Kurt Fearnley calls on Australians to stop ‘blowing up’ over closing ceremony
PARA-sports legend Kurt Fearnley has called on Aussies to stop ‘blowing up’ about the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games closing ceremony debacle.
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PARA-sports legend Kurt Fearnley has called on Aussies to stop ‘blowing up’ about the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games closing ceremony debacle, saying there are much more important things to be upset about.
Fearnley was the Australian flag-bearer for Sunday night’s closing ceremony but he and the other athletes were left out of the Channel 7 broadcast by organisers in a shocking snub that outraged the nation.
But Fearnley, interviewed on Triple J today by fellow para-sports great Dylan Alcott, said the ceremony shame did not detract from what were ‘the best two weeks of my life’.
“How big it blew up yesterday and how furious people got ... when you put it into perspective, we nailed those two weeks (of the Games),” Fearnley said.
“It’s the best two weeks of my life. “It’s the best event that I’ve ever been a part of.
“To even take away anything from that ... nothing could.”
Fearnley, who was an official Games ambassador, said the para-sports program that ran parallel with able-bodied events, made the Coast Games the most inclusive ever.
“There’s so many (other) reasons that we could be firing up right now,” he said.
“There will come (a time) when another guy on a wheelchair gets kicked off a flight because they’ve put two people on before him.
“We’re not allowed to be fathers or sons or business people because we can’t fly like everyone else ... and that’s worth blowing up about.
“When there’s someone not catered for in our public education (system), that’s worth blowing up about.
“When we’re not funding people enough to be even able to go to the toilet and feel healthy with their disability, that’s worth blowing up about.”
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