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The cheats who won gold and left a devastating legacy for learning disability sport

The cheats who won gold and left a devastating legacy for learning disability sport.

British swimmer Dan Pepper says he was destroyed by the ban on intellectual impairment sports at the Paralympics – it ruined his career. The ban was imposed after Spain won basketball gold at the Sydney 2000 Paralympics with a squad of 12 in which - it later emerged - only two players were genuinely disabled. In The Fake Paralympians, Dan sets out to find the truth about what happened and its devastating impact on learning disability sport.

Image credit: EPA

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The Fake Paralympians: 1. Gold

17/08/2021 GMT

1. Gold

BBC World Service - The Fake Paralympians, 1. Gold

Team captain Ray is genuinely disabled - and going to Sydney is beyond his wildest dreams

Team captain Ray is genuinely disabled, and taking part in the Paralympic Games in Sydney is beyond his wildest dreams.

Ex-Paralympic swimmer Dan Pepper investigates the cheats who won gold and left a devastating legacy for learning disability sport.

Ray Torres used to get beaten up every day at school. He stood out because he had a learning disability. But when his dad gave him a basketball, he found an escape and a kind of friend that didn’t hit him or call him names. He took the ball everywhere - even using it as a pillow.

When Spain started an intellectual disability basketball team, Ray was picked as one of the best players in the country and within a few years he was made captain. And when he found out the team had qualified to take part in the 2000 Paralympics in Sydney, it was beyond his wildest dreams…

Presenter: Dan Pepper
Series Producer: Simon Maybin

(Photo credit: EPA)

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