In a piece in the NY Times, Alan Schwarz look at Paralympian Tony Iniguez who is competing for the US in Beijing and also suing the USOC for discrimination over how it provides less equitable funding for disabled athletes than for their able bodied counterparts. Canada and Britain are held up as shining examples of funding equity for Paralympic athletes.
The United States is no stranger to disputes over discrimination against various groups and the provision of benefits for citizens, as the battle over universal health insurance indicates. But in this case the Paralympians are emphasizing their needs as athletes as much as their needs as citizens. They claim that races have been lost and medals squandered by their having to compete against athletes from nations like Canada and Britain that support their disabled athletes and Olympians virtually equally.
Read the full article here.
