Paralympics hide a secret about disabled athletes: They're everywhere – even the Olympics

The Paralympic Games remind the world of fascinating tales of perseverance, advocacy and inclusion. These events provide a new lens on disability every four years. But the juxtaposition of the Olympics and the Paralympics hides a secret, namely that disabled athletes competed − and won − in the 2024 Paris Games.

But they weren’t counted.

USA Climbing’s national team, which won its first medal this summer in Paris, is made up of 64% athletes with disabilities.

Swimmer Katie Ledecky, the most decorated American female Olympian of all time with 14 medals, has been diagnosed with postural orthostatic tachycardia.

USA gymnast Suni Lee medaled in Paris though she lives with an incurable kidney disease. Teammate Simone Biles, the GOAT of Olympians, has been diagnosed with ADHD.

And it’s not just these exceptional, name-brand athletes, either: 15% to 20% of Olympic athletes experience asthma.

The USA’s Olympic history has featured other people with disabilities. Michael Phelps, the Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer, has a disability: severe depression that made him suicidal and unable to leave his room. Jeff Float swam the third leg of the 4x200 freestyle relay and helped the team take first place in 1984. But did you know viral meningitis rendered Float virtually deaf as a child? Born without a right hand, Jim Abbott helped the U.S. baseball team win gold in 1988 in Seoul. Marla Runyan, a blind runner, competed in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics.

Ultimately, not identifying these athletes as disabled sends a confusing message to the public about disabilities, which aren’t always visible: Disabilities don't hold people back.

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Lack of visibility may come down to disclosure – and stigma

Ever since 2016, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) has been generating Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Scorecards for every sport the committee governs.

They measure the number of women, people of color, veterans and people with disabilities on staff, the board of directors and the national teams of each sport because the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act requires it. To diversify national teams, the U.S. Olympic Committee established guidelines for gender, race and disability.

In 2021, USA Swimming counted zero disabled athletes, even though it fielded a Paralympic team that year and Ledecky competed as well. USA Gymnastics also had zero, even though Lee and Biles were on the 2020 team.

As Congress amended the law in 2008 to counteract a narrowing judicial interpretation of a disability, Ledecky’s, Lee’s, Biles’ and other athletes’ conditions count as disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

This lack of representation on national teams may come down to disclosure: Labeling oneself as disabled brings stigma and possible discrimination. Many people who qualify as disabled prefer not to think of themselves this way.

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The Stevens Act doesn’t require this data to appease the identity preferences of the athletes. Instead, it’s an important aspect of representation and compliance with international standards. The United Nations' Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities says: “States Parties shall take appropriate measures to encourage and promote the participation, to the fullest extent possible, of persons with disabilities in mainstream sporting activities at all levels.”

Disabled athletes on mainstream teams are supposed to be the norm − and perhaps they are. But few would know it, based on the DEI Scorecards.

Ledecky, Lee, Biles and Phelps began competing before the onset of their conditions. Phelps explained that he could keep swimming because he had so many coaches and guides who were invested in his athletic success − most likely because that was obvious before his disability.

If their disabilities had emerged before their athletic prowess, their stories might be different and include fewer wins.

Why separate Paralympian and Olympic athletes?

This doesn’t mean that the Olympic and Paralympic teams should merge; there’s good reason to separate the Olympics and the Paralympics. As the International Olympic Committee and International Paralympic Committee agreed 23 years ago, certain athletes would overshadow others who finally find the limelight in the Paralympic Games.

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Paralympic champions and Olympic athletes prove that disability and sports shouldn’t be divorced in the American psyche. These current athletes are examples − I know this from helping students with autism play tennis: Some are good, but the coaching opportunities for them don’t exist.

The truth is few people expect disabled individuals to excel at sports. As a result, people with disabilities are less likely to be coached or go out for a team.

It’s a perennial problem that the Department of Education addressed over 10 years ago. The 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles are not far away. National teams should survey their athletes, update their scorecards and show how many athletes are disabled on both the Olympic and the Paralympic squads − and not just for accuracy.

To help future athletes, we must acknowledge that not all disability is on the Paralympic side.

Harshita Ganga is a junior at William Mason High School in Ohio. In 2023, she founded Spectrum Empowerment, a nonprofit that serves individuals on the autism spectrum.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Paralympics show new lens on disability. Olympics should do the same