#paralympics 2012

[randomanimaniacsfan]

Mandeville-London 2012 paralympics

[world-of-wales]

CATHERINE'S STYLE FILES - 2012

23 OCTOBER 2012 || The Duchess of Cambridge along with other members of the Royal Family hosted a reception honoring Team GB’s Olympic and Paralympic medalists at the Buckingham Palace.

[fireworkshuan]

I have that friend

[jackbatchelor3]

Flashback Friday to the London 2012 Paralympics.

🏙️🏅

[miroir-de-sports]

Des Jeux Paralympiques populaires (2)

Le podium 2012 du 200 m T42. Whitehead (GB), Vance (USA), Popow (Germany)

Article associé

Quelle dose de paranormal apportera Thomas Jolly à la cérémonie d’ouverture des Paralympiques sur la place de la Concorde ? Il y a 12 ans à Londres, Stephen Hawking, astrophysicien britannique, cloué dans son fauteuil roulant, ouvrit le bal d’une soirée baptisée "Enlightment" ; un hommage au mouvement philosophique et scientifique des "Lumières" au XVIIIe siècle. "Soyez curieux. Regardez au-delà" tels furent les propos du scientifique. On n’a pas été déçu en abacadabradantesque : des poursuites lumineuses épluchent sous tous les angles d’énormes sphères sur brouettes remorquées par des hommes en vert. Puis une autre réalité est décortiquée : les boules féeriques sont des pommes géantes. La scène qui se joue renvoie à la découverte de Newton sur la gravitation.

Il va falloir s’y faire pendant 11 jours, avec les Jeux des athlètes non valides, tout est différent et les règles pas toujours accessibles des valides. Les sauts, les courses d’unijambistes auraient fasciné le physiologiste Beaunois Etienne-Jules Marey, expert dans l'étude des mouvements ; des doubles amputés vont retirer leurs jambes artificielles pour s’installer sur des vélos à main, des nageurs brasser l’eau d’un seul bras, des corps être équipés de prothèses en forme de lame, des tennismen paraplégiques, monter au filet à tour de bras et de poussées sur les roues de leurs fauteuils puis sortir le point gagnant. Comment font-ils pour narguer les lois universelles de la gravité avec autant d’envie ?

1er septembre 2012, jour 2 : en série du 1 500 m, catégorie T46 (amputés membres supérieurs), le Djiboutien Houssein Omar Hassan, seul représentant de son pays, blessé à la cheville, refuse d’abandonner. Sa foulée boitillée est acclamée pendant 7 minutes par 80 000 personnes (video). Finale du 200 m, catégorie T42, le britannique Richard Whitehead, dépasse à pas de géant 5 concurrents dans la ligne droite ; le record du monde est battu en 24"38 et record personnel pour six autres. D’une pointe d’humour, British Airways, la compagnie aérienne partenaire du CIO, rallie les supporters au stade Olympique : " Ne prenez pas l’avion. Supportez votre équipe. Criez assez fort à la télévision et ils vous entendront". Que nous réservera Paris 2024 ce 28 août ? Les DJ vont avoir ce choix : piocher dans la playlist qui a ambiancé les sites des JO, Dassin, Johnny, Piaf, Edward Maya, Gala ; ou trouver de la cohérence avec la soirée. Sur un grand lac, un lac gelé, un homme en noir boitait, boitait, il patinait, Il patinait. Un morceau de Julien Clerc.

Humour anglais : British Airways recommande de ne pas prendre l'avion pendant les Jeux Paralympiques et de supporter les athlètes.

Au Double Tree, avec la présence de Sir Philip Craven, président du Comité international paralympique de 2001 à 2017 et de Gérard Masson, président de la Fédération Française Handisport.

ARTICLE VIVREFM

[124daisies]

Paralympics countdown clock, Trafalgar Square, 2011

[whumpinggrounds]

Overused Disability Tropes

Woohoo here we go. I expect this one to be a bit more controversial because I am using specific media as examples. I would really prefer if, when critiquing this post, you avoid defending specific media, and focus instead on what’s actually being said/represented about disabled communities. If you feel I’ve done a really grave injustice, you can come into my askbox/DMs/replies to talk to me about it, but I might not answer.

One more time: I am not interested in getting into a debate about whether something is a good show/movie/book/whatever. I’m not telling you it’s bad, or that you shouldn’t enjoy it! People can like whatever they want; I am only here to critique messaging. Do not yell at me about this.

Newest caveat aside, let’s get into it!

Inspiration Porn

Without a doubt, our biggest category! Term coined in 2012 by badass activist Stella Young, but the trope has been around for literal centuries. There are a few different kinds that I will talk about.

Disabled character/person is automatically noble/good because of their disability. A very early example would be A Christmas Carol’s Tiny Tim, or, arguably, Quasimodo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Real life examples include the Jerry Lewis MDA telethon, or children’s hospital ads that exploit sad-eyed kids with visible illness or disability.

Having a disability does not automatically make you a kind/angelic/noble person. This many not seem harmful, and may even seem positive, but in reality, it is condescending, inaccurate, and sets bizarre standards for how disabled people should behave.

This portrayal is often intended to elicit pity from abled audiences, which is also problematic.

In these portrayals, disability is not something to be proud of or identify with, only something to be suffered through.

Disabled character person does something relatively mundane and we all need to celebrate that. This is less common in writing, but happens in the real world when people do things like post pictures of disabled people at the gym captioned “What’s your excuse?”

This is condescending, and implies that anything disabled people are capable of, abled people are automatically capable of.

Makes it seem like it’s an incredible feat for a disabled person to accomplish tasks.

Uses people’s actual lives and actual disabilities as a reminder of “how good abled life is.”

The “Supercrip” stereotype is a specific kind of inspiration porn in which disabled people are shown to be capable of amazing things, “in spite of” their disability.

The Paralympics have been criticized for this, with people saying that advertisements and understandings of the Paralympics frame the athletes as inspiring not because they are talented or accomplished, but because their talents and accomplishments are seen as “so unlikely.”

Other examples include the way we discuss famous figures like Stephen Hawking, Alan Turing, or even Beethoven. Movies like The Theory of Everything and The Imitation Game frame the subjects’ diagnoses, whether actual or posited, as limitations that they had to miraculously break through in order to accomplish what they did. Discussions of Beethoven’s deafness focus on how incredible it was that he was able to overcome it and be a musician despite what is framed as a tragic acquisition of deafness.

The pity/heroism trap is a concise way of defining inspiration porn. If the media you’re creating or consuming inspires these emotions, and only these emotions, around disability, that is a representation that is centered on the feelings and perceptions of abled people. It’s reductive, it’s ableist, and it’s massively overdone.

Disabled Villains

To be clear, disabled people can and should be villains in fiction. The problem comes when disabled people are either objects of pity/saintly heroes, or villains, and there is no complexity to those representations. When there is so little disabled rep out there (less than 3.5% of characters in current media), having a disabled villain contributes to the othering of disability, as well as the idea that disability can make someone evil. There are also a few circumstances in which particular disabilities are used to represent evil, and I’ll talk about how that’s problematic. 

Mentally ill villains are colossally overdone, particularly given that mentally ill people are more likely to be the victims of violence than perpetrators of it.  This is true of all mental illness, including “””scary””” things like personality disorders or disorders on the schizoaffective spectrum. Mental illness is stigmatized enough without media framing mentally ill people as inherently bad or more suspectible to evil. This prejudice is known as sanism.

Explicit fictional examples of this include the Joker, or Kevin Wendell Crumb in Split.

People can also be coded as mentally ill without it being explicitly stated, and that’s also problematic and sanist. In the Marvel movie Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, Wanda’s appearance and behavior are coded as mentally ill. This is used to make her “creepy.” Horror movies do this a lot - mental illness does not render someone creepy, and should not be used as a tool in this way.

Visible disability or difference to indicate evil is another common, incredibly offensive, and way overdone trope. This is mostly commonly done through facial difference, and the examples are endless. These portrayals equate disability or disfigurement with ugliness, and that ugliness with evil. It renders the disabled villain in question an outcast, undesirable, and uses their disability or difference to dehumanize these characters and separate them from others. This is incredibly prevalent and incredibly painful for people with visible disability or facial difference.

An example of visible disability indicating evil is Darth Vader’s prosthetics and vastly changed physical appearance that happen exactly in time with his switch to the dark side. In contrast, when Luke needs a prosthetic, it is lifelike and does not visually separate him from the rest of humanity/the light.

Dr. Who’s John Lumic is another example of the “Evil Cripple” trope.

Examples of facial difference indicating evil range from just about every James Bond movie, to Scar in the Lion King, Dr. Isabel Maru in Wonder Woman, Taskmaster in Black Widow, Captain Hook in Peter Pan, and even Doofenschmirtz-2 in Phineas and Ferb the Movie. Just because some of the portrayals are silly (looking at you, Phineas and Ferb) doesn’t make the coding of facially scarred villains any less hurtful.  

A slightly different, but related phenomenon I’ll include here is the idea of the disability con. This is when a character fakes a disability for personal gain. This represents disabled people as potential fakers, and advances the idea that disabled people get special privileges that abled people can and should co-opt for their own reasons. 

In The Usual Suspects, criminal mastermind Verbal Clint fakes disability to avoid suspicion and take advantage of others. In Arrested Development, a lawyer fakes blindness in order to gain the sympathy and pity of the jury.

In much more complex examples such as Sharp Objects, a mother with Munchausen by proxy fakes her daughter’s illness in order to receive attention and pity. Portrayals like this make Munchausen or MBP seem more common than it is, and introduce the idea that parents may be lying or coaching their children to lie about necessary medical treatment.

Disability as Morality

Sometimes, the disabled character themselves is a moral lesson, like Auggie in Wonder. Sheerly through existing, Auggie “teaches” his classmates about kindness, the evils of bullying, and not judging a book by its cover. This also fits well under inspiration porn. This is problematic, because the disabled character is defined in terms of how they advance the other characters’ morality and depth.

In the “Disabled for a Day” trope, an otherwise abled character experiences a temporary disability, learns a moral lesson, and is restored to full ability by the end of the episode/book/movie. Once again, disability is used as a plot device, rather than a complex experience, along with more permanent disability being rejected as impossible for heroes or main characters.

Examples include an episode of M*A*S*H where Hawkeye is temporarily blinded, an episode of Law and Order: SVU where Elliott Stabler is temporarily blinded, and an episode of Criminal Minds where Agent Hotchner experiences temporary hearing loss.

Real life examples include sensitivity trainings where participants are asked to wear a blindfold, headphones, or use a wheelchair for a given amount of time. This does not impart the lived experience of disability. It should not be used as a teaching tool. 

Disabled people as inherently pure. This is related to inspiration porn and disabled people as noble, but is different in that it is usually appears in combination with developmental, cognitive, or intellectual disabilities. These characters are framed as sweet, “simple,” and a reminder to other characters to be cheerful, happy, or grateful.

Examples include Forrest Gump, Rain Man, I Am Sam, and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.

No matter what the stereotypes of a given diagnosis are (yes, I’m thinking of the automatic cheerfulness associated with Down Syndrome), disabled people have personalities. They are capable of being sad, angry, sarcastic, irritable, annoying - any number of things beyond good/sweet/pure. It is reductive to act otherwise.

Disability as Surreal

Less common than some of the others, but still worth thinking about!

Disabled characters are framed as mystical, magical, or other than human, a condition that is either created by or indicated through their disability status. This is especially common with little people.

“Disability superpower” is when a character compensates for, or is uniquely able to have a superpower because of, their disability. Common tropes include the Blind Seer, Blind Weapon Master, Genius Cripple and Super Wheel Chair.

Examples include Pam from Supernatural, Charles Xavier from X-Men, or the grandpa in Spy Kids.

Disability as Undesirable

Last and least favorite category here. Let’s go.

Disabled people as asexual or not sexually desirable. Disabled people can be asexual, obviously. When every portrayal is asexual, that’s a big problem. It frames disabled people as sexually undesirable or implies that it is impossible for people with disabilities to have rewarding, mutually satisfying sexual relationships.

Examples include The Fault in Our Stars or Artie in Glee.

Abandoned due to disability. Hate this trope. Often equates disability with weakness. Don’t want to talk about it. It’s all right there in the title. Don’t do it.

Examples: Quasimodo in Hunchback of Notre Dame, several kittens in the Warrior Cat series, several episodes of Law and Order: SVU, Bojack Horseman, and Vikings.

Discussed in 300 and Wolf of Wall Street.

Ancient cultures and animal nature are often cited as reasoning for this trope/practice. This is not founded in fact. Many ancient civilizations, including Sparta, cared for disabled people. Many animals care for disabled young. These examples should not be used to justify modern human society.

Disabled characters are ostracized for disability. Whether they act “““normal”““ or odd, characters with visible or merely detectable disabilities are treated differently.

Examples include pretty much every piece of media I’ve said so far. This is particularly prevalent for people with visible physical disabilities or neurodivergence. Also particularly prevalent for characters with albinism.

This is not necessarily an inaccurate portrayal - disabled people face a lot of discrimination and ableism. It is, however, very, very common.

Bury your disabled. What it says on the label.

Examples: Animorphs, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, American Horror Story, Criminal Minds, Dr. Who, Star Trek, The Wire.

Mercy killing is a subtrope of the above but disgusting enough that it deserves its own aside. I may make a separate post about this at some point because this post is kind of exhausting and depressing me.

Examples: Me Before You, Killing Eve, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Of Mice and Men, and Million Dollar Baby.

Disability-negating superpowers imply that disability is undesirable by solving it supernaturally instead of actually portraying it, and giving their character powers instead.

Examples include (arguably) Toph from Avatar: the Last Airbender, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Legend of Korra, Dr. Strange, and Daredevil.

Overcoming disability portrays disability as a hindrance and something that can be defeated through technology and/or willpower.

Fictional examples include WALL-E, Kill Bill, The Goonies, The Dark Knight Trilogy, Heidi, The Secret Garden, The Inheritance Cycle, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, The Big Bang Theory, Dr. Strangelove, Sherlock, The Witcher.

Real life examples include videos of wheelchair users standing from their chair to walk down the aisle at a wedding, or d/Deaf children “hearing” for the first time through cochlear implants.

What Does This Mean for Your Writing?

First of all, congratulations for making it this far!

Now, as I have said again and again, I’m not going to tell you what to write. I’ll ask some questions to hopefully help guide your process.

What tropes might you be playing into when writing disabled characters? Why do you find these tropes compelling, or worth writing about? How prevalent are these tropes? How harmful are they? What messages do they send to actual disabled people?

Just because they are common tropes does not mean they are universally awful. Cool fantasy or futuristic workarounds are not necessarily bad rep. Showing the ugly realities of ableism is not necessarily bad rep. It’s just a very, very common representation of disability, and it’s worth thinking about why it’s so common, and why you’re writing it.

As always, conduct your own research, know your own characters and story, and make your own decisions. If you have questions, concerns, or comments, please hit me up! Add your own information! This is not monolithic whatsoever.

Happy writing!

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Brazil is a paralympic power: understand why the country stands out

The country expects to improve on its seventh-place in the last Paralympics, in Tokyo

The Paris Paralympic Games began this week, and Brazil will compete in 20 of the 22 sports, with a delegation of 255 athletes, the second largest in this edition of the Games – second only to China. As in other editions, the country is expected to win many medals: analysts say Brazil will probably be among the top five in the competition.

The country consolidated its position in the top 10 of the Paralympics in Beijing 2008, when it finished the Games with 47 podiums: 16 gold medals, 14 silver medals and 17 bronze medals, the ninth in that edition’s ranking.

In London 2012, the total number of podiums decreased, but the number of gold medals increased, and the country finished seventh on the medals table (21 gold medals, 14 silver medals and 8 bronze medals). At the Rio Games in 2016, the number of podiums jumped to 72, but a slight drop in the number of gold medals left the country in eighth position. In Tokyo 2020, Brazil returned to seventh position, with the same number of podiums as in Rio, but a record number of gold medals: 22.

According to Rafael Reis, a Paralympic sports researcher, Brazil's success has several causes. He explains that one of the first steps towards the country's prominence in the Paralympics was the creation of the Brazilian Paralympic Committee (CPB, in Portuguese) in 1994.

Continue reading.

[finnglas]

Let me tell you a funny story about baseball.

I'm not a sports gay. I enjoy some sports a moderate amount. (I discovered during the 2024 Paralympics that I really enjoy women's wheelchair basketball. Hot ladies with shoulders, and no squeaky basketball shoe sounds to make me want to rupture both eardrums! But I digress.) The one sport that I've traditionally enjoyed, both playing and watching, is baseball.

For a brief period of time, around 2008-2009, I followed MLB pretty closely. I very carefully decided I was going to have A Team that was my team, and deliberately chose said team. I had some requirements: I wanted a team who was in the American League, not the National League (don't ask, idk), and I wanted one that had been around since the beginning of said league, not one of the newcomers. I also wanted them to have some connection to something I enjoyed, even if it was only that I liked the team uniforms. I ended up with a primary team (the Chicago White Sox) and a secondary team (the Boston Red Sox). (Did I call myself a polysoxxer? I did. Leave me alone.)

Anyway. I followed them religiously. I had the best experience of living in Charlotte, NC, where the White Sox had a farm team in the Charlotte Knights, and I knew exactly which players were in town while they were recovering from an injury - oh, and one time they played an exhibition game and I paid extra for a seat directly behind the White Sox dugout, and was in arm's reach of Carlos Quentin, my absolute favorite player.

Anyway. Things happened. The White Sox traded Quentin and fired Ozzie Guillen. Half my Red Sox got traded - some of them to the *mutters* Yankees. Varitek retired in 2012. I got busy. I hit a period of deep clinical depression. I finally admitted to myself I was queer and started getting more into connecting with the queer scene in town. And I quit following both teams. They weren't "mine" anymore.

For a period of several years, any time I'd express any interest in baseball, people would ask who my team was, and I'd joke that I needed to do some interviews and find a new one. Couldn't be the Tampa Bay Rays because I'm still mad at them for changing the name from the Devil Rays because the new owner is some weirdo Christian, didn't really care about the rest. (My dad, who has been loyal to the St Louis Cardinals since he was eight years old, is baffled as to why I didn't just come over to his team. Well, Dad, they're National League for one thing.)

Well, a few weeks ago, I was traveling for work and I wanted some background noise in the hotel room so I turned on the television. It was on MLB, but on commercial break. I was like you know what? It's time I got a new baseball team. Whoever is playing, I'm going to pick one of these two teams as my new team, provided it's not the Cardinals or the Rays.

Reader. Do you know who was playing that night?

It was the Chicago White Sox vs the Boston Red Sox.

Anyway so I got back together with both my exes during the worst season in the White Sox's history, and every time I see a new update about how bad they're doing I just have to be like, yep, that's my team.

[raspberry-gloaming]

People should talk about the Paralympics the same amount and way as they talk about the Olympics, including the memes

Also because it's post Olympics the Paralympicans are also aware of the Olympics' memes.

Like on channel 4 yesterday they were talking about how the Team GB swim team had heard about the chocolate muffin Norwegian guy and went in with the goal of trying the muffins (they agreed that they were really good)

And you got Ellie Simmonds, who has 5 gold Paralympic medals and is now retired and is a presenter for the Paralympics on channel 4, who was incredibly enthusiastic to talk about the free merch the athletes get each Olympics and Paralympics. She still uses her London 2012 duvet cover, and she was talking all about how she loves the green extension lead they get in Paris this year

[captaindibbzy]

I am silently judging America for their lack of Paralympic sports medals. 👀

In the Olympics they're always fighting for the top spot with China. The UK came, like, 5th or something?

UK is currently second with 32 gold, China in first with 54, and America is in third with 22.

I know the world over Para-Sports don't get good funding, and I think it's pretty cool how China has put so much in to Para-Sports that they are topping out. I know Para-Sports are pretty big in the UK to after 2012.

But China and the US are the superpowers of the time so 👀 judging your lack of medals America. Silently judging.

[world-of-wales]

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attended the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 London Paralympics at the Olympic Stadium in London || 29 AUGUST 2012

[mathsandwhiteroses]

Royal Summer Challenge 2024: Day 19

Favourite photos of royals at the Paralympics

Unfortunately, I could only find photos of the Brits at the summer Paralympic Games so fingers crossed we will have more Royals attend the Paralympics in Paris this year.

The photo of Catherine and Louise was taken during the London 2012 games, the photos of Sonja were taken during the Lillehammer 1994 games, and the photo of Victoria was taken during the Pyeongchang 2018 games.

[importantwomensbirthdays]

Karen Darke

Karen Darke was born in Halifax, England in 1971. At the age of 21, Darke was paralyzed from the chest down in a climbing accident. In 2009, she began handbiking and the following year, joined the Great Britain Cycling Team. At the 2012 Paralympics, Darke won the silver medal in the H1-2 time trial. Four years later in Rio, she won gold in the time trial. Darke has also hand-cycled the length of Japan, and participated in an expedition across Greenland's ice cap, where she used her arms and ski poles to cross 372 miles.

[miroir-de-sports]

Des Jeux Paralympiques populaires (1)

Paris 2024 organise pour la première fois des Jeux Paralympiques d’été, la 17 è édition depuis Rome en 1960, alors qu’Albertville a déjà accueilli en 1992 la 5 è édition des Paralympiques Hiver. Sur sa lancée des JO, Paris 2024 est en passe de se rapprocher du succès populaire inégalé des Jeux Paralympiques de Londres 2012. Le site de billetterie n’offre plus de places pour plusieurs épreuves comme l’escrime fauteuil. Ils sont encore nombreux ceux qui veulent emporter un petit bout de Paris 2024. Certains vêtements officiels des JO ont été écoulés en moins d’une semaine : “Dès l’entame le rugby à 7 a fait des émules dans les tenues : “Vous l’avez eu dans quelle boutique votre tee-shirt ? “Aux Jeux, il suffit parfois d’un accessoire pour déclencher une ruée comme pendant les soldes. Les mitaines rouges de Vancouver, une feuille d’érable côté paume, les anneaux Olympiques de l’autre, tout le monde se les arrachait en 2010. Certains ont comblé cet emballement pendant les Jeux Paralympiques, en dénichant ces gants, parfois en soirée juste avant la fermeture des caisses de la Compagnie la Baie, 674 Grandville Street, en plein centre-ville de Vancouver, un équivalent des Galeries Lafayette ; une aubaine grâce à l’équipe de nuit, deux salariées francophones, Morgane la Belge et Cécilia la Bretonne. Aux Jeux Paralympiques comme aux Olympiques, la cérémonie d’ouverture est un temps fort attendu. À Vancouver, la présence de représentants des tribus des premières nations mit en évidence les engagements historiques du Canada pour le respect des cultures, des traditions et de l’espace de vie des populations autochtones : vivre ensemble. Le point d’orgue fut l’hommage de tout un peuple à Terry Fox décédé en 1981 : atteint d’un cancer du genou et amputé de la jambe droite à 17 ans, l’athlète réalisa avec des béquilles et sans prothèse une marche transcanadienne d’un océan à l’autre pour récolter des fonds. Son aventure fut racontée sur l’écran panoramique en haut du dôme du British Columbia Place lors de la cérémonie d’ouverture. Ses parents, Rolly et Betty, y furent invités pour allumer la torche de Marni Abbott-Peter, une ancienne basketteuse en fauteuil roulant qui fut parmi les meilleurs mondiales. En France il y a des Terry Fox : pour son premier marathon de l’espoir, Guy Amalfitano, athlète paralympique d’Orthez atteint aussi d’un ostéosarcome, passa à Orchamps en 2011. Quel Terry Fox aurons-nous le 28 août ?

Des Jeux Paralympiques à guichets fermés au stade Olympique de Londres en 2012.

Article associé

A l'hôtel Double Tree, situé près des Joyaux de la couronne, à la rencontre de Charles Rosoy médaillé d'Or du 100 m papillon catégorie S8.

[barbielore]

I was always loosely under the impression that the first Olympic tie-in doll in the Barbie range was Olympic Gymnast Barbie for the 1996 Atlanta games, but as it turns out this is not the case.

The 1970s brought us "Gold Medal Barbie", including a range of different Olympic-themed outfits. To break down further, there were also a range of Barbies showing her and her friends competing in different events.

I believe, however, that Olympic Gymnast Barbie in 1996 was the first to be tied in to a specific Games, as well as the start of the trend of having Barbies representing the US in consecutive games going forward with specific tie-ins.

I have talked about Olympic Gymnast Barbie in many other posts before, because this is specifically a doll I remembered growing up with so she is always fresh in my mind.

If I talked about all the Summer and Winter Games tie-ins this would be such a long post that it would probably make people block on sight, so I'll save the Winter Games for a follow-up post.

Sydney 2000 had a wide range of dolls as tie-ins, including Swimming Champion Barbie, Paralympic Champion Becky, Olympic Fan Barbie and Olympic Pin Collector Barbie. There are probably several others as well that I have overlooked.

Barbie took a break again from the Games through 2004, 2008 and 2012 (though there are some non-Barbie fashion dolls produced by companies other than Mattel who are identified on reseller sites as a Barbie), making a kind of return in 2016 in a different way. Although there were no dolls that specifically tied into Barbie as a competitor, the 2016 Games inspired a few tie-in collectors Barbies in the likeness of specific Olympians.

Laurie Hernandez, a solo silver medalist and a team gold medalist gymnast at the Rio Games, and Ibtihaj Muhammad, bronze medalist fencer, were among the "Sheroes" honoured this way.

The 2020 (technically 2021) Games in Tokyo brought a new wave of Barbie competing as an athlete, in a variety of sports.

Most of her outfits heavily featured Barbie pink, alongside a Tokyo 2020 jersey.

No Barbies yet have dropped for Paris 2024, but I have to assume it is only a matter of time, as a range of athlete Barbies really fits with Mattel's branding of the doll right now.