Butterworth hits out over ‘unfit’ stage
ONE of Britain’s leading cyclists has questioned whether the Paralympics should be cancelled and relocated if they cannot be ‘done properly’ in the wake of devastating funding cuts in Rio.
Jon-Allan Butterworth thinks the Paralympics are being treated as a poor relation to the Olympics and is worried how disabled athletes will be treated. Amid a deepening financial crisis it is thought money was taken from a budget supposed to be reserved for the Paralympics in order to mask Olympics failings.
‘In this day and age we shouldn’t be treated as inferior to the Olympic athletes,’ said former RAF serviceman Butterworth, who won three silver medals at London 2012, five years after losing his left arm in a rocket attack while serving in Iraq.
‘Rio bidded for the Games as a joint entity, one of the conditions being that you have to treat both with parity, so if they have stolen money from the Paralympics to fund the Olympics it’s completely wrong. It means we’re seen as second class citizens in Rio and that’s very worrying — disabled athletes are coming from around the world and will be concerned about how they’re going to be treated.’
The organising committee were three weeks late paying £7m of travel grants to help athletes get to Rio, meaning 10 countries might not be able to send any competitors to the Games. With only 12 per cent of tickets sold and serious questions about the logistics of athletes and spectators getting around the city, Butterworth questioned whether they should go ahead at all.
‘I want it to go ahead but if it can’t be done properly it’s almost like “should it be taken away from Rio?”,’ he said.
‘If you’re not going to do it justice, cancel it and do it six months down the line somewhere else. London could put on an amazing show next month.’