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Sociology of Sport Journal, 2013, 30, 24-40
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ARTICLE
Who’s In and Who Is Out? Legitimate
Bodies Within the Paralympic Games
David E.J. Purdue and P. David Howe
Loughborough University
This paper explores issues surrounding the inclusion of impaired bodies within
the Paralympic Games. To achieve this aim we use empirical data gathered from
semistructured interviews held with a range of Paralympic stakeholders. The background upon which this data are analyzed is a critical analysis of the International
Paralympic Committee’s (IPC’s) current vision and mission. Pierre Bourdieu’s
concepts of habitus and capital (Bourdieu, 1997, 1984) provide the theoretical
foundation upon which the analysis takes place. Discussion centers on Paralympic
stakeholders’ articulations of issues surrounding individuals with cerebral palsy
and/or severe physical impairments, emanating, in part, from a desire for aesthetically pleasing sporting performances. This paper gives Paralympic stakeholders a
voice, upon which the IPC and broader sporting community may choose to reflect.
Cet article explore les questions entourant l’inclusion de corps handicapés au
sein des Jeux Paralympiques. Pour atteindre ce but, nous utilisons des données empiriques obtenues grâce à des entrevues semi-structurées avec une
variété d’acteurs du milieu Paralympique. Les données sont examinées sur fond
d’analyse critique de la vision et de la mission actuelles du Comité International
Paralympique. Les concepts proposés par Pierre Bourdieu d’habitus et de capital
(Bourdieu, 1984, 1997) servent de fondation théorique sur laquelle l’analyse
est réalisée. La discussion tourne autour de la façon dont les acteurs du milieu
Paralympique articulent les questions entourant les individus atteints de paralysie
cérébrale et/ou de handicaps physiques sévères, questions en provenance notamment du désir d’obtenir des performances sportives plaisantes esthétiquement. Cet
article donne aux acteurs du milieu Paralympique une voix à laquelle le Comité
International Paralympique et la communauté sportive en générale peuvent choisir
de porter attention.
At contemporary Paralympic Games, our attention is drawn to images of muscular physiques powering around athletics tracks, cycling velodromes, swimming
pools and other sporting venues. This attention on Paralympians’ bodies, can be
The authors are with the Peter Harrison Centre for Disability Sport, School of Sport, Exercise and
Health Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire, UK.
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Legitimate Bodies Within the Paralympic Games 25
celebrated, yet requires a critical sociology of sport to more closely examine why
some impaired bodies are increasingly becoming obscured from view within the
social-cultural context of the Paralympic Games.
This paper explores issues surrounding the inclusion of impaired bodies
within the Paralympic Games using empirical data gathered from semistructured
interviews held with twenty Paralympic stakeholders. Using Bourdieu’s sociological concepts of habitus and capital, we debate the perceptions and future position
of individuals with cerebral palsy1 and/or severe physical impairments within the
Paralympic Games, given the importance ascribed to aesthetically pleasing elite
sport performances.
The significance of the body as a social entity, rather than a neutral, homogenized biomedical mechanism, has been recognized to some extent within the
sociology of sport (Shilling, 2003). Meanwhile, the bodies of individuals with a
disability have drawn the attention of scholars within the field of disability studies
(Cregan 2006; Hughes & Paterson, 1997; Paterson & Hughes, 1999). There has
however hitherto been limited investigation of the sporting identities of individuals
with a disability, specifically regarding the influence of social perceptions relating to the body (DePauw, 1997). This article seeks to invigorate the investigation
of apparent “impaired” and “impaired sporting” bodies among social researchers
using the Paralympic Games as an exemplar. In this paper, “impaired” bodies are
those individuals for whom their impairment is the dominant identifier. “Impaired
sporting” bodies are those for which the focus of attention extends beyond their
impairment and onto, to a greater or lesser extent, their identity and recognition
as a sportsman/woman.
The summer Paralympic Games, governed by the International Paralympic
Committee (IPC), is a quadrennial global elite multisport competition for a selection of individuals with particular sensory, physical and intellectual impairments.
These games developed out of the International Stoke Mandeville Games, that were
a product of Dr (later sir) Ludwig Guttmann’s use of sport in the rehabilitation
of individuals with spinal cord injuries at Stoke Mandeville hospital, Aylesbury,
England (Brittain, 2008; Guttmann, 1976). Recently, there has been an increase
in critical sociological Paralympic research (see Purdue & Howe, 2012a; Brittain,
2010; DePauw & Gavron, 2005; Gilbert & Schantz, 2008; Thomas & Smith, 2009)
but a closer examination of much of this work reveals it to be disembodied. It is
our desire to (re)affirm and (re)awaken us to the importance of the corporeal body
within our understanding of social constructs, thereby aiding our understanding of
how society is “written into the body” (Bourdieu, 1990:63).
To set the theoretical foundation of this article we will now give a concise
overview of the value of a Bourdieusian analysis for a critical sociology of sport,
before briefly outlining the IPC’s vision and mission. These three elements are a
useful starting point for us to evaluate the current issues regarding which types of
bodies the movement does, and/or should, celebrate. This material grounds empirical data provided within subsequent sections that illuminate how some “impaired”
bodies are potentially being marginalized because they do not display the elite
sport performances as desired for an elite disability sport competition such as the
Paralympic Games.
26 Purdue and Howe
Pierre Bourdieu and the Sociology of Sport
Over several decades Pierre Bourdieu researched a variety of cultural contexts and
issues including the media (Bourdieu, 1998) and the impact of social class within
sport (Bourdieu, 1978, 1984). The sociological concepts developed by Bourdieu
have also been used by other scholars within social scientific investigations of sport
(Clement 1995; Laberge & Sankoff 1988; Wacquant 1992) including Paralympic
sport (Howe, 2008a). Among this research Bourdieu’s conceptualizations of habitus and capital have been instrumental. The concepts of habitus (Bourdieu, 1984)
and capital (Bourdieu, 1997; Bourdieu & Wacquant, 1992) will now be defined.
With regards to habitus, Bourdieu (1984) states:
habitus is not only a structuring structure, which organizes practices and the
perception of practices, but also a structured structure: the principle of division into logical classes which organizes the perception of the social world is
itself the product of internalization of the division into social classes (p.170)
Here the process through which an individual is socialized into adopting and
embodying rules and structures of thinking is articulated. These social schematics act as guides which influence behavior, so much so that decisions and actions
can become almost second-nature. Social classifications, be they based on capital,
gender or apparent corporal difference i.e., impairment, are inevitably part of the
wide-ranging and immensely influential construct that is habitus.
Capital, as Bourdieu (1997) argues, is used to explore and attribute meanings
for interrelation, interdependence and the balance of power therein. The contestation and flow of different forms of capital are arguably facilitated and/or prohibited
by certain social relations. One such form articulated by Bourdieu (1997) is social
capital, which is deemed to be “the aggregate of the actual or potential resources
which are linked to possession of a durable network of more or less institutionalized relationships of mutual acquaintance and recognition” (p.51). The creation
and continuation of social relations, moreover the receipt of social capital, may
incur economic capital costs. This economic expenditure may be calculated as
profitable if it facilitates the accruement of further types and quantities of capital.
To better understand social relations, Bourdieu also used the concept of cultural
capital by which he means the valued tastes, consumption patterns and behaviors
stemming from membership of a certain social group (Bourdieu, 1997). It may be
asserted that at times social and cultural capital can be transformed to generate
further economic capital, as often seen within professional sport as elite athletes’
broker, through agents, employment and sponsorship contracts. Yet, social and
cultural capital can independently be perceived to transform into what Bourdieu
terms as symbolic capital. Bourdieu and Wacquant (1992) define symbolic capital
as “the form that one or another of these species [economic, social, cultural capital]
takes when it is grasped through categories of perception that recognize its specific
logic or, if you prefer, misrecognize the arbitrariness of its possession and accumulation” (p.119; italics in original). It has been asserted that prestige, status and
authority identify as types of symbolic capital (Mahar, Harker & Wilkes, 1990).
When used in combination, we would argue, Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus
and capital act as useful sociological tools with which to undertake social research
of elite disability sport. Habitus conceptualizes the relationship between the indi-
Legitimate Bodies Within the Paralympic Games 27
vidual and society without generating a false dichotomy. Multiple capitals provide
sophisticated lenses through which to make sense of social relations from different
perspectives, thereby unpacking the social worlds in which individuals exist.
Having defined the concepts central to this Bourdieusian analysis, we turn our
attention to outlining aspects of IPC’s policy. This forms the background against
which the empirical data, at the heart of this study, will be analyzed.
International Paralympic Committee—
Vision and Mission
Formed in 1989, the International Paralympic Committee is the global governing body responsible for organizing Paralympic sports competitions, such as the
summer and winter Paralympic Games, as well as acting as the international federation for nine Paralympic sports (IPC, 2011a, 2011b). The IPC was born out of
the International Coordinating Committee of World Sports Organizations for the
Disabled (ICC), that had been established in 1982 with the aim of uniting the different international organizations of sport for the disabled (IOSDs) under a single
umbrella organization (Bailey, 2008). Many of the IOSDs which founded the IPC
still function today, such as Cerebral Palsy International Sport and Recreation
Association (CP-ISRA), International Blind Sports Association (IBSA), or have
merged with other IOSDs to maintain their existence. For example, in 2004, the
International Stoke Mandeville Wheelchair Sports Federation (ISMWSF) and the
International Sport Organization for the Disabled (ISOD) merged to create the
International Wheelchair and Amputee Sport Federation (IWAS). Today these
organizations voting powers have been diluted and they are primarily charged with
developing future Paralympians. IOSDs subsequently have considerably less influence in directing the future of Paralympic Sport, than they had before the dawn of
the IPC. The IPC remains dominant in spite of the fact that certain sports on the
Paralympic Games program are still governed by IOSDs, for example IBSA (Judo),
CPISRA (Boccia) and IWAS (Wheelchair fencing; see IPC, 2012).
Currently, the IPC operates under a predefined vision containing several mission
goals. Using its vision and mission, the IPC has created a distinct cultural ideology
which fosters and shapes a particular manifestation of elite disability sport. By
outlining the IPC’s vision and aspects of its mission statement, we hope to facilitate
a closer examination of the cultural context against which social perceptions of
“impaired” and “impaired sporting” bodies are manifested at the Paralympic Games.
Vision
The IPC vision is as follows: “To Enable Paralympic Athletes to Achieve Sporting
Excellence and Inspire and Excite the World” (IPC, 2011c). Taken from the IPC
website (IPC, 2011c), each word of the IPC vision has a clear intended meaning,
as set out below:
• To enable: this is the primary role of the IPC as an organization: To create the
conditions for athlete empowerment through self-determination.
• Paralympic athletes: the primary focus of IPC’s activities, in the context of
Paralympic athletes, is the development of all athletes from initiation to elite
level.
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• To achieve sporting excellence: the goal of a sports centered organization.
• To inspire and excite the world: the external result is our contribution to a better
world for all people with a disability. To achieve this, relations with external
organizations and the promotion of the Paralympic Movement as a whole are
of prime importance. (IPC, 2011c; italics our emphasis)
It is stated above that the primary focus of IPC activities is the development of
all athletes from initiation to elite level. We must remain mindful of this vision in
light of the empirical data that follows. Similarly, it is important to consider how
effective the IPC has been in contributing to a better world for all people with a
disability, as asserted within its vision (IPC, 2011c), given the range of people with
impairment not permitted to compete at the Paralympic Games. The statement that
IPC places prime importance on “the promotion of the Paralympic Movement as a
whole” (IPC, 2011c) is positive inclusive rhetoric, but that may in fact be hard to
live up to in light of the pressures of commercialization (Howe, 2008a) . Ultimately
success of the IPC vision is dependent upon the IPC fulfilling its mission statements.
Mission
The mission statement provides the broad goals of the IPC’s long-term strategy
(IPC, 2011c). Some components of IPC’s mission statement, most relevant to the
issues raised in this article, are set-out below:
• To develop opportunities for women athletes and athletes with high support
needs in sport at all levels and in all structures.
• To ensure that in sport practiced within the Paralympic Movement the spirit of
fair play prevails, violence is banned, the health risk of the athletes is managed
and fundamental ethical principles are upheld.
• To promote Paralympic sport without discrimination for political, religious,
economic, disability, gender, sexual orientation or race reasons.
• To seek the continuous global promotion and media coverage of the Paralympic
Movement, its vision of inspiration and excitement through sport, its ideals
and activities. (IPC, 2011c; italics our emphasis.)
Engrained within aspects of the IPC’s mission statement are apparent safeguards which protect the inclusion of some severely impaired bodies who are identified as athletes with high support needs (IPC, 2011c). Furthermore, the assurance
that fundamental ethical principles will be upheld, while vague, when combined
with the assertion that Paralympic sport will be promoted without discrimination
based on disability (IPC, 2011c) provides encouraging signs that severely impaired
bodies will be able to express themselves and articulate their sporting prowess
within the elite disability sport arena that is the Paralympic Games.
These ideals are tested though in the IPC’s mission “to seek continuous global
promotion and media coverage of the Paralympic Movement” (IPC, 2011c). The
media-sport production complex (Maguire, 1999) in which IPC is attempting to
compete, is generated through intense competition for resources and consumers including sport fans. In this regard, Crawford (2004) stated: “contemporary
Legitimate Bodies Within the Paralympic Games 29
sports find themselves competing for consumers in an increasingly overcrowded
entertainment market, where the consumer now has far more variety to pick and
choose from” (p.82). As such we will ask whether the IPC has pursued entertaining spectacle at the cost of those “impaired” bodies that possess more significant
impairments which prevent them from identifying as credible “impaired sporting”
bodies. To provide clarity of argument, the term “severe impairment” as used within
this article will now be outlined.
“Severe” Physical Impairment in Paralympic Sport
The term “severe” impairment refers exclusively to individuals who possess
physical impairments, opposed to sensory or intellectual, and compete within
lower Paralympic sporting classifications. In terms of Paralympic swimming, this
equates to classifications (often termed “classes”) 1–5. Paralympic swimming
consists of 14 functional classes in total. Swimmers with physical impairments
compete in classes 1–10 with class 1 for individuals with the most severe impairments and class 10 occupied by Paralympic swimmers with minimal impairment
(IPC Swimming, 2011).
Other sports use different means of denoting the classifications in which
individuals with severe impairments compete. In boccia, individuals with severe
cerebral palsy compete in BC1–3 (CP-ISRA, 2011). For athletics, individuals with
severe cerebral palsy who compete in wheelchairs are in F32–33 (IPC Athletics,
2010:17–18) and those who are ambulatory, but possess severe impairment compete
in T/F35–36 (IPC Athletics, 2010:24–5). Meanwhile, in Paracycling, individuals
with severe cerebral palsy compete in the T1 or T2 Tricycle classes (CPISRA,
2011; UCI, 2011:12–13).
This list of classes is not exhaustive and only covers those athlete classifications
and sports referred to in this article. We have done this to be concise and to ensure
clarity of meaning with regards to the term “severe” as used within this paper. At
this juncture it is important and pertinent to reiterate that sports events at the Paralympic Games only include a relatively small range of impairments. As such what
may be termed “severe” within the context of Paralympic sport, denoted by lower
classifications, may not be considered “severe” within society more generally, due
to the broad spectrum of impairment and associated biomedical conditions that
exist. Furthermore, it is important to remember that while considering the experiences of Paralympians, many individuals with far more severe impairments are not
included within this discussion of the Paralympic Games. Their absence should
be noted and raise further questions about the in/exclusion of “impaired” bodies
within the Paralympic Games.
Method
The perceived issues surrounding the inclusion of “impaired” and “impaired sporting” bodies within the Paralympic Games will be explored, using data collected from
semistructured interviews held with twenty Paralympic stakeholders. Individuals
with the requisite knowledge were identified for interview through a key informant
30 Purdue and Howe
technique meaning: “individuals are chosen on the basis of specific knowledge that
they possess, for example they may have a particular role or responsibility within
an organization.”(Gratton and Jones, 2004: 104). Hence, individuals who have
operated, continue to operate, and/or had experience of the Paralympic Movement
were selected for interview. This included current and former Paralympians, active
and retired disability sport administrators and social researchers of disability and
sport as well as disability rights advocates. These categories were not mutually
exclusive, with some individuals being, for example, former Paralympians and
disability sport administrators.
Once the criteria for the sample had been identified, a list of desired interviewees was created and contacted via e-mail. This list was supplemented with
some relevant snowball sampling in an effort to build a rich, qualitative dataset. All
individuals identified were provided with a brief list of the discussion topics before
interview, that formed the basis of the interview. Questions related to three a-priori
themes (see below) as well as to the specific roles they operated within disability
and/or sport. Comments made during interviews were recorded and transcribed
verbatim. Interviewees were ascribed pseudonyms to provide them with anonymity. Interview transcripts were coded and analyzed in accordance with a grounded
theory approach (Morse & Richards, 2002).
Data collection ceased after the collection of over twenty-one hours of interviewee responses during twenty interviews, at which point it was deemed “saturation” had been reached as several themes had become apparent within the dataset.
These themes included three a-priori themes namely; “purpose(s) of the Paralympic
Games”, “suitability of impaired bodies as vehicles for elite disability sport” and
“potential future developments of the Paralympic Movement”. One empirical theme
emerged from the dataset during analysis entitled the “impact of the IOC”. Data
from “suitability of impaired bodies as vehicles for elite disability sport” theme
is discussed in this paper. Once allocated to a specific theme, the data were then
critically explored using aspects of Bourdieu’s sociological theory (Bourdieu, 1984,
1997; Bourdieu & Wacquant, 1992).
The empirical dataset yielded by this method, as relating to the perceived
legitimacy of including certain bodies within the Paralympic Games, will now be
explored. Firstly, issues surrounding individuals with cerebral palsy, severe cerebral palsy and other severe impairments will be considered. Secondly, the role of
aesthetics and their impact upon the acceptance of individuals with severe impairments competing at the Paralympic Games will be considered.
“Impaired” Bodies and the Paralympic Games
During data collection, some Paralympic stakeholders perceived certain athletes
competing at the Paralympic Games may be more lucrative than other Paralympians
(Abberley, 1996; Bertling & Schierl, 2008) in terms of the capital (Bourdieu, 1997;
Bourdieu & Wacquant, 1992) they yield for others involved within Paralympic
sport. The differential perceptions regarding the suitability and “worth” of athletes
with a range of physical impairments were discussed in detail during interview.
Specifically, interviewees emphasized issues surrounding the social perception and
acceptance of athletes with cerebral palsy as well as those individuals with more
Legitimate Bodies Within the Paralympic Games 31
severe levels of impairment, who while included in the Paralympic Games were
deemed to not perform in an aesthetically pleasing manner.
Individuals With Cerebral Palsy
The athletic performances of individuals with cerebral palsy were perceived by some
Paralympic stakeholders to be problematic, regarding their ability to be recognized
as elite sport performers. Perceptions that athletes with cerebral palsy were not
marketable athletes (Abberley, 1996) were interpreted by Patrick, an administrator
of sport for individuals with cerebral palsy, in the context of athletics:
Within track and field, if I’m honest I don’t think they [athletes with cerebral palsy] get the recognition, it tends to be wheelchair track, it tends to be
amputees, because they may well be perceived in the marketing manner more
favourable. When you’ve got somebody in a chair and it’s colourful, flashy,
they’re in the gear; somebody who is wearing an up-to-date prosthetic leg looks
the part. Somebody who’s got cerebral palsy probably looks uncoordinated, is
uncoordinated, probably has not got the mannerisms to be marketed. (Patrick)
Here Patrick’s sporting habitus, amassed from his previous, mainly ablebodied, sporting experiences is classifying athletic performers based on their
perceived marketability rather than their sporting performances achieved in the
context of their impairment. In relation to marketing athletes with cerebral palsy,
Trevor, a Paralympic sport administrator stated: “athletes with cerebral palsy, with
more severe cerebral palsy. . . are a very difficult image to get the press and all
the rest of the media to understand”. Hence, Trevor appears to be expressing the
perceived confusion and conflict between perceptions of individuals with cerebral
palsy failing to possess “impaired sporting” bodies, and the media’s interpretation
and portrayal of elite athletic performance. This inevitably impacts upon these
Paralympians ability to access the corresponding capital revenues, particularly
economic and symbolic, which media coverage can be seen to facilitate in modern
western societies such as the UK.
Some may argue, the IPC inevitably share responsibility, along with media,
for any marginalization of athletes with cerebral palsy. If the IPC provided more
athletes with cerebral palsy to be used by the media it may alter the social reception
of these “impaired” bodies into viable and credible examples of “impaired sporting” bodies competing at an elite sport level. Alternatively, the amount of coverage
afforded to Paralympic sport may diminish as the media may fail to appreciate and
promote “impaired” bodies which they feel lack the credibility to be identified as
markers of elite sporting performance. While media and sponsors predominantly
work with and rely on sports other than those governed by IPC, loss of the already
limited level of media coverage afforded to Paralympic sport (Howe, 2008b;
Schantz & Gilbert, 2001; Thomas & Smith, 2009) would dramatically reduce the
ability of the IPC to stage and promote the Paralympic Games. We would suggest
that the media and corporate sponsors occupy positions of great influence over the
IPC, hence dissuading the IPC from taking a significant risk in pushing athletes
with cerebral palsy as commercial role models, as this might ultimately lead to
less media attention. The capital resources of media conglomerates dominate IPC
32 Purdue and Howe
and Paralympians and yet this hegemonic position of control and influence is only
sustained through acceptance of the values and messages transmitted and received
by individuals’ habitus, including in regard to the nature and presentation of mediatized elite sport. Thus complicity among audiences is arguably as significant as the
already amassed capital resources of multinational media companies. Aside from
athletes with cerebral palsy, the perceived marketability of athletes with severe
impairments, a group which can include athletes with severe cerebral palsy, was
broadly discussed with Paralympic stakeholders and will be now be considered.
Individuals With Severe Cerebral Palsy
Individuals with severe cerebral palsy were highlighted by Paralympic stakeholders
as potentially problematic “impaired” bodies with which to stage and promote an
elite disability sport event, such as the Paralympic Games. For example, the significant impact of severe cerebral palsy upon the technical capabilities of some Paralympians was an apparent issue to Graeme in the context of Paracycling. Graeme
is an able-bodied academic researcher who worked with the British Paracycling
team to help improve their performances at the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games.
One consequence of the physical capabilities of a cyclist with severe cerebral palsy
is that the course on which they compete has to be less technically demanding. If
the course is not adapted for athletes with severe cerebral palsy then these riders
cannot compete alongside other athletes. As Graeme mentions:
Some of it is a logistics thing. They just can’t put the events [for cyclists with
severe cerebral palsy] on because maybe the courses are too technical or they
have to make the course less technical for someone who has got severe cerebral
palsy and is on a trike; [For example] there’s a limit to how much of an incline
you can have on a course.
This difference in course may be judged by spectators as a lesser challenge,
when recollecting back on previous experiences contained in their habitus, thus
devaluing the perceived sporting prowess of a cyclist with severe cerebral palsy.
Alternatively, if cyclists with severe cerebral palsy cannot compete at the same
venues as other riders within the Paralympic program, this further differentiates
their perceived sporting prowess, with their achievements being unseen and/or
marginalized to a different venue or time. This separation of athletes with severe
cerebral palsy, from other Paralympians, would undermine the cultural capital
shared between Paralympians as some individuals become ostracized and perceived
as inferior examples of Paralympians. Again the tension exists between finding a
balance within the Paralympic Games between the demands of the sport, ensuring
it is sufficiently challenging and facilitates high level performances, but it is not
so challenging that the demands of the sport are insurmountable because of the
effect of individual impairment.
Issues surrounding attempts to have Paracyclists with severe cerebral palsy
recognized as possessing “impaired sporting” bodies were also apparent to Graeme,
when he stated:
it’s a little bit of a problem getting the severe cerebral palsy [Para-cyclist]
to be seen as competitive…[with] maybe even some of the people who look
Legitimate Bodies Within the Paralympic Games 33
after the severe cerebral palsy being inclined to not push the person as much
as they could.
Here Graeme is suggesting that while spectators may not perceive cyclists
with cerebral palsy to be representative as elite sportsmen/women, it is possible
the habitus of those who assist individuals with severe cerebral palsy possess a
reluctance to push them to intensively train and compete. Instead there may be a
wish to offer help, thus a more passive and care-centered approach is taken toward
the individual with severe cerebral palsy, arguably contrary to the self-sacrificing
lifestyle required to become an elite athlete. This may emanate from those working with these Paracyclists only possessing previous experiences of interactions
within individuals with severe cerebral palsy in more passive environments and/
or clinical settings e.g., hospitals, rehabilitation unit, etc. These experiences are
engrained within habitus and used to frame attitudes and affect future behavior
toward individuals with severe cerebral palsy. Alternatively the lack of sport science
evidence to date surrounding the training of elite athletes with a disability may
account for the hesitancy and caution shown regarding pushing an individual with
severe cerebral palsy to perform at the limits of their sporting potential.
In relation to this issue Michelle, an individual with severe cerebral palsy,
who competed as a swimmer at the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games and was an
administrative assistant at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, commented: “boccia
players always have attendants with them. So does that threaten some sense of
autonomy by other athletes?” In other words, does this assistance negate boccia
players and other athletes with high support needs being perceived as elite athletes
with a disability? The presence and perceived assistance of support staff, of which
boccia attendants are merely one example, is implicitly present and differentiated
within both elite able-bodied and disability sport. For example, within able-bodied
or disability tennis, coaching a player while they are competing is prohibited and
yet within able-bodied or disability football the coach is frequently seen beside the
pitch giving instructions to his team. To contextualize the place and significance of
attendants within the context of these other sporting examples may seek to promote
the sporting justification for attendants, and detract from the image of paternalism
arguably perpetuated through able-bodied assistants being seen to be supporting
sportsmen/women with an impairment within Boccia.
Boccia, a Paralympic sport in which individuals with severe cerebral palsy are
center stage, was frequently raised as a focal point during discussions about individuals with severe impairments. The game of boccia is a game of skill, rather like
boules and lawn bowling, where overt physicality is minimal. In many respects how
boccia is perceived and received has become viewed as a synonym for perceptions
of all athletes with severe impairments within the Paralympic Games. This was
largely seen to be because of a lack of athletes with severe cerebral palsy competing
in other sports. Boccia is an example of a Paralympic sport which aims to allow the
abilities of individuals with severe cerebral palsy to be expressed, within a sporting
environment in which skill, rather than impairment, is the key focus.
In interview, Michelle highlighted the apparent failure of boccia players to
be identified as athletes being culpable for the marginalization of the sport and its
participants at the Paralympic Games. From her experiences at the 2000 and 2008
Paralympic Games she stated:
34 Purdue and Howe
there were definitely a few comments made about the boccia players, you
know “they don’t look like athletes” and I think that is a lack of knowledge,
ignorance...One of the guys from another sport, made an off-hand comment
and I sort of challenged him a bit about it. I don’t think I really changed his
mind on it.
Michelle identified moves taken toward making the lifestyles of boccia players
more conducive to the perceived lifestyle of a sportsman/woman: “Canadian CP
[cerebral palsy] sport [association], who have organizational control over boccia [in
Canada], they’re working toward making it more professional and having training
plans and strength and conditioning coaches and all that stuff toward legitimising
it”. The likelihood of this athletic lifestyle being perceived as a rite of passage for
boccia players to then be accepted as elite athletes is questionable. Moreover, what
message is being transmitted regarding sporting excellence if a particular body type
or aesthetic body is deemed as significant as successful achievement as defined
by the laws of the sport. This can be seen akin to concerns most prominent within
certain sports comprising female athletes, (for example beach volleyball) in which
the mediatized sexualization of female elite athletes bodies means corporeal rather
than sporting attributes become the focus of attention. Within Paralympic sport
perceptions of desirable, aesthetically pleasing bodies may be considered an emerging barrier to the mediatization of sportsmen/women deemed to possess a severe
impairment. Pertinently, during interview, Jack, a former Paralympic wheelchair
tennis player from the early 1990s up to the mid-2000s, called for a sport-specific
differentiated definition of an elite athlete:
for them [boccia players] it’s a skill sport...and I’ve seen the skill, from the
physical capabilities they’ve got it is amazing what they can do and achieve. Is
it comparable? Well look at the two sports of wheelchair rugby and wheelchair
basketball as well, are those two sports comparable or are they different due to
the levels of disability? So it depends who’s looking at it and through who’s
eyes and what you’re trying to portray.
Thus Jack is reiterating the need for individual habitus to make sophisticated
distinctions between what constitutes elite sporting performance in different sports,
including disability sport. Without this, the inclusion of individuals with severe
cerebral palsy, as well as athletes with high support needs, within the Paralympic
Games (IPC, 2011d) is arguably in jeopardy.
Individuals With Other Severe Physical Impairments
Several Paralympic stakeholders commented on how they perceived severe impairment, in general not solely relating to severe cerebral palsy, to impact upon the
social reception of performances by athletes with high support needs. Daniel, a
former Paralympic track athlete, commented: “there is always a difficulty, and the
general public may have difficulty, seeing the ability, and I do at times, I’m not
saying I don’t, at times, seeing the ability in someone who has high support needs”.
Teresa, a former multimedal winning Paralympic swimmer, felt that her performances were deemed inferior because of the severity of her impairment. She argued
her impairment, twinned with the limited distance which her lower classification
Legitimate Bodies Within the Paralympic Games 35
of swimmers were permitted to swim at the Paralympic Games, combined to present what some may perceive as a less valuable display of sporting performance:
I always felt those of us below class 5 were always seen as though it’s much
easier for us to get medals, we didn’t have to swim as far and our medals
were somehow less valuable. I never felt that, and those of us in those classes
never felt that but you could certainly feel it, sometimes from other swimmers,
sometimes from the people [watching]. (Teresa)
This perceived lack of symbolic capital in lower classification, more severely
impaired, swimmers arguably stems from their perceived inability to be recognized
as possessing “impaired sporting” bodies. The performances being produced are
perceived to fail to yield the requisite components which our sporting habitus
identifies as required for the assignment of symbolic capital. Thus, the inclusion
of severely impaired athletes within the Paralympic Games perhaps appears vulnerable, especially when considering the limited economic capital that they are
perceived to generate through their performances (see Brittain, 2010:120–121).
In this regard Teresa states:
It’s expensive for people with my level of impairment to travel, because in
many respects we’ll need people to come with us and support us, so that’s
another person on the aeroplane, another person to pay for and I think there is
a “best value” thing going on. You have a group of people, and okay this is the
success they’re going to have. What is the cost that is attached to that? How
can we deliver that in the most cost effective way, actually it’s to have groups
of athletes who don’t require additional support...and that worries me for the
future of Paralympic sport, because for me, the whole point of Paralympic sport
was to really generate some huge diversity and that I think is being chipped
away at as the big sponsors become more involved.
While sponsorship is highlighted, the pursuit of many forms of capital and subsequent profits and power is arguably endemic among all Paralympic stakeholders.
Individuals and groups are arguably motivated to achieve profits, no matter what
capital they are trading in, be that economic, social or cultural. In this regard, the
social value attributed to aesthetics was also found to be significant among Paralympic stakeholders perceptions of “impaired” and “impaired sporting” bodies; an
issue to which we will now turn.
Aesthetically Pleasing Paralympians
Some interviewees believed Paralympians were subject to a form of body fascism
(Abberley, 1996; Bertling & Schierl, 2008) with some bodies considered more
aesthetically pleasing when competing than others. The definition of aesthetically
pleasing is subjective and thus difficult to define in absolute terms (Bertling &
Schierl, 2008;; Stone, 1995). We would argue aesthetically pleasing sporting performances are often those that represent purposeful, controlled bodily movement
in a manner displaying, one or more of the attributes of speed, endurance, strength
and/or high levels of skill in the achievement of sport specific excellence. For interviewees, aspects of this broad definition were conducive with their interpretations
36 Purdue and Howe
of aesthetically pleasing performances. Donald, a Paralympic sport administrator
belonging to a national Paralympic committee, stated:
wheelchair athletes see themselves at the top of the Paralympic Movement and
amputees and then I would say visual impairment and athletes with cerebral
palsy, and particularly those with severe cerebral palsy are two steps below
that top. I think that comes back to how aesthetically pleasing the athletes are
when competing.
This aesthetic hierarchy is problematic and arguably inhibits the credibility and
capital values applied to sporting performances by individuals deemed to possess
“impaired”, opposed to “impaired sporting”, bodies.
The perceived importance of presenting Paralympic sport so it is deemed
acceptable to media and sponsors was emphasized by Abigail, a former wheelchair
basketball player at the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games, who stated: “I think people
do see that disability thing first and getting people to see that sport first is the thing
I struggle with for things like sponsors who aren’t that interested in looking at
disabled athletes, they still want the glamour and they don’t want somebody who
doesn’t work properly”. Provocatively here, Abigail can be seen to be reaffirming
the importance of aesthetics in relation to individuals with severe impairments.
She is arguably also teasing out the difference between “impaired” bodies and
those that can be recognized as capital rich marketable “impaired sporting” bodies.
In Teresa’s experience displaying aesthetically pleasing sporting performances
was deemed as integral to defining the value of lower classification swimmers’
performances:
swimmers who had less obvious impairments were much more the darlings
of the media...those of us who had quite significant impairments, although
we were extremely successful medal-wise, which is what is was all about, we
were kind of pushed to the side...there was much less value placed on those
of us with more significant impairment opposed to the much greater value
that was placed on those swimmers who society would consider to be more
aesthetically pleasing.
Similarly, Michelle believed swimming races with higher classification swimmers, involving bodies that look more like able-bodied swimmers, were more
appealing to sponsors and media: “I think it’s [higher compared with lower classification swimming contests] probably more marketable and the times are a lot
quicker and other people can say ‘that looks like what we think a swimming race
should look like’”. Again here the importance of habitus being generated from
previous sporting experiences and knowledge can be seen to affect the reception
of certain individuals’ with a disability sporting performances.
The perceived need for the IPC and media organizations to portray performances at the Paralympic Games as representative of elite sport was expressed by
Paul, a former Paralympic gold medal winning wheelchair racer in the late 1980s,
who commented: “people are looking for achievements that they can relate to, so
they want to see the best athletes doing the sort of performances you can relate to
Olympic athletes, so the athletes at the higher level of disability or the less visually
attractive ones maybe are beginning to drop off the bottom”. The perceived appeal
Legitimate Bodies Within the Paralympic Games 37
to the media of sportsmen/women with a disability who can be presented as similar
to able-bodied athletes was reinforced by Padraig, a former multimedal winning
swimmer at the 1992 Paralympic Games and current disability sport administrator: “I do think your less disabled get more publicity and I guess that’s because
it’s a little more closer to the mainstream sport. You’re more disabled means your
sport has to be more adapted for the athlete, it’s a further distance away from the
traditional game”. The nature and presentation of mainstream elite (able-bodied)
sport provides a reference point within an individuals’ sporting habitus, to which
disability sport is compared. The notion of capital emanating from “impaired sporting” bodies that can identify as models of elite sporting performance was notable
in Donald’s reasoning behind the widespread acceptance of wheelchair basketball
as an elite sport:
The athletes you often see are less disabled and operating at a higher level...
You know [wheelchair] basketball, where I think people can make that link
“oh yeah I understand that”. They can’t move their legs but the rest of their
body is fine and the big muscles of their upper body and all of that fits into
what people identify with being sportsmen.
Hence, the physical prowess of wheelchair basketball players allows them to
access the symbolic capital afforded to elite able-bodied sportspeople.
Based on the empirical evidence presented, it could be argued sporting performances of athletes with severe impairments are the most problematic when attempting to accrue capital that stems from being perceived and presented as credible elite
disability sportsmen/women. As such, the disparity between those Paralympians
deemed to possess “impaired sporting” bodies and those that seemingly do not,
potentially jeopardizes the position of individuals with severe impairments in the
Paralympic Games.
IPC Vision and Mission—Revisited
It is clear from the empirical evidence discussed above that the IPC faces clear
issues regarding its vision and mission. The IPC’s vision, as stated earlier, includes
facilitating the achievement of sporting excellence: the goal of a sports centered
organization (IPC, 2011c). However, it is problematic if a Paralympian’s sporting
excellence is not recognized or is in fact attributed to another. A sport-specific
definition of “elite” is required if, among others, boccia players’ sporting talents
and excellence is to be recognized and rewarded. Furthermore, it was apparent that
even if a boccia player is recognized as displaying excellence within their particular
sport, due to the presence of an attendant beside them, their sporting excellence is,
to some degree, attributed to their assistant, not solely to themselves.
To attain media coverage and sporting consumers’ attention it was felt that
individuals with cerebral palsy and those with severe impairments, were not
deemed to be performing in an aesthetically pleasing manner, and therefore possessed problematic “impaired” bodies through which to sell and perpetuate the
Paralympic brand of elite disability sport. Thus, there is evidence of some incompatibility between two key aspects of IPC’s mission statement, namely developing
opportunities for athletes with high support needs in sport at all levels and in all
38 Purdue and Howe
structures, and seeking the continuous global promotion and media coverage of
the Paralympic Movement (IPC, 2011c).
Is the IPC pursuing entertaining spectacle at the cost of those individuals who
possess more significant impairments as they fail to identify as credible “impaired
sporting” bodies? Clearly, the IPC remains faced with the complex task of following and fulfilling its vision and mission; some of which may appear incompatible,
within a climate of intense competition for sporting consumers (Crawford, 2004)
within the media-sport production complex (Maguire, 1999).
When exposed to Paralympians through the media, be that through standalone
mediatized articles or serialized media productions, this paper calls on us to consider how Paralympians and their bodies are portrayed. Moreover, which areas
of their identity are focused upon and what associated meanings are transmuted
and stylized through mediatized outputs. In doing so, perceptions of individuals’
with a disability sporting achievements and broader meanings of disability within
society become overtly apparent and we as social actors become sensitized to
our role within constructing social meanings of particular bodies participating in
sporting social constructs.
This paper demonstrates the complexity of impairment and elite sport articulated through seemingly “impaired” and “impaired sporting” bodies, competing
at the Paralympic Games. To appear severely impaired may reduce an individual’s
ability to be perceived as possessing an “impaired sporting” body. But to be an
eligible and legitimate competitor at the Paralympic Games a Paralympian must
be seen to possess an impairment which has a significant impact upon their sporting performance. As such which bodies have a legitimate claim to compete in the
Paralympic Games and promote the Paralympic Games sustainably? This is a key
issue facing the Paralympic Movement and one requiring much needed research to
allow us to better understand the importance of, and relationships between, apparent
“impaired” and “impaired sporting” bodies within society.
Within this paper, Bourdieusian theory and analysis has facilitated innovative
analysis of impaired bodies with an elite disability sport context, avoiding the
dualism of normal/ abnormal and “other” as often generated from deviancy theory.
Instead, a more nuanced account is given which in itself opens up the opportunity for
change as all capital is contested. Capital is relative and is not an amulet of power
which an individual is immune to losing. As such, Bourdieu offers Paralympic sport
and sport in general the opportunity to consider the possibility of different groups
of bodies being remade in contrast to the various capitals which their attributes
and behaviors currently accrue and are compared against. In making this capital
exchange overt, Bourdieu provides several lenses to facilitate multiple analyses
thereby providing our habitus with the opportunity to make sense of sporting bodies
in refreshed, even revolutionary, ways.
Safeguarding the position of individuals with severe impairments may lie in
an effective strategy for amending the boundaries set for dominant current aesthetic judgments. Prioritizing the importance of not alienating the spectatorship
of the Paralympic Games, which will include individuals with a range of physical,
sensory, and/or intellectual impairment, may improve the situation. To do so, the
corporeal nature of the bodies performing becomes secondary to the performances
they are achieving in relation to fellow competitors. Note here comparison needs to
be made to cocompetitors, rather than a single social group laced with significant
Legitimate Bodies Within the Paralympic Games 39
cultural and symbolic capital i.e., elite able bodied athletes competing at high profile Olympic events. By attempting to focus the audience’s attention on the merits
of Paralympic performances, in isolation of alleged Olympic counterparts, may
help to instill a nuanced region for Paralympic sport within sports fans’ habitus.
Recognition that elite sportsmen and women possess a range of bodies and hence
sporting excellence is relative to a specific sport (see Purdue & Howe, 2012b) may
lead to reaffirmation of a sporting consumer more receptive to a range of sporting
performers including, in this instance, elite athletes with a disability.
Note
1. Cerebral palsy denotes impairments affecting physical movement and/or learning processes
caused by brain damage occurring at or near to birth.
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