The Paralympic movement began in rehabilitation centres for injured World War Two veterans at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, so, it’s not surprising the early days were dominated by men, with a bias towards events for spinal-cord injuries and limb loss.
Eight decades on, women are still underrepresented in every sport in the Winter Paralympics.
Wheelchair curling, which must have at least one woman in a five-person team, has one of the best levels of female participation. A new mixed doubles discipline has been added at these Games, which has increased the participation of women in the sport to 38% from 33% in Beijing.
So, how helpful are mixed gender events?
Dr Nikolaus Dean, with the University of British Colombia, applied that question to wheelchair rugby and curling, Para-ice hockey and Para-equestrian. In 2023, he reported that “in practice, these sports provide little to no opportunity for women to get involved in the wider Paralympic movement”.
It is a story that rings true for DiClaudio.
“I think it’s there to deflect outrage,” she said of he
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