Sir Philip Craven gives Paralympic Movement's reaction to the OscarPistorius case
- 7 years ago
Dear Paralympic Friends,
On Thursday morning we all woke up to terribly tragic news; news we did
not think was possible, and news at first we did not want to hear,
believe, or start to comprehend. It was the world's biggest news story
of the day and unfortunately it involved one of our leading athletes.
My personal reaction was one of total shock and disbelief, followed by
deep sympathy and condolences for the family of Reeva Steenkamp, who
has tragically lost her life.
As you can imagine the IPC was inundated with multiple media inquiries
on this story. When any athlete is involved in a high profile incident
it is often the governing body who is asked to comment and on Thursday
we were no different.
For many of us at the IPC, Thursday was a hugely difficult and
traumatic day. Some of us have worked with Oscar for a number of years
now and have grown to know him personally. So to be faced with multiple
questions about the story was very testing for all involved. This is
why we issued the following statement to the world's media:
"Following the news of the alleged shooting incident involving South
African athlete Oscar Pistorius this morning, the International
Paralympic Committee (IPC) will not be passing any comment on the case
at this time.
"This is a police matter, with a formal investigation currently
underway. Therefore it would be inappropriate for the IPC to comment on
this incident until the official police process has concluded.
"The IPC would like to offer its deepest sympathy and condolences to
all families involved in this case."
We must all remember that this is a police case and we have to remain
impartial at all times. The South African law courts will decide
Oscar's fate over the coming months and only then will the full story
of what actually happened emerge.
At the IPC however, we can decide what happens next in terms of the
Paralympic Movement.
Over the coming days we will be conducting a number of interviews with
leading media organisations with the objective of showing to the world
that we boast a wealth of high profile athletes who can, and will,
continue to captivate the world's media attention and inspire and
excite the world helping to fulfil the IPC's vision. We also have a
number of high profile events coming up that will build on the momentum
of London 2012.
London 2012 did not just inspire a generation, but created a whole host
of young world class medal winning athletes. In track and field for
example the likes of Britain's Jonnie Peacock, the Netherlands' Marlou
van Rhijn, Brazil's Alan Oliveira and Namibia's Johanna Benson to name
just a few, all have the ability to propel the Paralympic Movement to
new levels.
The profile of our athletes has never been higher, nor has the demand
to watch Paralympic Sport. Research by LOCOG post London 2012 showed
the public's awareness of the leading athletes tripled during the Games.
Together it is our job to continue building this profile regardless of
the outcome of this terrible case.
I will finish by restating the fact that I wanted to make contact with
all of you and share the roller coaster of emotion that we have all
felt since early Thursday morning last week.
Kind regards and greetings from La Molina, Spain where I am eagerly
awaiting the start of the 2013 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships.
Sir Philip Craven
President
International Paralympic Committee
On Thursday morning we all woke up to terribly tragic news; news we did
not think was possible, and news at first we did not want to hear,
believe, or start to comprehend. It was the world's biggest news story
of the day and unfortunately it involved one of our leading athletes.
My personal reaction was one of total shock and disbelief, followed by
deep sympathy and condolences for the family of Reeva Steenkamp, who
has tragically lost her life.
As you can imagine the IPC was inundated with multiple media inquiries
on this story. When any athlete is involved in a high profile incident
it is often the governing body who is asked to comment and on Thursday
we were no different.
For many of us at the IPC, Thursday was a hugely difficult and
traumatic day. Some of us have worked with Oscar for a number of years
now and have grown to know him personally. So to be faced with multiple
questions about the story was very testing for all involved. This is
why we issued the following statement to the world's media:
"Following the news of the alleged shooting incident involving South
African athlete Oscar Pistorius this morning, the International
Paralympic Committee (IPC) will not be passing any comment on the case
at this time.
"This is a police matter, with a formal investigation currently
underway. Therefore it would be inappropriate for the IPC to comment on
this incident until the official police process has concluded.
"The IPC would like to offer its deepest sympathy and condolences to
all families involved in this case."
We must all remember that this is a police case and we have to remain
impartial at all times. The South African law courts will decide
Oscar's fate over the coming months and only then will the full story
of what actually happened emerge.
At the IPC however, we can decide what happens next in terms of the
Paralympic Movement.
Over the coming days we will be conducting a number of interviews with
leading media organisations with the objective of showing to the world
that we boast a wealth of high profile athletes who can, and will,
continue to captivate the world's media attention and inspire and
excite the world helping to fulfil the IPC's vision. We also have a
number of high profile events coming up that will build on the momentum
of London 2012.
London 2012 did not just inspire a generation, but created a whole host
of young world class medal winning athletes. In track and field for
example the likes of Britain's Jonnie Peacock, the Netherlands' Marlou
van Rhijn, Brazil's Alan Oliveira and Namibia's Johanna Benson to name
just a few, all have the ability to propel the Paralympic Movement to
new levels.
The profile of our athletes has never been higher, nor has the demand
to watch Paralympic Sport. Research by LOCOG post London 2012 showed
the public's awareness of the leading athletes tripled during the Games.
Together it is our job to continue building this profile regardless of
the outcome of this terrible case.
I will finish by restating the fact that I wanted to make contact with
all of you and share the roller coaster of emotion that we have all
felt since early Thursday morning last week.
Kind regards and greetings from La Molina, Spain where I am eagerly
awaiting the start of the 2013 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships.
Sir Philip Craven
President
International Paralympic Committee