Should the Paralympics and Olympics unite? We ask an expert

In our age of inclusion, is holding two separate events – the Olympics and the Paralympics – outdated? Could combining them give world-class Paralympians the widespread exposure they deserve? I spoke to Ellie Robinson, Team GB Paralympic swimmer and one of the presenting team for the Paralympic Games on Channel 4.

Hi Ellie! How’s today going?

Today’s been fun – I was on Lorraine earlier! But I had an assignment due yesterday as I’m still in university.

That blows my mind. Both Games are just ordinary people doing extraordinary things. So why not put them in the same competition?

I’m all for integration, rather than segregation, but logistically it’s too challenging. The competition would need to be a month long. And can you imagine the size of the Olympic village?

But there must be an audience for it. Nearly 3m tickets were sold for the London 2012 Paralympics, and more than 11 million people watched the broadcast of the opening ceremony, making it one of the most successful ever. That’s something to be proud of.

London woke everybody else up, showing that the Paralympic Games are a very credible sporting competition. It was sports first, disability second. It showed people the level of competition, the rivalries; it became an elite sporting competition, not just the one that goes after the Olympics.

I went to the 2012 Paralympics and the atmosphere was incredible. Although the race I saw was won by Oscar Pistorius, which leaves a strange taste.

I wasn’t in London 2012, but some of the British athletes were talking about it in Rio. They were like: “What the hell?”

What about scheduling the Paralympics before the Olympics?

I’m not so sure. Selfishly, with the Olympics before, it’s almost like a testing ground. So if