Raising the bar

Sport for the disabled have made a huge transformation in the last 70 years. From part of the revalidation program, sport for people with a disability have raised the bar with the Paralympic Games as the ultimate goal for elite athletes with a disability (EAD’s). In both the social sciences and the disability movement, sport is seen as an important tool for the integration, inclusion, and the fighting against stigma for people with a disability (Peers, 2009). The visibility of people with a disability, and especially the elite athlete with a disability, is thought to change the perception on society of what people with a disability are capable of achieving. But the struggle for recognition of (elite) sport for the disabled continues. This is due to different factors. The media-coverage, discourse about people with a disability in mainstream society, vague classifications all contribute to skepticism about the “realness” of elite sports for the disabled as equal to “normal” elite sports. As long as this will be the case, the visibility of EAD’s will not necessarily lead to the recognition of disability sports as equal to mainstream, or “normal” sports.