Paralympics and Olympics merger 'possible after 2020'

Sir Philip said nothing was set in stone

<bold>The Paralympics and Olympic Games could merge, says the president of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).</bold>

Sir Philip Craven said things are developing all the time and nothing is "set in stone".

It would be a controversial move with some Paralympic athletes fearful that disability sporting events would be overshadowed.

But a joint Games has some popular appeal, a BBC survey has suggested.

Speaking on the <link> <caption>BBC's Ouch! disability podcast</caption> <url href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/ouch/" platform="highweb"/> </link> to be broadcast next week, Sir Philip said: "Whatever's right for athletes within the Paralympic movement then let's look to do it.

"It's really a logistical problem at the moment but I'm not dead against the idea, in principle, of them coming together at some time."

With nine years in preparation, he said: "It could not be before, I don't know, 2024, something like that, for the summer Games."

Should it go ahead, Sir Philip said he would not want to shrink the Paralympic element of a combined Games - a worry for many of the athletes.

He said: "Within the IPC we're very keen that if there was some form of merger we would maintain the number of athletes in the Olympic/Paralympic Games."

<bold>Fears over merger</bold>

In December former Paralympian Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson said the Paralympic Games would "disappear off the face of the earth" if a merger took place.

She feared only a few of the events would be put in the Olympics.

Baroness Grey-Thompson said: "I'd rather invest time and effort in making sure that the Paralympics can be as parallel to the Olympics as possible."

In March this year, <link> <caption>the BBC World Service published the results of a survey</caption> <url href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17339941" platform="highweb"/> </link> of just over 10,000 people taken in 19 nations.

Some 47% of those questioned favoured merging the Games, while 43% said the Paralympics should stay separate.

In the UK, 50% of those surveyed were in favour, and 43% against.

However, many of the countries with the most impressive medal hauls to date wanted to keep the Games split; they included China (67% separate, 27% integrated), the US (64%, 29%), and Australia (54%, 42%).

Now in his third term as IPC president, Sir Philip - a former Paralympic wheelchair basketball player - also wants to see the word disability banished from the dictionary.

He said a combined Games would probably need to be extended, speculating it might be around three to three and a half weeks.

Under a "partnership agreement" signed by the IPC and the International Olympic Committee the Paralympics will follow on from the Olympics as a separate event until 2020.

But Sir Philip said a merger could be looked at after that time.

"I hope no one thinks that we're fine where we are and things can't change. Of course they can change."