Right now dwarves, or little people, are effectively excluded from any and all Olympic sports. They cannot even compete in the Special Olympics unless they also happen to be intellectually disabled (formerly referred to as “mentally retarded”) and they are not, generally speaking, included in the Paralympics unless they have - on top of being a dwarf or little person - some other physical limitation such as an amputated limb or blindness. The luckless, intellectually disabled dwarf can therefore compete, however hopelessly, in the Special Olympics while the ill-starred, dwarf amputee or blind dwarf can compete, however forlornly, in the Paralympics (in theory anyway) but the otherwise-unafflicted dwarf has no pseudo-olympic venue for which to reach.

We think that it is time that changed and that the IOC should create a separate Olympic division for dwarves or little people-related sports or, at the very least, allow diminutive athletes the right to compete in demonstration competitions at the 30th Olympiad in London during the summer of 2012.

This petition should not be confused with that one seeking to make dwarf tossing an Olympic sport nor should our quest to have dwarf athletes recognized for their athletic ability be understood to mean support for using them as objects to be tossed or fired from cannons.