Articles About the Special Olympics

2008 Summer Paralympic Games
by Alan Taylor, for boston.com

This article from boston.com (a website that is associated with the Boston Globe, a subsidiary of the New York Times) is by Alan Taylor for the "The Big Picture: News Stories in Photographs" section. It is a wonderful piece of photojournalism; there are 36 great high-resolution photos that capture the intensity and ceremonious nature of the paralympics. Here is an excerpt from the article:

From September 6th to September 17th, Beijing is once again hosting athletes from around the world. Over 4,200 athletes - from six different disability groups - from 148 countries are taking part in the 2008 Summer Paralympic Games. Not only are the sports divided into events, but the events are divided into different disability categories, to even out the playing field as much as possible. The slogan for this years Paralympic Games is the same as the one for the Olympics held just last month: "One World, One Dream".

The article seems credible and has photographs that really capture messages of passion, determination, and power. If a picture is worth 1,000 words than this article is a novel (36,000 words).

For Paralympians Around the World, Assistance Varies
by Joshua Robinson and Alan Schwarz, for the New York Times

In this article Robinson and Schwarz analyze the way paralympic organizations are funded in different countries. The survey includes the following countries: France, Switzerland, Canada, Britain and Germany. Every nation has a different way of funding their national team atheletes because of the structure of sports programs and health care systems. The different areas in which the countries differ include: compensation for time taken off from work to train, medal bonuses, pure funding, and health-care programs. Some of the countries, like Switzerland and France, have national health care programs that provide for their athletes. In some countries the amount of money put into Paralympic programs is disproportionately underfunded than Olympic programs. The article aims to reveal the inequality of the provisions made by different countries, especially in an international competition.

FRANCE The national Paralympic sports organization, known as the Fédération Française Handisport, supports athletes by compensating their employers up to €1,200 per month (roughly $1,800) for time missed while training for major events. All 20,000 athletes under the organization’s umbrella also receive stipends of approximately $1,560 per year. No health insurance is provided because of France’s comprehensive national health care system. Medal bonuses are awarded by the individual sports’ national governing bodies.