Leading Paralympians challenge language bias with “I won’t be participating at Paris 2024” campaign

Tom Richer

https://www.paralympic.org/paris-2024/news/paralympians-not-participating-paris-2024-paralympics#:~:text=The%20Paralympians%20shared%20the%20messages,Paralympic%20Games%20can%20be%20viewed.

"As part of the social strategy, Paralympians have posted a series of graphics on Instagram, the first of which declares: “I won’t be participating at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games”. By swiping left on the series of images, social media followers discover the athlete instead stating: “I will be competing” – a reminder that Paralympians have often been praised simply for taking part in sport, not because of their sporting abilities or fierce drive to win."

It's interesting to me that a lot of the advertising communications around the Paralympics is aiming to tackle social matters around peoples perceptions and behaviour around disabilities.

Communications feel like the voice of the paralympians towards the public, with honest and hard hitting tones. It's this tone of voice of 'you're not better than me' and standing up to public perceptions which counters perceptions and puts the power back into the paralympian and disabled community.