For British Paralympians basking in the afterglow of success at the Paris Games, a champagne after-party at Fortnum & Mason promised the perfect end to a day of hobnobbing with the King at Buckingham Palace.
Instead, Paralympic athletes were left feeling aggrieved and excluded as it became apparent that, despite being jointly hosted at the palace alongside their able-bodied Olympic counterparts on Thursday, they were not invited to a lavish bash at the luxury London department store afterwards.
Zac Shaw, a Paralympic visually impaired sprinter who won silver in the mixed 4x100m and bronze in the 100m T12 in Paris, branded the snub hurtful and unfair, adding that an attempt by Fortnum & Mason to blame the omission on a ‘failure of communication’ had only compounded his sense of injustice.
‘It’s just hurtful,’ said Shaw, 29. ‘You have situations like this so frequently, whether it’s brands, prize money, even hosting a Paralympic race at a competition.
‘You have to pick your…
