Para riders call for change for disabled community

A current campaign is good but not enough, say those who face a problematic attitude in their everyday lives and work

- BECKY MURRAY

A PARA dressage rider has called on the Government to do more for disabled individuals outside sport.

Multiple gold medal-winning para dressage rider Sophie Christiansen works in London as a software developer and was selected for the Tokyo Games, but ruled out by her ride Innuendo III suffering a “minor veterinary issue”. She told H&H that although the current WeThe15 campaign, led by the International Paralympic Committee and the International Disability Alliance to initiate change for the world’s largest marginalised group, is “a good start”, she believes more could be done.

“We need to change the perception that if you’re disabled, you want to be a Paralympian; not everyone wants to be an elite athlete and I think we need to focus away from sport,” she said.

“I want the Government to enforce the Equality Act. Businesses need to educate themselves on what would make them more accessible, from a ramp, to captions on videos on websites for deaf customers.