Paralympics: How athletes earn a living

DW (English)

Most Paralympic athletes can't make a living off their sports. But there is a large support system. German prosthetics maker Otto Bock is one of the sponsors keeping medal dreams alive for disabled athletes.

Transcript

00:00Paris, the day before the opening of the Paralympics.

00:05It's yet another mega-event featuring athletes with disabilities, and it's grown to be the

00:10third biggest sports event in the world.

00:14This is encouraging people worldwide to overcome a disability, to fight, to live their dreams,

00:21to be active in sports.

00:23It's a huge motivation.

00:26It's a great opportunity for people with disabilities to participate in sports.

00:30It's amazing for our people, for many guys, for our guests to come here, this is wonderful.

00:37The German wheelchair basketball team is among the athletes competing.

00:42They're looking forward to having an audience.

00:44Paris estimates to see another 10 million tourists watch para-athletes compete.

00:50The German athletics team.

00:52They've been training until hours before their departure.

00:55They're competing in 22 disciplines, but few can make a living of their sports.

01:01This is a blessing I can.

01:02I have sponsors, so I'm covered when it comes to my finances.

01:07It's not the same for everybody, of course.

01:10I think without a sponsor, without sponsors, it's difficult.

01:14You're an ambassador for...

01:16Yeah, ambassador for Ottobock and for Nike.

01:21Most athletes have to balance their training with a regular career, with family or college.

01:26Yeah, it's difficult to deal with these two things in my daily lifetime, but I have to

01:34be honest, I focus a little bit more on sports than on university, but I try to have a good

01:41balance between them both.

01:44The Paris Paralympics will be celebrated over 12 days.

01:47The host city is going all in, preparing a production on par with the recent Olympics,

01:53including a colourful opening ceremony.

01:55It's financed by 1.2 billion euros in sponsorships and 4 billion euros in ticket sales, media

02:01rights and marketing.

02:03Among the sponsors, global insurance giant Allianz.

02:08Our portfolio very much matches with sport, yeah, and we believe of the impact of sport

02:14for health, for society, for social development, no matter if we are speaking about athletes

02:21or athletes with a disability.

02:24German prosthetics maker Ottobock runs a repair shop in Paris' Paralympic village.

02:30The company is the global market leader in its field and has 8,000 employees.

02:36They are offering free service during the Paralympics and they are a sponsor of the

02:40event.

02:41We have a huge network of brand ambassadors, over 75 athletes the world over.

02:48We support them with materials, with wheelchairs, with prosthetics, but also with our know-how.

02:55We know how to make these parts and fine-tune them.

02:59Among Ottobock's athletes, runner Johannes Flohr, a candidate for a medal at the Games.

03:04His goal?

03:05To show the world that everyone can be an elite athlete.

Category

Transcript

Recommended