The Paralympics is globally the largest and most significant sporting event that takes place for athletes with a disability. The 2020 Tokyo Games was heralded as significant in its extensive media coverage that served to promote the disability athletic movement, breaking all broadcasting viewing records from the number of broadcasters, viewers, and a number of events provided live. In the past, however, media reporting of the Paralympic Games has not been without controversy. Stereotypical representations of disability, for example, have often been cited). These involve representations such as framing disability as something to be overcome; where athletes ‘participate’ rather than ‘compete’; and for those with adaptive technology, being portrayed as ‘cyborgs’, rather than as competitive athletes. This article has been driven by the curiosity to determine if media depictions of Paralympic athletes have improved over time. We wished to explore the current representations of the print and television coverage in Australia of the 2020 Tokyo games. Our research found that media coverage did, for the most part, provide coverage of events where Paralympians were represented as athletes first and their disability second. Despite this positive outcome, stereotypes prevailed in both print and television reporting. These included minimalising a person's disability, often to the point of making the disability invisible; focussing on overcoming tragedy; using inspirational language to position athletes as advocates for the disability; the use of patronising language; and the positioning of athletes as needing to be grateful. We conclude that whilst the media in Australia has made significant steps towards representing Paralympians as elite athletes, continued attention and primary focus needs to be given to the athlete’s first narrative.

残奥会是全球范围内为残疾运动员举办的规模最大、最重要的体育赛事。2020 年东京奥运会因其广泛的媒体报道而被认为具有重要意义，该报道有助于促进残疾人体育运动，打破了广播公司、观众数量和现场提供的许多赛事的所有广播收视记录。然而，过去，媒体对残奥会的报道并非没有争议。例如，经常引用关于残疾的刻板印象）。这些涉及诸如将残疾视为需要克服的事情等表述；运动员“参与”而不是“竞争”；对于那些拥有自适应技术的人来说，他们被描绘成“电子人”，而不是竞技运动员。这篇文章的动机是为了确定媒体对残奥会运动员的描述是否随着时间的推移而有所改善。我们希望探索 2020 年东京奥运会在澳大利亚的平面和电视报道的当前表现形式。我们的研究发现，在大多数情况下，媒体报道确实提供了对残奥会运动员首先代表运动员，其次是他们的残疾的事件的报道。尽管取得了积极成果，但在印刷和电视报道中仍普遍存在刻板印象。这些包括将一个人的残疾最小化，通常到使残疾不可见的程度；专注于克服悲剧；使用鼓舞人心的语言将运动员定位为残疾的倡导者；使用傲慢的语言；以及运动员需要感恩的定位。