Paralympic athletes | When will injustice end?

The Paralympic movement has always lived with a feeling of inferiority in relation to Olympism. Lately, the gap between the two has narrowed. Paralympic athletes enjoy fairer treatment in Canada. However, a major inequality persists: Paralympic medalists do not receive performance bonuses.

The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) Athlete Excellence Fund has been providing performance-based scholarships to Olympic medalists since 2008. For example, an Olympic athlete receives $20,000 if he wins gold, $15,000 for silver and $10,000 for bronze.

Chantal Petitclerc and Benoit Huot are two of the most prolific Canadian athletes in history. They have won 21 and 20 Paralympic medals respectively.

If they had been Olympians, Petitclerc would have received the equivalent of $375,000 in bonuses during his career, and Huot would have received $315,000 in rewards. However, because of their disability, they received nothing.

In summary, $0.

The problem is enormous and the need to resolve it is glaring, explain the stakeholders consulted by The Press. How is it that in 2022 such talented athletes of such caliber are still being discriminated against on the basis of their disability?

In an ideal world, the Paralympic Foundation of Canada, which is a separate division of the Canadian Paralympic Committee, would be responsible for awarding medalists. However, the funds are insufficient. There is not enough money available to be able to provide these bonuses to athletes who win Paralympic medals.

The origin of the problem has been known for a long time, but according to Benoit Huot, who collaborated and worked with the Paralympic Foundation for almost three years, this justification is insufficient: “Yes, the Paralympic Foundation does not have the same means as the Olympic Foundation, but I don’t care, I don’t give a fuck. They are not poor children. We have to find a way. They have partners and I don’t understand why in 2022 we can’t make it a priority, given that it’s the last thing that separates us and differentiates us from Olympism. »

Chantal Petitclerc holds much the same speech. Everyone in the Paralympic sphere is aware of this injustice, but the hope of seeing things change is now hanging by a thread. When the Olympic fund was created, Paralympic athletes thought that one day their turn would come. They took their patience, but today their patience has reached the limit, almost four cycles later.

“They say the movement is moving forward, but it’s not settled yet and I would say it’s perhaps even more serious today. We no longer have the excuse of novelty. My impression is that there are not many people who fight for it and it really comes to get me, ”explained the former athlete.

A matter of fairness

Benoit Huot made an impression with his prowess in the pool. He is now one of the great ambassadors of Paralympic sport in Canada. He could have retired from the public sphere after his last Games in 2016. His legacy was already precious. Except that he wanted his legacy to go beyond his athletic performance. The most important fight of his life may not have been the one he fought every time he started a race. Rather, it could lie in the way Paralympic performance is valued.

Depriving Paralympic medalists of a considerable sum proves that people with disabilities still suffer discriminatory treatment, according to Chantal Petitclerc.

Senator in Ottawa since 2016, she believes that the Foundation and the Paralympic Committee could try to find other means of financing. Its role in the Senate being more legislative, its actions are quite limited in this file. The fact remains that she does not hesitate to say that it is dragging on and that the government should perhaps get involved sooner rather than later. Looking at the situation coldly, “it wouldn’t take that much money,” she added.

Four major poles

Currently, apart from the absence of medal bonuses, the Paralympic movement suffers from three other shortcomings: visibility, recognition and sponsorship.

Even though these four problems are theoretically different, they are all part of the same equation, according to Petitclerc and Huot.

Almost a quarter of a century after the turn of the 2000s, the impression is that athletes with disabilities are still seen as less important, less deserving and financially less lucrative.

If there is one who can attest to this, it is Chantal Petitclerc: “I remember that when I came back from the Beijing Games, I was everywhere, but it took me five gold medals at these Games to be everywhere. Sometimes I was on the same stage as Olympians who had won “just” a bronze medal. It doesn’t bother me anymore, because we don’t do it for that, but there were reasons to be frustrated, to be offended. I always had to work three times harder than everyone else to have visibility. »

live in hope

Despite his dismay, Benoit Huot firmly believes that the Canadian Paralympic Committee (CPC) is listening: “It’s a matter of time. »

The former swimmer believes the CPC is well aware of a situation that is not helping the Paralympic movement and its athletes. It is certain: this file is a priority, although still unclassified.

“It’s annoying,” he agrees. According to him, this is the only issue that still gives bad press to the Paralympic Committee and the Foundation. He does not understand that it is always absent from the agenda.

Especially since the American program, last summer, was able to offer the same scholarships to its Paralympic and Olympic medalists. Mainly because the two committees worked together.

So why is Canada failing to do so? According to the former swimmer, it is not impossible that the COC and the CPC could one day work hand in hand. Even share their coffers, who knows.

There would be interest on both sides. Obviously, the two organizations do not rely on the same partners and the same sponsors, but both parties would benefit from working more closely together, according to Huot.

For the moment, the progress is minimal and despite the hopes of the Paralympic medalist, he is disappointed that this file is still unchanged.

Chantal Petitclerc would also have hoped that the generation that followed her would benefit from the fight she fought throughout her career. His position and his status allowed him to do so. Which is not the luxury of many active athletes. She was not afraid to tackle the problem head on. She wants to talk about it as loudly as possible: “If nobody gets involved, it will never happen. I struggled during my career. I blubbered. Of course it’s not fun to do, but it has to be done. »

For now, Canadians who have won a medal by the sweat of their brow at the Paralympic Games in Beijing will not receive a penny, unlike their compatriots at the Olympic Games. Chantal Petitclerc and Benoit Huot made their living by overcoming obstacles and trying to be the fastest. It would be ill-advised to bet against them in this race against time.