By Paul Richoux

A former Paralympian and world class swimmer with several medals to his name, Tim Reddish has since 2008 been the Chairman of the British Paralympic Association (BPA). Now, with the Sochi winter games coming up soon, I spoke to Tim about sports, the Paralympic Games, and Sochi.

My morning phone call comes as a welcome interruption for Tim who was trudging through one of the more mundane administrative tasks he has to carry out in his role as chairman. The BPA is buzzing all year round, and now, with the winter games so close, the heat is on (bad pun intended).

Some of you may be wondering what exactly the BPA actually is or does, and as it happens that was one of the first things I asked Tim to explain. ‘First and foremost, we are the only organisation that has a mandate to represent Paralympic athletes and take a team to the Paralympic Games. We are not responsible for representing the sports individually but rather for preparing and supporting all the Paralympic athletes as a multiple sporting team’.

More in-depth

Perhaps conscious that his answer raises a few more questions, Tim automatically elaborates a little. ‘It sounds simplistic but there are really a lot of things we have to attend to. Namely; equipment, ensuring the athletes have everything they need both in training and during the games. Providing support, making sure they have the necessary kit. When we go to the games we have to make sure the services on site are world class. We have to make sure the environment they are staying in is world class and comfortable. We make sure that any additional needs they have are met. It’s a large organisation. And to help give you an idea, although we have 15 athletes going to the games in Sochi, the wider support group adds up to 52 people.’

Tim’s day to day work involves such things as planning strategy and policy, and working with the trustees. He also spoke of the ties the BPA has with the Olympic Association. ‘There are certain parallels between the two organisations. There is a break of Two weeks between the Olympic Games and the Paralympic games, so for example if there are certain pieces of equipment we both need to buy, it makes no sense for us both to spend money on the same thing when in fact we can easily share’.

The London legacy

I ask Tim if he thinks public attitudes have changed since the London games of 2012 – ‘I think so. And it’s not just the Paralympics, London 2012 did shift perceptions. And that legacy has carried on. With more media going to the Sochi Paralympics than went to Beijing, the Paralympic Games are getting more exposure from the media, and getting more attention from the fans and the public in general’.

Next step – Sochi!

Speaking of the run up to the Sochi games, Tim says ‘It’s been very positive from the athletes’ point of view. Both the curling team and the skiing team are on top form’. The Ski team includes Millie Knight, who, at only 15, is the youngest British athlete going to the Paralympic games. And, as Tim pointed out, her career is just beginning and it’s not being overly optimistic to suppose she’ll be competing in 2022 and beyond.

The dark side of Sochi

Only this week the British government warned that a terrorist attack was likely at the Sochi Games, and I ask Tim how the BPA is acting upon these threats. ‘Our utmost priority is the health, safety and wellbeing of our athletes. I can give you my assurance that we have discussed it. We are working closely with the British government as well as the Foreign Office and the British ambassador to Russia has given us his support’. He goes on to say - ‘to be honest, the security is going to be extremely tight. We are going to be a in a highly secure bubble and the risk of attack is far more likely to be outside the bubble’.

Of the other issue hanging over the Sochi Games, I’m speaking of course of Russia’s controversial laws on homosexuality, Tim had this to say – ‘We are very supportive of our athletes. Some people think we ought to boycott the games, and we could, but we won’t. The athletes don’t want to and we don’t want to. To us the games are about demonstrating that you can deliver high quality sport regardless of your race, nationality, gender or sexuality. We prefer to make a positive statement rather than a formal protest’. He goes on to refer to the Beijing games in 2008 which were also shrouded in controversy. ‘People wanted to boycott Beijing because of China’s human rights record. But the positive message of the games brought change. People with a disability were previously kept in institutions in China, now conditions are much better. Sport can do that’.

Sporting greatness

As we near the conclusion of our interview, I ask Tim if he’d like to make a final comment. ‘I think the main thing is that we should be proud of what we achieve despite being a small nation. We should have the greatest respect for the athletes and as a nation we should get behind them. Let’s continue the great feeling from London’.

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