Index Should Paralympic medal winners receive the same prize money as their Olympic colleagues? Purpose of the Olympic/Paralympic Games Similar financial costs incurred Less intensity of competition? The assignment is the same Rewarding an impossible dream? Conclusion This essay discusses the issue of whether Paralympic medal winners should receive the same prize money as their Olympic counterparts and advocates unity in diversity by promoting equal compensation for both able-bodied and handicapped athletes. Therefore, the unity in diversity essay should not only recognize the differences between individuals, but also promote equal treatment and appreciation for all, regardless of their abilities. We say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Should Paralympic medal winners receive the same prize money as their Olympic colleagues? In the recent Rio 2016 Olympics, Singaporean Paralympic swimmer Yip Pin Xiu broke the world record and won gold in the 100m backstroke. Similarly, Singaporean Olympic swimmer Joseph Schooling set a new Olympic record and won a gold medal in the 100-meter butterfly event. Although both medalists have the same achievement, they are compensated differently. In Singapore, an Olympic medalist will receive S$1 million, S$500,000 and S$250,000 for the gold, silver and bronze medal respectively. By contrast, a Paralympic medal winner will only receive S$200,000, S$100,000 and S$50,000 for gold, silver and bronze medals respectively, 20% of what an Olympic medalist would receive. Looking at the current reward system, one might wonder whether this is fair treatment for Paralympians. Unlike the current reward system, I believe that Paralympians should be awarded the same prize money, largely due to the similar effort, time and costs spent preparing for competition, as well as furthering the purpose of such events sportsmen. Purpose of The Olympic/Paralympic Games First, we will need to know the purpose of holding the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Both games have the same spirit and the only difference between them is that the Paralympic game is reserved for athletes with disabilities. As stated on the Olympic website “The objective of the Olympic Movement is to contribute to building a peaceful and better world by educating young people through sport practiced without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and correctness". The purpose of each year's games varies slightly, and as for the upcoming Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the purpose of organizing the games is reflected in the vision of the game which strongly emphasizes three concepts: achieving personal best, unity in diversity and connection to Tomorrow. Looking at the second concept, Unity in Diversity, the committee aims to support a welcoming environment and raise awareness of Unity in Diversity around the world. To achieve Unity in Diversity, we will need to understand that each participant is unique and look beyond inherent differences. To truly embrace Unity in Diversity, we should first treat disabled and able-bodied participants equally. Since the games emphasize Unity in Diversity, this value should be further reflected in the reward system. In other words, similar rewards should be given to represent equality and celebrate Unity in Diversity. Therefore, participating countries shouldprovide both Paralympic and Olympic medal winners the same incentives to support the clause to embrace diversity, which is an important purpose of the games. Similar financial costs incurred Furthermore, there are also similar financial costs incurred for both Paralympians and Olympians. Aside from renowned Olympic superstars like Michael Phelps, who earns a significant amount of money from endorsements, many Olympians are actually struggling to make ends meet. For example, U.S. speed skater Mitch Whitmore relies on performance-based salaries to cover daily needs such as rent and food. Likewise, Paralympians are also struggling financially. One example is a Paralympian, Oksana Masters, who is struggling with finances to keep up with the high costs incurred in training. He also had to look for alternative income to support himself financially. On some occasions, Paralympians may even incur higher training costs. For example, two-time Paralympic medalist Chuck Aoki says the use of adaptive sports equipment by Paralympians is expensive. He notes that his competitive wheelchair costs $5,000, and maintenance fees for the equipment are also expensive. This huge financial commitment acts as a barrier to entry for many Paralympians. Therefore, we can see that Paralympians have similar financial circumstances and yet receive a significantly lower incentive than Olympians. This demonstrates the unfair situation that Paralympians find themselves in, and therefore they should receive the same incentives as Olympians to finance their high training costs. Less intensity of competition? There are, however, many counterarguments showing that the reward given to Paralympians should be proportional compared to Olympians due to the lower intensity of the competition. The counter-argument put forward by Senior Parliamentarian Teo Ser Luck was that para-events are more segmented because they are split into more categories to cater for different types of disabilities, resulting in more gold medals being awarded. For example, in the Olympics, a single 100 meter backstroke event would only allow 1 gold medal, while the same event in the Paralympics consists of 10 categories that equate to 10 gold medals. This would result in less competition within each category. An example is how Yip Pin Xiu entered directly into the final against only six competitors while Joseph Schooling had to battle against 42 other swimmers in multiple elimination rounds to qualify for the finals. Therefore, proponents of such a view argue that more segments and fewer competitors result in lower intensity of competition, which is why Paralympians should not be rewarded the same as Olympians. However, less competition does not mean less intensity of competition. In fact, at the 2016 Paralympic Games, four 1500m pararunners ran faster than the Rio Olympics gold medalist's time. The example clearly showed that some Paralympians are capable of putting up a fight equivalent to Olympians and therefore, despite there being fewer Paralympians competing in a single category, the intensity of the competition is not low. Paralympians are also training hard to achieve their personal best. This completely disproves the assumption established above that the intensity is lower due to less competition. Furthermore, less competition does not imply less training intensity leading up to competition. Those who qualified for the Paralympics would have trained hard for the competition. It wouldn't matter if.