Cost cutting will hit our medal haul warns Tanni
BRITAIN’S Paralympic stars could lose out on medals because of the financial cutbacks at the Rio Paralympic Games, according to Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson.
The Paralympics open on Wednesday as planned, despite severe cuts to basic services.
The whole event will be dramatically scaled down due to an overspend by the Organising Committee at last month’s Games and because not enough tickets have been sold.
Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes secured additional government funding of £36million as well as £24m in sponsorship after an injunction was lifted that had blocked further State aid.
Despite that help, International Paralympic Committee (IPC) president Phil Craven said: ‘Never before in the 56-year history of these Games have we faced circumstances like this.’ And Baroness GreyThompson, who won a record 11 Paralympic gold medals, fears cutbacks will hit the prospects of the 264strong British squad.
Her big worry is that finalists could be disqualified if theyy fail to arrive in time for events.
She said: ‘Transport in Rio is what worries me the most.
‘You can go to a different country and buy food. You can stick black plastic bags over the windows to act as blackout blinds for quality of sleep. You can deal with most things. But, as an athlete, what you cannot do is control the Games transport.’
It is not clear if there will be designated Paralympic lanes between venues during the 12-day event. Olympic lanes last month for the use of official vehicles meant athletes, officials and the media travelled with relative ease in gridlocked Rio. Grey-Thompson said: ‘Days one and two will be a real challenge as you n need to make sur sure you are on th the buses r really early to e ensure you don’t miss events. And I u understand th that they wo won’t have the lanes lanes. If you miss your ev event, you miss it. It has happened at previous Games. They won’t re-run events.’ Baroness Tanni GreyThompson is a pundit for BBC Radio 5 Live’s coverage of the Rio Paralympics. Tune in from 1pm on Thursday for all the action.