Paralympian Expresses Disappointment Over Exclusion from Post-Reception Event

A Paralympian sprinter from Grimsby has criticized the organizers of an exclusive post-event celebration for their differential treatment of Olympians and Paralympians. On Thursday, athletes from Team GB and Paralympics GB were jointly honored at a reception at Buckingham Palace, marking Britain’s achievements in Paris this summer. Nevertheless, Zac Shaw, a visually impaired sprinter who secured a silver medal in the mixed 4x100m and a bronze in the 100m T12 in Paris, stated that the exclusion of Paralympians from the after-party, hosted by London department store Fortnum & Mason, was “hurtful” and “unfair.” A spokesperson for the store commented: “There has been a failure of communication on our part here and we are truly sorry.” Shaw recounted searching his emails for an invitation to the after-party after an Olympian friend informed him about it. As neither Shaw nor his partner, Ali Smith, also a Paralympic sprinter, located an invitation, they concluded the event was exclusively for Olympians. He remarked: “It’s just hurtful and I mean you have situations like this honestly so frequently, whether it’s brands, prize money, even hosting a Paralympic race at a competition.” He continued: “You have to pick your times to actually call it out.”For me yesterday being under the same roof as the King and all the Olympic and Paralympic medallists and in one place, but the Paralympic medallists have to get in the car and drive home while the Olympic medallists get to enjoy a four-hour after-party with champagne bottles with their name engraved into it. “It’s just unfair.” A screenshot shared by Shaw on Instagram indicated that a Fortnum & Mason spokesperson issued an apology, stating that a distinct event for Paralympians was “in the works”. The message read: “We are really sorry that we could not do both of the planned parties together, which would have been our preference, but we are restricted on space and simply could not have fitted everyone in at the same time.”However, there has been a failure of communication on our part here and we are truly sorry. We really hope to make it up to you when we get everyone together to celebrate.”Thank you for your patience and we will get back to you personally with the details soonest.” Shaw deemed the response “not good enough at all,” expressing that it had exacerbated the situation. He stated that he initially reached out to Fortnum privately but subsequently publicized the issue on social media due to a lack of response. The athlete further commented: “It’s been nice to see how many people with disabilities or not have come to the same conclusion that it’s not equality.” In a subsequent statement, the company declared: “We entered into this with good intentions but recognise that we have made a mistake here for which we fully apologise.”We have been planning for, and of course will be honoured to host, a ParalympicsGB celebratory event at Fortnum’s and an invitation to do that has been made, but we do understand the hurt we have caused by not making our plans clear to the athletes earlier.”