ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors aim to consider the approaches as they reinforce marginal perspectives of disability but can also offer transgressive ways of conceptualising norms of ability. They explore media representations of disability in sport and how sport itself dictates the media's direction in relation to the inspirational narrative trajectories. The authors examine how the various theoretical models of disability intersect with sport to frame societal understandings of the sporting body. While certain progressive narratives are emerging in media content, much of the media released on para-sport, para-athletes, and the Paralympics continue to favour an able-bodied understanding of disability. An understanding of the origins of disability sport and its connection with the medical profession is necessary to appreciate the impact of the medical model of disability on para-sport. Many of the athletes involved in sport have acquired disabilities; this enables the associated narratives to be wrought with tragedy and the overcoming of impairment.
