Paralympic skier Jeff Dickson hopes games' coverage grows

A Sudbury Paralympian is impressed with the high level of promotion leading up to the Paralympics Games that start March 7 — but he thinks there's still room for improvement.

Retired Paralympic skier Jeff Dickson said the attention around the Paralympics has gone up exponentially since his first Games in 1992.

"Previously, I don't think we were mentioned in the same breath,” he said.

“Now, it's the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic team. [There is] so much more media coverage."

This year, in Canada, there will be more than sixty hours of broadcast coverage of the Paralympics, which is a winter record.

But many argue the Paralympics should be merged with the Olympic Games to ensure more exposure.

A professor emeritus at Memorial University who studies disability and sport said a merger would be too difficult.

"To add another four thousand athletes to it and the additional events would make the Olympics almost impossible to host,” Colin Higgs said.

Dickson agreed, saying he's worried Paralympic events would be cut if the two games merged.

"To put the two together would be just too much of a task with the people who are involved. People would just get lost in the shuffle."

But Dickson is hopeful the Paralympics will continue to grow in popularity on their own.

"We're finally getting the recognition as athletes who train just as hard — and probably go through more ups and downs financially and physically — as someone else does,” he said.

The Paralympics kick off in Sochi on March 7.