USC Center on Public Diplomacy co-hosted a panel on the LA28 Paralympics with the consulate general of Greece and USC Athletics on Monday. Two-time Paralympic gold medalist Ezra Frech moderated the panel, guiding a discussion about the advancement of accessible and inclusive sport.
Giorgos Kapellakis, a Greek former gold medalist swimmer at the 2008 Beijing Summer Paralympics, is now the President of the Hellenic Paralympic Committee. In his opening statement, Kapellakis said that the Paralympic games are an investment in human thinking and aim to have people rethink how they treat and respect people with disabilities.
“Inclusion is not a luxury, it’s a basic human right,” Kapellakis said.
Clayton Frech, the father of star Paralympian runner Ezra Frech, is the founder of L.A. non-profit Angel City Sports, an organization that provides free year-round adaptive sports opportunities for kids, adults and veterans with physical disabilities or visual impairments.
“We get to lift this whole community up, and it’s not just about the athletes, it’s about anyone living with a physical disability or visual impairment, where society has counted them out,” Frech said. “Kids are left on the sidelines at PE at schools across America. Employment-wise, there’s a glass ceiling for people with disabilities. We can use this LA28 moment to improve society.”
During the panel, Frech said that not enough money is going in to support Paralympic sports, but he believes that there will be much more following LA28. He said Paralympians must get creative because sponsors often drop athletes between the games and return during the Paralympic years, making those periods financially difficult.
Damon Whittaker, a Paralympic archer who will be competing for Team USA at the LA28 Games through a scholarship from Angel City Sports also spoke at the panel. Whittaker was always involved in sports in junior high and high school, but after he was injured in a car crash during high school, he said there were not many adaptive sports at the time.
In an interview with Annenberg Media, Whittaker said he tries to inspire the young kids he coaches at Angel City’s events.
“My whole thing is there’s little kids that are told that you can’t do this, you can’t do that, or they think that it’s hard,” Whittaker said. “The first thing that they do is we figure out how you’re actually going to be able to shoot the arrow, and they see that it’s not hard, then it opens up and be like, ‘Okay, so maybe I can do this.’”
Another featured speaker on the panel, Robert Tanaka, competed in judo at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. Born with albinism which affects his vision, Tanaka said that he can only see about five feet away. He was introduced to judo, a sport he said does not require athletes to see long distances. His positive experience during the Tokyo games gave him insight into preparations being undertaken by Los Angeles.
“I think the Japanese people and government did a really good job of making sure everything was accessible,” Tanaka said. “I think [Los Angeles is] on the right path. It’s just there’s still a lot of work to do.”
Ari Karampetsou, a junior communications major and USC women’s water polo athlete, attended the panel, and said she learned a lot from Kapellakis.
“I found it very interesting having a presentation from somebody from my home country, and finding all those interesting factors about him,” Karampetsou said. “I already knew how good he was as an athlete and what he represented, but also listening to him in a committee and being part of a bigger representation, I think that’s quite interesting to hear from his perspective.”
Being a student athlete herself, Karampetsou believes that the National Collegiate Athletic Association should make an effort to incorporate athletes with disabilities into collegiate sports.
“I think from the conference, we can take away how there have been efforts into implementing Paralympic sports at the collegiate level, but it hasn’t happened yet and I feel like it’s a great time for a change,” Karampetsou said.
Edited by Fashion Castillo and Leo Li