanded their Olympic and Paralympic coverage, there’s no guarantee that Americans will pay for a subscription, given the paywall.
Aaron Phipps, a veteran of England’s wheelchair rugby team, remembers being delighted to see the Americans on TV in 2012. “I thought, ‘What the heck?’ It was completely normal for us.”
The Olympics and Paralympics are weeks of competition that require people to pay attention and participate. The Paris crowds did it, but can Southern Californians?
Hoover said Olympic fatigue won’t be an issue, as new technologies are being developed to create more interactive experiences. Instead, he thinks fans will be “more excited” because Los Angeles will serve as the U.S.’ “home field advantage.”
Spence said going to Hollywood gives the organizing committee an opportunity to make an impact beyond Los Angeles. He envisions a global cultural shift in making Paralympic athletes true pop culture stars.
Visibility is not a new issue. Scout Bessette, who competed in Rio and is on the Athletes’ Commission in Los Angeles, thinks Paralympians and Olympians need to work together more to create more awareness through established stars.
“We are a country that celebrates victory and success, and until we tell these stories and give athletes the opportunity to shine, that is the only way we will grow the Paralympic Games and change perceptions about people with disabilities,” she said.
Veteran Paralympians point out that most aspiring athletes have been unaware of the Paralympic sports programmes available to them for years. They say this needs to change if the game is to grow.
“My hope is that L.A. will be the moment for people with disabilities to say, ‘Wow, I can compete, there’s something I can do,'” said Chuck Aoki, a veteran of Team USA wheelchair rugby.
The United States once again won a medal at the Paris Summer Olympics, but China has dominated the Paralympic Games since 2004.
“I think we need to go back to square one,” said Jessica Long, one of the most decorated Paralympic swimmers of all time.
Long believes the U.S. didn’t reach its full potential in Paris, and some Paralympians who struggled after a three-year turnaround in Tokyo also struggled.
“I think the whole country really needs to come together to show what we can do,” she said.
For compound archer gold medalist Matt Stutzman, it’s a financial issue, and athletes could benefit from more support from the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee.
“(Money) is stressful. It’s basically like having to choose between Paralympic sports and supporting your family, and you always have to choose your family,” Stutzman said.
American medalists will receive bonuses of $38,000 for gold, $23,000 for silver and $15,000 for bronze.
In Los Angeles, Aoki said it would be tough to top the medal standings, but anything is possible.
“The reality is, you know, China is a very big country. The United States is a big country. We have the ability to have athletes compete in all kinds of events,” he said. “We don’t do it because people don’t know that sports are accessible.”
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Amanda Vogt is a student at the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State.
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AP Paralympics: https://apnews.com/hub/paralympic-games
