Bad sportsmanship?

Team ordered to improve behaviour as rivalry turns ugly

Paralympians are often feted for their never-say-die attitude and positive outlook on life, but that image has taken a battering over the past 24 hours with the sporting rivalry between Britain and Australia turning ugly.

the Australians voiced doubts over the classification of a British athlete which have proved correct. But this has not been enough to calm the British....

The furore started when a silver medal was stripped from British discus thrower Rebecca Chin after concerns raised by Australia and several other countries about her classification were upheld by the International Paralympic Committee.

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In a separate incident, wheelchair athlete Kurt Fearnley protested to the IPC after he was placed in the wrong lane by officials at the start of the 800m final on Saturday night. The event was won by Britain's David Weir with Fearnley taking silver.

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An interesting item on the television over the weekend said that many of the disabled athletes sustain injuries because they lose balance (particularly the amputees), and once the balance and rhythm is gone it's impossible for them to regain it and quite often they fall, and fall quite heavily. There was some film of amputee athletes falling, and also film of other disabled athletes, I think they were the cerebral palsy classification athletes, collapsing on the track with lactic acid build up in their muscles. Apparently they didn't pace themselves.