The Ableism of Athlete Wellbeing Support : Additional needs of the paralympic athlete

This chapter will explore the additional challenges that are met by an elite athlete with a disability when competing in high-performance sport. Supporting a person with a disability in a high-performance training structure can often present issues that National Governing Bodies neglect to consider – for example, the impact of funding on disability allowances, mediating medication, accessing health care in new towns and finding fully accessible housing. The majority of Paralympic sports operate from elite training centres, and for some athletes with disabilities the physical, psychological and emotional difficulties experienced through ‘becoming’ an elite para-athlete can be overwhelming – especially if this becoming takes them away from trusted and relied upon social and medical networks. This chapter provides significant insight into the wellbeing needs of the Paralympic athletes, is framed in consideration with various sociological models of disability and details examples of best practice for how sporting organisations can ensure the structures and systems to support para-athletes are successfully in place from the beginning their elite journey through to the end.