Managing Legacy and the Paralympic Games

Abstract

“We aim to build on the legacy of the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games and encourage more youngsters in the continent to try and compete in para-sport” (Andrew Parsons, Head of Brazilian Paralympic Committee 2016, IPC, p. 3). In recent years, cities hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games have used the rhetoric of legacy for the host community as a way to demonstrate the broader value of hosting such a mega-event (Horne 2015; Grix 2013). While much of the legacy literature has focused on the Olympic Games, there is an emergence of research centred on the Paralympic Games and the potential value offered from hosting the Games. Unfortunately, legacy has become a “catch-all” term that seems to apply to anything intended or unintended leftover from hosting the event. This idea holds little value for host communities seeking to support broader social outcomes through event hosting. In the context of the Paralympic Games, however, the relative infancy of such a movement and the discussions about impacts offers a unique place to consider the role of the Games in influencing specific legacy and related effects. In this chapter, I will offer a perspective of managing Paralympic legacy based on the International Paralympic Committee’s (IPC) approach to creating broad social legacies for people with disabilities, examine how this area has been explored in the scholarly literature, and offer some direction on evaluating and considering the role of legacy planning in Paralympic movement.