1. What are the contributions in this paper?
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2. What are the future works in this paper?
The main goal was to highlight the potential value that the views of UKDPC members could bring to future academic research, considering that the current impact of the Paralympic Games on the inclusion of disabled people in wider society remains largely unclear ( Smith and Thomas 2005 ).. With this disparity in mind, the surprisingly negative and at times vitriolic comments from participants towards Paralympic athletes suggests that in the view of this small sample of UKDPC members at least, the Paralympic Games is not successful in achieving disability equality in reality.. Finally, similar to the South Korean and Chinese Governments in 1988 and 2008, the authors suggest that the UK Government in 2012 is likely to use the Paralympics to prove that equality for disabled people in wider UK society is being achieved ( Kim 2011 ).. Additional research to explore the intersectionality between the disability rights groups and the IPC would be interesting, however the ability to embrace ‘ politics ’ as a civil rights issue beyond the confines of sport may be too much to ask for the IPC.
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3. How many people were inspired by the achievements of Paralympic athletes?
There were occasions where participants were inspired by the achievements of Paralympic athletes, for instance Carolyn observes that they have succeeded, ‘in spite of inequality, less support and less sponsorship’, however, 59% of the comments on celebrated Paralympic athletes were particularly cynical, for example:
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4. What is the main argument of Danielle Peers?
Peers claims that, in spite of the positive rhetoric surrounding disabled sport within the mainstream media, the Paralympic Movement may potentially provide conditions where disabled athletes become ‘passive, disabled and marginal’ as well as ‘disempowered and heroic’ (Peers 2009, 655).
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