With the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games postponed until 2021, ParalympicsGB launched an exciting campaign to make the 13.9 million disabled people in the UK ‘impossible to ignore’. The initiative followed market research by ComRes, a UK-based consultancy, which showed that Paralympic athletes are key to challenging perceptions of disability.
Nick Webborn, chair of the BPA, says: “This research is the strongest proof yet of the direct link between the success of our talented Paralympic athletes and wider social benefits. With the British public's support, we can help to ensure disabled people are represented throughout society and, like our Paralympic heroes, become ‘impossible to ignore’.”
Preparations ramped up to select the best team – one that can match, if not exceed, the incredible success of Rio 2016, when 147 medals were won.
An estimated 250 athletes are tipped to compete for ParalympicsGB in Tokyo, including competitors in the new sports of taekwondo and badminton.
“We believe,” says Webborn, “that the success our Paralympic stars achieve on the field of play can be turned into meaningful, long-term action – transforming the nation’s cheers into change and medals into a movement.”