Paris Paralympics 2024: Considering What?

Channel 4 has broadcast the Paralympic Games since 2012. Yet despite the Games being the third biggest sporting event in the world, research told us nearly 60% of people watch it to see athletes “overcoming their disabilities” – a problematic and patronising attitude that one Paralympian referred to as “well meant bullshit”.To smash these ableist attitudes, for the 2024 Paris Paralympic games we needed to communicate just how patronising some comments about Paralympic sport are.We worked with inclusive agency Purple Goat to ensure we were representing the lived experience of the disabled community, only then did we start working with Biscuit Filmworks to create a film that couldn’t be ignored. We showed what the Paralympians ACTUALLY have to overcome to reach sporting greatness – it’s not their disability, it’s the same forces any athlete must defeat – like gravity, friction and time. We highlighted the contrast between how objectively these forces see the athletes, versus how people at home do. Posters featured Paralympic athletes alongside more patronising audience comments. We then used the physicality of the elite Paralympic sports themselves to cross out each comment's offending caveat. Channel 4’s Paralympic Games coverage got 19.1 million viewers across linear and streaming, with 79% agreeing that the Paralympics were as exciting as the Olympics. It has since been awarded a Grand Prix for Film in this year's Cannes Lions, 5 x D&AD Pencils, Commercial Of The Year at the British Arrows & #18 Most Awarded Campaign In The World by The Drum.