Paralympic cheats stopped me winning gold

3 years ago 58
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British swimmer Dan Pepper had always dreamed of competing at the Paralympic Games but the opportunity was taken from him, he says, when a ban was imposed on intellectual impairment sports in the Paralympics.

The ban came into force after a huge scandal at Sydney 2000, when the Spanish basketball team were found to have cheated their way to gold. It was discovered that of the 12 players, only two were genuinely disabled.

Although the ban was lifted in 2009 for certain sports, there are still fewer medals available for intellectual impairment athletes today than there were in 2000.

Listen to more on The Fake Paralympians podcast on the BBC World Service.

Producer: Simon Maybin

Video Journalists: Eleanor Layhe, Roberto Gant

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