No Individual Stamp Honours For Paralympic Gold Medallists, Says Royal Mail

A very interesting post from BBC Ouch.

I agree with Paul Carter. I also don’t believe the reason about them expecting a ‘world class performance’ from Paralympians- weren’t they expecting the Olympians to do well, then?

Each Team GB Olympic gold medallist will be featured on their own Royal Mail stamp this summer. However, stamps due to be released in celebration of Great Britain’s Paralympic success will not honour athletes individually.

Instead, six first-class stamps featuring group pictures of the medallists will be produced after the Games finish on 9 September.

Blogger Inadifferentvoice is unhappy with Royal Mail’s decision and has written to them saying:

“Why is Royal Mail only planning to credit the Paralympian gold winners with a group shot, when currently you are issuing individual stamps for Olympic gold medallists? They may be first class stamps, but this feels like second class treatment.”

In answer to questions they received on why athletes wouldn’t be honoured individually, the British Paralympic Association have released a statement on their website. They say that having worked closely with Royal Mail, they are “pleased” with plans for stamps celebrating the London 2012 Paralympic Games, adding that the decision not to produce a stamp for each gold medal winning athlete is a logistical one.

“In Beijing, ParalympicsGB won 42 gold medals over 10 days of competition, including nine in one day, and we are expecting a similarly world-class level of performance from our athletes this time around. As a result, it is logistically and practically impossible for Royal Mail to produce an individual stamp for every one of the gold medallists for ParalympicsGB.”

Disabled journalist, TV producer and sports fan, Paul Carter, is sceptical and struggles to understand the “difference between printing 41 and 25 stamps. Isn’t it just a case of pressing Control P on a keyboard?”

He also questions why the British Paralympic Association didn’t challenge Royal Mail on their decision to differentiate between Olympic and Paralympic athletes.

“I think they have acquiesced to them a little bit. Sometimes I wish the BPA would stand up and show a bit more teeth. Tell Royal Mail that if they weren’t going to produce individual stamps for Paralympic gold medallists, then they shouldn’t have done it for the Olympians.”

The BPA points out that recognition of Paralympians by Royal Mail through stamps, “is a first in the history of the Paralympics.”

Like their Olympic counterparts, each Paralympic gold medallist will also be honoured by Royal Mail with a gold painted post box in their home town.

Update 3.30pm: The Guardian have just covered this. I guess this is the mainstream listening to us shouting about mainstream madness. That makes it a step forward- thanks Guardian.

Update 3.50pm: It’s also been covered by Channel 4’s Paralympic Blog. Another step forward.