Is the Paralympics a real, meaningful sporting competition?

How can Paralympians claim to be elite athletes when athletic excellence is all about physical perfection -- not disability?

Is the Paralympic nothing more than a giant exercise is political correctness?

These are all valid questions -- and are ones which we've been debating here in Athens.

It's a debate that's taken up in the Sunday Telegraph.

The case for the prosecution is led by writer David Thomas, who argues:

"We demand that our heroes possess fit bodies, swift reflexes and youthful vigour. When they succeed, we shower them in glory. When they fail, we savage them without remorse. We are no more interested in physically impaired sportspeople than we are in fat, plain fashion models."

Putting the other side of the argument is three-time Paralympian Caroline Baird:

"To anyone who says that I was playing at being an athlete I would challenge them to take up my old training regime: seven days a week for up to six hours a day on track work, weights, beach work (try running up and down sand dunes with a weighted jacket on instead of sunbathing) and a lot of sit-ups."

The full debate requires registration, so I've put it into a Word document here.