Seunghoon Lee

Seunghoon Lee

Can Paralympic Games Make A More Inclusive Society?

The Paralympic Games are the second largest multi-sporting event, where the world class para-athletes compete every 4 years. Research has shown the Games create a positive social impact for people with disabilities. These impacts include disability awareness, human rights, accessibility of infrastructure, media misrepresentation, health promotion, socialization, and sport participation. The host cities and communities make meaningful improvements in these areas from hosting the Games. However, a critical question remains ‘how can the hosts maintain the benefits for the Games and beyond?’ I’m POSSIBLE, a toolkit designed to educate school children aged 6-12 about Paralympic values and disability awareness for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. 36,000 schools were involved and implemented the program before the Games and continue until now. The aim of my project is to explore the success of the I’m POSSIBLE and contribute to developing a sustainable social change legacy model for the future host cities.

Seunghoon Lee
PhD candidate, Kinesiology
Faculty of Health Sciences - Western University

Supervisor
Dr. Laura Misener

Seunghoon Lee is a first-year PhD student in Sport Management and Leadership at Western University. His research focuses on how sports and mega-events—such as the Olympic and Paralympic Games—can be leveraged to drive positive social change within host communities.

He is currently developing two research projects. The first explores the Paralympic education program I’m POSSIBLE, using the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games as a case study. By analyzing the network governance among key stakeholders, this project aims to contribute to the creation of sustainable legacies—particularly in raising disability awareness and fostering social inclusion in the host community.

His second project investigates the systemic challenges of promoting Esports for people with disabilities. Given Esports’ potential to offer more accessible and inclusive sport experiences, this research seeks to identify barriers and opportunities for expanding participation among individuals with disabilities.

In addition to his academic work, he is a recognized project manager in the field of mega-sport events. Over the past decade, he has been involved in planning and operations for a wide range of events, including the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic and Paralympic Games and multiple editions of the Asian and Asian Para Games. These experiences deeply inspired his return to campus.

You can connect with Seunghoon on LinkedIn.

View Seunghoon's work as it appears in the Inspiring Minds Digital Collection.