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March 5, 2026

Paralympic politics: how Russia, Belarus and Israel sparked opening ceremony boycotts

Jack Anderson, The University of Melbourne

Current geopolitical uncertainty means the Winter Paralympics’ opening ceremony is attracting attention for the wrong reasons.

Andrew Parsons, president of the International Paralympic Committee, speaks at the opening ceremony at the 2022 Winter Paralympics. The IPC announced on March 3 that all athletes from Russia and Belarus would be barred from competing. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

March 7, 2022

Sports are political: Reaction and inaction to Putin’s war of aggression

MacIntosh Ross, Western University

It’s time for organizations like the IPC to stop lamenting the intersection of sport and politics, and instead accept this well-established reality going forward.

Canada’s Zak Madell (right) and France’s Jonathan Hivernat (left) compete during a semifinal wheelchair rugby match at the Tokyo Paralympic Games. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)

September 2, 2021

#WeThe15 was misguided in using the Tokyo Paralympic Games to launch a disability inclusion revolution

P. David Howe, Western University and Carla Filomena Duarte da Silva, Western University

The #WeThe15 movement is rooted in good intention and falls short in a big way by using the Paralympic Games as a backdrop to its launch.

The US’s Regas Woods of competing in the long jump at the Rio paralympics. Reuters/Jason Cairnduff

January 12, 2017

The odds are stacked against athletes from poor countries in paralympic sport

Jason Bantjes, Stellenbosch University and Leslie Swartz, Stellenbosch University

Paralympic sport is meant to be inclusive and fair but athletes don’t face a level playing field. Those from higher income countries can compete more easily.

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