ABSTRACT
In the shadow of its illustrious elder sibling, but casting a distinctive light of its own, the Paralympics has become the second largest multisport event in the world.1 This chapter examines interactions between Paralympic sports2 and the organisation of related communications and representation of the Paralympics. This conjunction has been conceived of as the production of a Paralympic brand, with the work of the International Paralympic Committee3 (IPC) now central to a focused orientation encompassing delivery, development and communications about disability sports. Components in the brand strategy include stabilising alignments with partners (e.g. the International Olympic Committee [IOC] and sponsors), aestheticisation, packaging the image, intelligibility and saliency of Paralympic sport (for commercial consumption and use), and tapping Paralympic heritage to authenticate the brand.
