Paralympic hero Jonnie Peacock bemoans 'backwards step' in fight for equality (original) (raw)
Double Paralympic 100m champion Jonnie Peacock is frustrated by the decline in promotion of disabled athletes and disparity in pay between Olympians
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Jonnie Peacock wants to shine a light on the realty disabled athletes face once the Paralympics are over.
With the Tokyo Paralympics set to begin, Team GB are using the slogan ‘impossible to ignore’ after success at London 2012 changed the way disability sport is viewed at home.
Despite Peacock and other stars being labelled ’superhumans’ by Channel 4, Peacock was quick to point out that most British athletes are ignored in the years between Games.
Peacock, who is a double Olympic champion in the 100m, told Mail Online: “It is very frustrating. Equality needs to be pushed forward at events in the UK.
“There has been a backward step.”
Peacock won gold and defended his 100m title at Rio 2016 (
Image:
PA)
The 28-year-old highlighted the disparity that exists between Paralympians and Olympians in terms of appearance fees.
“I understand there is a greater value in certain people,” admits Peacock. “But what is frustrating is when you see two athletes on posters promoting an event, then finding out the Paralympian was paid £500 — and that had to be pushed because they were originally offered nothing — and the Olympian was paid £10,000 to £30,000.
“In my head, that should be illegal. The public watching these events have no clue.”
Peacock also highlighted the decline in Para events at major athletics meetings in the UK.
The 2013 Anniversary Games dedicated a full day to promote and showcase disabled athletes. At this summer’s British Grand Prix, there were just three mixed-class Para events compared to 21 able-bodied events - and all three were conducted prior to the start of live TV coverage.
“The only time I believe para-athletics should be separate is at the Olympics and World Championships,” the sprinter added. “Everywhere else, there is no excuse for events not to be put on together.
“Athletics is about entertainment and Paralympic events can be just as entertaining - if not more - than the Olympic ones. Just put a decibel meter in the crowd and listen to the reaction when someone like David Weir comes out. Paralympians are crowd-pleasers.
The 28-year-old also won the T44-64 100m at the Anniversary Games in 2019 (
Image:
NurPhoto via Getty Images)
“We did a great job in 2013 and we were leaders of the world for Paralympic sport. Unfortunately, it has declined since then and we are having to beg British Athletics to put events back on.
“We have been asking British Athletics for more for five years now without a real shift.”
An icon on the track, Peacock is also a passionate campaigner for the Paralympic movement to normalise disability.
He competed on Strictly Come Dancing - becoming the first amputee athlete to perform on the show - just one year after successfully defending his gold at Rio 2016 and he recently featured on a Netflix documentary about the Paralympics called Rising Phoenix.
Peacock also starred in his own two-part reality series called Jonnie’s Blade Camp where he trains five disabled young athletes.
He is set to appear in another documentary, Billy Monger: Changing Gear, where he will take on the double-leg amputee racing driver in a motor race before teaching Monger how to run with a blade. The documentary airs on Channel 4 on Saturday.
“I want to show that disabled people are more than their disability,” Peacock continued. “There is that pre-conceived notion of what you can and can’t do.
Jonnie Peacock in the Netflix original documentary, Rising Phoenix (
Image:
Matt Horan/NETFLIX)
“When I had my medical for Strictly, my doctor asked, 'Are you going to be OK to do the lifts?'. I was like, 'Well, when I train I have 250kg on my back, so I should be OK carrying someone who is about 50kg'. They assume because I have a false leg that I'm not going to be able to do something.
“I remember watching Heather Mills on The Jump in 2016. She said she couldn't do the moguls because of her prosthetic leg and I got so frustrated watching, thinking, 'Every single kid who has a false leg is suddenly going to think they can't ski now'. I want to show that we can actually do stuff.
“There is a heck of a lot that we can do and most of the time it isn't the disability that's the biggest problem. On Strictly, it was the fact I was a rubbish dancer and my hips were as stiff as a board!”
Peacock - who had his left leg amputated when he was five due to meningitis - admitted that most of the few times he is not judged is when he visits schools, where able-bodied children are so amazed by his running blade that they ask their parents for one of their own at home.
“They just seem to find the blades really cool and want to try it on. Kids are awesome. They have no pre-conceived notions of anything. They don't have judgemental views.
“If you show them something, they will either like it or not — and they have taken the Paralympics on and loved it. That is the biggest sign that humans can see the Paralympics and disability as cool.”
Peacock wants to showcase para-athletics and inspire more children around the world as he attempts to win his third straight Paralympic 100m title in Tokyo.
The iconic track star could also win two medals for the first time in his Paralympics career due to the new 4x100m universal relay, where two men and two women from four different classes race as a team.
“This Paralympics will be talked about forever,' added Peacock. “At times it feels like the cracks have been papered over, but I actually view it as a really big historical event that is going to bring a lot of really cool stories.
“For me, three in a row is going to be tough but nobody goes into the defence of their title looking for a silver. I'd be a bad athlete if I did.
“History shows that when it comes to the big races, I normally put down my best performance of the year. Whether that is good enough for gold, you will have to tune in and watch.
“Hopefully there will be a nice shiny medal at the end of it.”